October 28, 2021
The community of Sansi, called the ‘vagrants and criminals,’ engages in the infamous ‘Kukari ki Rasam.’ This tradition entails a white sheet being placed at the newlywed’s bed on the wedding night, which the groom’s family later checks for blood. The blood from the broken hymen is the test for purity.
A broken hymen is not exactly a great indicator of pre-marital sex. Furthermore, the grooms get a free pass while the brides don't.
It adds to the harmful idea that sex is something a man takes and a woman gives. We will never truly respect women’s choices until we accept that a woman does not lose as soon as she ‘gives in’ to sex.
It not only is an arbitrary concept to decide the morality and prudence of a person, but it also denies them a fundamental right to safe and healthy sex in order to maintain respect in society.
If a girl is declared to be ‘impure’, she is now ostracized by the community and asked to name the person she has been sexually associated with in the past. Virginity tests are not a crime under the IPC.
This makes women stuck in generational cycles of oppression under the tribe incapable of reaching out for help. To spread the word and make it an inter-class and caste issue should pave the way for change.