Govt denies virginity tests under CM's wedding scheme

Shahdol collector Neeraj Dubey today dismissed media reports suggesting that virginity tests were conducted on some 150 women who were married under the Chief Minister's Kanyadan Yojana.

"It is absolutely wrong to say that virginity tests were conducted on the women who had come to take part in the weddings under the scheme," Dubey told the Press Trust of India on telephone from Shahdol.

The collector, however, admitted that some clinical tests were conducted on the beneficiaries of the scheme to find out if they were pregnant.

Dubey said this was done to ensure that the women who enrolled in the programme were not married earlier and to avoid "unnecessary problems".

He said that after the clinical tests, some 15 women were prevented from taking part in the weddings as they were found to be pregnant.

The collector said that some time ago a woman who had come to be married off under the scheme had delivered a child at the venue.

Dubey said he failed to understand why the media was making such a hue and cry about the whole thing.

On the other hand, Amita Chapra, a member of the Madhya Pradesh Commission for Women, told the Press Trust of India that she had taken cognizance of the news reports about the incident.

Chapra said she had asked the district collector to submit a detailed report on the issue within seven days.

She said she wanted to know the rules under which any tests were conducted on women who had come for the mass weddings.