Indian village bans single girls from mobile use
Women should be seen and not heard, right?
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
Women in the Indian region of Lank will need to find a husband before a mobile phone, as single women have been banned from using mobiles for fear they'll elope.
The ruling, by the village council, isn't backed by Indian law, but in rural India that's less important as the panchayats (elected elders) of the village have effective control. They are worried that unmarried women are using mobile phones to arrange clandestine meetings that lead to eloping with members of their own clan.
Unmarried blokes will be allowed to use their mobile phones, but even they'll have to be supervised to ensure they're not setting up a midnight flit. The Guardian relays the Associated Press figures that the ban already covers 50,000 people, with neighbouring panchayats considering similar measures.
Just in the last month, the Guardian reports, 34 couples from the region eloped, with eight of those elopements resulting in honour killings three of which included the beheading of the girls by family members.
Such "honour killings" are against the law, and the police often intervene to prevent them happening, though clearly not often enough.
Mobile phone use is exploding in India, and just as in the west it's brought privacy as much as it's brought mobility. The phone offers young people a bedroom-to-bedroom connection, and those who would control that communication are increasingly being bypassed. ®
COMMENTS
In my experience.
It's just an indication of how the Indian continent is still stuck in the dark age, caste system mentality.
Way back when I was a spritely 20 year old I met a gorgeous Indian girl who managed to see past all my hang ups and went out with me. Naturally with me being a white anglo irish lad it led to her being locked in the house by her folks for disobedience. I managed to get her out quickly and eventually they had to come to terms with it.
Now I'm accepted as part of the furniture of their side of the fence, but it always remains a memory that they still harbour notions that the rules in Indian culture apply when you've chosen to raise your kids in the UK.
My sis in law will be going through the whole emotional blackmail thing soon as she is going out with an anglo indian guy who is not from the Bhuj region. I'm not looking forward to it because I will be speaking my mind when the fallout hits.
Placing restrictions on people doesn't work, you either change and moderate or the change will sweep you aside.
Elopement using a mobile...there's an app for that...
It's called "i-lope"
On a more serious note, please can we (media) stop call these things 'honour killings' - they are what they are - Brutal murders. 'Honour Killings' gives the impression that there is some justification to them (however warped), which even in Indian law there isn't.
Re: Perspective
On a tech site, yeah.
Sometimes we do consider the tech angle.
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
Data control in the cloud
Cloud based data management
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
