India: Villages Ban Single Women from Owning Cell Phones

Several villages in the western Indian state of Gujarat have banned girls and single women from owning mobile phones, saying the devices distract them from their studies.

A couple of villages in Mehsana and Banaskantha districts in Gujarat have imposed the ban in recent weeks, with more villages joining the campaign, said Ranjit Singh Thakor, president of the Mehsana district council.

"The girls don't study properly if they have mobile phones, and they can get into all sorts of bad situations," he told Reuters by telephone. "Let them study, get married, then they can get their own phones. Until then, they can use their fathers' phones at home, if necessary."

RELATED: India's Armed Forces to Allow Women in Fighting Roles

The ban applies to girls under the age of 18 and unmarried women, he said. This is not the first time Indian villages have taken this step.

Villages in the eastern Bihar state imposed a similar ban a few years ago, saying mobile phones were "debasing the social atmosphere" by leading young women to elope.

In Mehsana district, offenders will be fined about 2,100 rupees (US$31) and informants will be rewarded, Thakor said. Female students in university are exempt from the ban, as they may need the phones for their studies, he said.

RELATED: India Refuses Demand of Woman on World's Longest Hunger Strike