Virginity and pregnancy tests at a mass wedding

From Gopal Ethiraj

BHOPAL, 14 July (asiantribune.com): A mass wedding in Madhya Pradesh was being held recently under the 'Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna' -- Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's pet scheme-- aimed to help girls from poor families tie the knot at government expense.

A shocking incidence took place, following which virginity and pregnancy tests had to be ordered on the 152 prospective brides. Fourteen of them were detected to be pregnant.

Just before the ceremony was to begin, a would-be bride developed stomach pain. On checking it was found to be labour pains, shocking those present. The incident, that left officials, activists and tribals fuming, occurred on June 30 when the brides were assembled for a mass marriage function in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, 350 km from Bhopal.

The organisers immediately stopped the mass wedding and ordered pregnancy tests on the 152 brides assembled for the ceremony.

Later, 138 couples belonging to different religions tied the knot under the scheme.
Local legislator Sunder Singh, the district collector and other government officials were also present during the occasion, sources said.

Marriages under the Chief Minister’s scheme are solemnised free of cost. Every couple is also provided assistance in the form of household items to the tune of Rs.5,000. And all arrangements are made by the district administration.

One onlooker condemned the "fake marriages" was being held for a long time. "Middlemen bring recently married couples as unmarried, get their marriage solemnised at such functions for sizeable 'commission' from them," he alleged.

Faced with allegations of solemnising 'fake marriages', the local authorities ordered the virginity and pregnancy tests. But the move to weed out already-married brides has kicked up a storm with activists taking up the issue.

These tests are an insult to womanhood and it shows how the state machinery violates the human rights and dignity and privacy of women, the women activists said. "The officials should know that in many tribal communities there is a culture of boys and girls living together before they decide to marry," it was protested.

While activists and local media have taken it up as violation of human dignity, the government sources in Shahdol tell another story.

Under Kanyadaan, about 90,000 women of poor families have got married so far. But lured by attractive wedding gifts and monetary incentives, even married couples sometimes sign up for the ceremony. It was regular physical check-up and not a virginity test to ensure married and pregnant mothers don't join the queue.

The state government has allotted Rs.25 crore in the budget for the Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana. The government has also increased the scheme's grant amount payable to a girl after marriage from Rs.5,000 to Rs.6,500 from January 2009. As per the state's Economic Survey (2008-09)- 88,460 marriages were solemnised from April 2006 to March 2009.