Several villages in western India have banned girls and unmarried women from owning mobile phones, saying the devices distract them from their studies (of course, only females are distracted).
Villages in the Mehsana and Banaskantha districts in Gujarat state imposed the ban, and increasingly more villages have joined the campaign, said Ranjit Singh Thakor, president of the Mehsana district council.
The ban applies to girls under the age of 18 and unmarried women, he said.
In Mehsana district, offenders will be fined about 2,100 rupees ($31) and informants will be rewarded, Thakor said.
While more villages appear to be embracing the phone ban, villages in Banaskantha district have an informal rule, said Gaurav Dahiya, the district development officer. “It was imposed by elders in the villages, saying it’s for the girls’ safety,” he said. “But not many people are following it.”
Source: Al-Jazeera