Andhra village bans wearing of nighties during day following elderly women’s pressure

Hyderabad, Nov 12: We might be far away from the land of the Taliban but yet some of our social traits reflect a similar mentality harboured by the Afghanistani conservatives. Recently, the social media saw a stir over the elderly men and women of a village in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district announcing a ban on women wearing 'nighties' during the day time.

The issue has taken such a serious form now that the local authorities were forced to make a physical visit to the village and begin a probe.

According to a report in The News Minute, the elderly females and some males in the district's Thokalapalle village found it "inconvenient" to see young women and girls going to public places wearing nighties and took an initiative to stop the practice.

Six months ago, the village's elderly people arranged for announcements that any woman found wearing nighties while out on the streets between 7 am and 7 pm would be slapped a fine of Rs 2,000. It was also announced that anybody who reported about such violation will be given an incentive of Rs 1,000. Only those having an ill health were barred from the ban, the report added.

There were no complaints and neither any instance of levying fines over the last few months. During the Diwali celebrations recently, some local residents informed the local media about the restrictions and it went viral online.

When the local authorities made an enquiry in the village which they visited last week, the elders said they made the announcement after facing pressure from none other than the women. They also said that it was only meant to instil a "little fear" into the minds of the young women and girls.