Scarred by elopements, panchayat bans mobile phones for girls

Girls using mobile phones will be fined Rs 10,000, according to a diktat by a panchayat here following incidences of married women of the minority- dominated area eloping with their paramours, officials said today.

The diktat came into force immediately after the meeting of the Sunderwadi panchayat yesterday and a social advisory committee was constituted by it to enforce it, Block Development Officer Sanjay Kumar said, adding he came to know about the matter from media reports.

The decision follows complaints of incidences of married women of the area under Kochadham block eloping in the recent past with their paramours, he said.

When contacted, Shamima Khatun, the mukhiya (head person) of the panchayat, which is around 45 km from here, said she was not present at the meeting.

Kumar and Kochadham station house officer Chitaranjan Thakur said that they had visited the area, which has 80 per cent minority population, during the day but none agreed to speak about the meeting or name those present in it.

"District administration has ordered an inquiry into the incident and those found guilty will be punished as per law," Kumar said.

A ban on use of mobiles was imposed by a panchayat of Dausa in Rajasthan in November and in Uttar Pradesh in July.

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