Divorced for 'failing virginity test', sisters seek help from police

In a surprising incident from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, two sisters were divorced by their husbands after one of them failed to pass a virginity test.

The two sisters from Kanjarbhat community were forced to take the virignity test post-marriage and when one of them failed the ‘white-sheet’ tests, both of them were sent back home by their in-laws.

According to media reports, on the complaints of the two women, a case have been registered against the their husbands, their mother-in-law and some members of the Jat Panchayat for allegedly boycotting the two women. The incident has now led to massive outrage.

The two sisters got married to two men from the same community in November 2020. As per the complaint, post the wedding both brides were taken to separate rooms for conducting the virginty test, a tradition followed by the community, reported The Indian Express.

As per the complainant, after intercourse, a sheet with bloodstains on it would mean the hymen was intact and also a proof of the wife’s viriginty. Absence of blood on sheets would mean the woman has been with another man in the past.

“We got married in Belgaum in Karnataka and just four days after our marriage, we had to face torture at the hands of our in-laws. We were asked to undergo the virginity test and on the fifth day, were sent back from Karnataka to our house in Kolhapur," one of the sisters wrote in her letter to the police.

The women further said that their family tried to appease the in-laws but things did not improve. A sum of Rs 10 lakh was demanded from them and they were also allegedly physically assaulted.

“Later in the month of February, the community panchayat met at a temple and in the presence of our-in laws, declared that we have been divorced,” she said.

The sisters have also approached the 'Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti' for help and assistance in the case.

Sujata Maytre, a member of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti while speaking to India Today said that two sisters a demanding that their husband be booked under charges of rape. 

"These men did not like the two girls in the first place. They have physically exploited the girls and hence, a rape case is a must. Virginity test is such a deplorable act. In order to restore the respect of women, such indecent acts and such community panchayats need to be finished and we have to put forward our appeal to the government for the same,” she said.