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In Rural India, Mr Right Must Have a Toilet

Brides-to-be insist suitors offer indoor plumbing

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 12, 2009 7:17 AM CDT

(Newser) – India's economy may be booming, but 665 million people in the world's second-largest nation have no access to indoor plumbing—not only an inconvenience, but a health hazard that leads to diarrhea, typhoid, and malaria. But these days, newly assertive rural women are insisting that suitors have a toilet before they give their hand in marriage, as well as their substantial dowries. One 18-year-old girl, still single, repeated a jingle she heard on the radio: "No loo, no 'I do.'"

While previous programs have failed, "No Toilet, No Bride" has worked by making indoor plumbing a central feature of courtship—slogans exhort men to install latrines, while popular soap operas have included the campaign in their plots. "I won't let my daughter near a boy who doesn't have a latrine," said one mother. "My father never even allowed me an education. Now, young women have power. The men can't refuse us."

Indian Hindu women dance on the last day of the festival of Durga Puja, in Calcutta, India, Monday, Sept. 28, 2009.
Indian Hindu women dance on the last day of the festival of Durga Puja, in Calcutta, India, Monday, Sept. 28, 2009.   (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
An Indian woman gets henna applied to her hands on the occasion of Karwa Chauth in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009.
An Indian woman gets henna applied to her hands on the occasion of Karwa Chauth in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009.   (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
mak
Oct 12, 2009 12:37 PM CDT
that standard holds pretty much all over the world, no?
rjg147
Oct 12, 2009 12:25 PM CDT
wrong again
riffran
Oct 12, 2009 12:20 PM CDT
oh my...the comment stream on this one is gonna be great

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