The Kanjarghat community in Maharashtra, India has a tradition of checking the virginity of the bride by the members of the caste council, or Jaat Panchayat before marriage is approved.
There is also what is called a ‘settled marriage’. In a settled marriage, the couple has already had intercourse. Families go to the panchayat and disclose it before the marriage. The panchayat then approves it after a penalty. If it is not a settled marriage, the girl has to pass a virginity test.”
The Kanjarbhats is a denotified tribe that migrated from Rajasthan to parts of Western Maharashtra and Gujarat. The community is governed by its own set of codified rules and a caste panchayat.
As part of the Kanjarbhat caste tradition, a bride is subjected to a “character test” on the wedding night. The husband and wife consummate their marriage on a white cloth in a lodge immediately after getting married.
The caste councils oversee this test. Both families pay Rs 300 each to the panchayat members, though larger sums are paid as well.
“Family members remain outside the lodge and continue to ask if it is going well,” says Siddhant, an art student who made a documentary about the tradition.
If the girl bleeds, she passes the test. They declare, “Maal Khara hai”. If she does not, it is assumed she has had premarital s3x, and they say “Maal khota hai”, meaning she is “spoiled goods”, and the marriage can be annulled.
“The caste panchayat then asks her who she has had intercourse with,” says Siddhant, who lives in Kanjarbhat Nagar in Yerwada, Pune.
“She is often beaten up, her family is ostracised, and asked to pay a hefty fine to settle the matter. Whoever defies the Kanjarbhat law book is subject to a social boycott.”
Even though the Maharashtra state government passed a law criminalising caste panchayats in July 2017, the kangaroo courts have continued, wielding enormous power in the community.
While so many youths and some old folks are against the virginity test, the majority believe that it is the right thing to do. In fact, anyone who goes against the test is faced with criticism.
Mukesh Minekar, a member of the Kanjarbhat panchayat with personal ties to the NCP, while denying the role of caste panchayat in the “virginity test”, says he backs the practice as a father of a daughter.
“Do we want India to follow the western countries where girls are getting pregnant at 13 and 14?” he asked. “Virginity test is a character certificate of the woman. Even the bride keeps the cloth with her bloodstains as a memento of pride.”
Minekar further adds the youngsters are defaming the community in public. “The virginity test is a private matter between families,” he says.
“The caste panchayat does not oversee it. If anyone is forced by the panchayat, the families should file a police complaint.”
After Siddhant made the documentary, he has been faced with various criticism, an indication that the majority of the people are don’t want the practice to end.
“A social boycott means women in the family can’t find husbands. Also, who will file a complaint against their own parents for asking to do the test? The police are not as prompt either while acting against them,”
The few people who question the tradition have wondered why the man’s virginity is never questioned. The possibility of a woman not bleeding on the first s3x is also overlooked.
