Women barred from wearing nighties during daytime in Indian village

Rule enforced after men complain of 'feeling uncomfortable' seeing women in night attire

A village in India's Andhra Pradesh on Thursday barred women from moving around in the village in nightwear in the daytime because men feel uncomfortable seeing them in such clothes, according to The Hindustan Times.

The rule has been enforced by the elders of Thokalapalli, a fishermen-dominated village of Nidamarru block, women cannot come out wearing night clothes from 6 am to 7 pm.

Those violating the rule will be liable to pay a fine of Rs2,000 to the village development committee and those who inform about such women would get a reward of Rs 1,000.



The rule which was enforced nearly seven months ago, came to light today when local police visited the village following an anonymous letter to enquire about it.

During the enquiry, it was found that a few months ago, the village committee comprising nine elders had received a complaint that men were feeling uncomfortable watching some women in their nighties doing shopping, going to schools to drop their children and attending meetings of women self-help groups during the day time.

The committee members held a meeting with some women’s groups and brought the complaint to their notice. Apparently, the women agreed to enforce a rule banning wearing of nighties during the day time.

Following the decision, the committee carried out a campaign about the rule in the entire village through traditional drum beating. The village has a population of 5,000 people and women constitute nearly half of the total population.

One of the village elders Bhale Sitaramudu told the police that the rule was imposed by women self-help groups themselves and men had nothing do with it.

“So far, we have not imposed any fine on any woman, as they have been strictly following the rule,” he said.

The sub-inspector told reporters that no case had been booked against anybody as there was no complaint from any woman.

“We tried to educate them saying imposing any such restrictions on women was against the law. We shall visit the village again and campaign against such rules,” Vijay Kumar said.

The article originally appeared in The Hindustan Times