Brides in India Ditch New Husbands for Lack of Toilets

At least 6 return home because new residences had none
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2014 12:40 PM CDT
Brides in India Ditch New Husbands for Lack of Toilets
In this file photo, members of the All India Democratic Women's Association protest the gang rape of two teenage girls in May. The girls were attacked going to the bathroom in fields.   (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

At least six newlywed brides in India have left their husbands because their new homes lacked a toilet, reports the Times of India. The six returned to their parents' homes in protest and vow not to go back until their in-laws get proper plumbing. The newspaper describes the women's actions as raising "the banner of revolt," because the issue is anything but trivial in India. The UN recently warned about the widespread problem of open defecation in poor areas, and India's prime minister vowed last week to tackle the issue, notes the BBC.

"We are in the 21st century and yet there is still no dignity for women as they have to go out in the open to defecate and they have to wait for darkness to fall," said Narendra Modi in his speech. It's not just a sanitary issue, either. The gang rape of two teen cousins in India earlier this year occurred when they went to fields near their homes in the evening. A group called Sulabh International has promised to install toilets for the six newlyweds at no cost, with its founder hailing "the changing mindset" in the country. (A recent fashion shoot in India provoked fury because it was seemingly inspired by a gang rape.)

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