Women in Andhra Pradesh village banned from wearing nightie in daytime

Some village elders issued the bizarre sartorial diktat around nine months ago and said the nightwear was only meant for wearing in the night time, media reports said.

The diktat was issued some months ago by a nine-member committee, which included elders, in the Tokalapalli village of the state.

As per the diktat, women cannot come out wearing night clothes from 6 am to 7 pm. 

According to the Hindustan Times report,  those violating the rule would have to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 to the village development committee and those who inform about such women would get a reward of Rs 1,000. 

The incident remained under covers for a long time.

However, it was on Thursday when Nidamarru police sub-inspector M Vijay Kumar, along with local tehsildar M Sundar Raju, visited the village following an anonymous letter to enquire about the incident, that the matter came to light.

One of the village elders Bhale Sitaramudu was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times 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 was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The police said no case has been booked in connection with the incident so far.

“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 told Hindustan Times.

Speaking on the issue, Tokalapalli sarpanch Fantasia Mahalakshmi told The Times of India that washing clothes in the open, going to grocery shops and attending meetings in a nightie “are not good”.

She denied that there was any social boycott or banning of women who violated the rules.