A woman in Madhya Pradesh has approached the Indore court alleging that her in-laws attempted to conduct a virginity test on her. The district court has taken note of the regressive practice.
The woman alleged that on the night of her wedding, her in-laws attempted to conduct a virginity test in an inappropriate manner, causing her severe mental and physical distress.
Acting on her complaint, the district court has ordered the registration of a case against the in-laws.
This is the first case in the state where the practice of virginity tests has been legally challenged.
The victim was married in December 2019 to a man from Bhopal. Following her marriage, she experienced a miscarriage within three months of pregnancy. Later, after carrying a pregnancy for nine months and nine days, she gave birth to a stillborn baby. Currently, she has one living daughter.
A confidential report by an investigating officer from the Women and Child Development Department revealed that the in-laws had employed inappropriate methods to check the victim’s virginity on the first night of marriage, which resulted in mental and physical harassment.