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Virginity and sexual life of a woman is nobody’s business. Period

Following on the footsteps of Indian culture, the IGIMS Patna, Bihar, wants to know about the virginity of its woman employees.

By Maitreyee
|
Google Oneindia News

Patna, August 3: We thought only the ordinary Indian men are obsessed with women's virginity. Actually, we have been proven wrong. It seems our authorities too are probing hard to find out whether Indian naaris (women) are "virgin" or not.

That is why the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna, Bihar, in a bizarre official document called--marriage declaration form--ended up asking its women employees about their "virginity".

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In the form, now doing the rounds of social media, the institute asked its female employees to declare their virginity.

In the same form, women employees are also asked unrelated questions like if they are married to a person who has no other wife living or more than one wife living.

Wait, if you are thinking the Patna-based institute is sexist, then you are wrong. The institute has equally outlandish questions for male employees too, like the number of wives they are married too. According to ANI, the employees are also asked if they are a widower or a bachelor.

After a few media houses reported about the controversial form on Wednesday, the institute in its defence said that the question on virginity actually meant to know whether an employee was married or unmarried.

Are you a virgin? You need to fill this in Bihar hospital formAre you a virgin? You need to fill this in Bihar hospital form

Speaking to India Today, Manish Mandal, deputy medical superintendent of the IGIMS, said, "Essentially what is being asked in the form is whether a person is married or unmarried. Personally, I feel the word used should have been unmarried instead of virgin. That would have been sober but what is there in the rules have to be followed."

Like most Indians, Mandal thinks and probably wants an unmarried woman to be a virgin--a typical mentality prompted by our sanskari (cultured) brigade. So when Mandal equated the word virgin with being unmarried, he found it very normal.

People like Mandal are being trained to think that being virgin is equal to being unmarried. What if the likes of Mandal being told in strong terms that marital status of women has got nothing to do with their virginity? We know a huge scandal will erupt immediately.

In their desire to be surrounded by virgin women, the moral brigade wants to control the body, mind and soul of a woman. So, if a woman decided to have sex before marriage, our sanskari society calls her a "slut" or a "bitch". But no such derogatory terms being used for men who led a promiscuous life.

After all, boys will be boys, as Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav infamously said a few years ago while defending rapists.

If you are seething with anger over Mandal's casual defence, then just read what the Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey had to say about the entire controversy. The minister went a step ahead and said "virgin just means unmarried and there is nothing objectionable in it being written in the form."

"The word which is used is 'virgin'. It means unmarried girl, maiden. I don't think these words are not objectionable. But still this issue is being raised. I had a word with the officials of the IGIMS. They said that this is the format of AIIMS and since 1983, it is being used in every organisation of the country," Pandey told ANI.

So, Indian girls and women if you are confronted with the "V" word, don't get offended. As per the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader there is nothing wrong if someone probes a woman's virginity.

After all, it is a "free society" and everyone is entitled to know women's chastity, including your bosses and HR managers in the office.

That is why prospective grooms often ask marriageable girls about their "virginity". Even in the 21st century, so called well-educated men, without any qualms, proudly state, "I will marry only a virgin". Strangely, nobody asks men about their virginity.

The hypocrisy surrounding women's sexual life and curiosity to know about their celibacy reek of patriarchy where only women are put in the dock when it comes to morality.

OneIndia News

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