"Girls Should Not Get Mobile Phones", Says UP Women's Commission Member, Clarifies

Meena Kumari's comment comes months after National Commission for Women member Chandramukhi Devi said a UP gangrape and murder was the woman's fault

A shocking remark by a member of the Uttar Pradesh Women's Commission has underlined the deep-seated misogyny and gender issues that continue to haunt Indian society. My statement has been misinterpreted. What I actually said was that parents should check whether their children are using mobile phones for studies or other purposes. I never said that if girls use phones they run away with boys: UP women's commission member Meena Kumari pic.twitter.com/JKeQREaS1N नहीं मैडम, लड़की के हाथ में फोन बलात्कार का कारण नहीं है. बलात्कार का कारण है ऐसी घटिया मानसिकता जो अपराधियों के हौसले और बढ़ाती है. प्रधानमंत्री जी से निवेदन है सभी महिला आयोगों को ज़रा सेंसिटाइज करवाइए, एक दिन दिल्ली महिला आयोग की कार्यशैली देखने भेजिए, हम सिखाते हैं इन्हे ! pic.twitter.com/yf1YxC8i6r In response to a question about increasing rape cases, Women's Commission member Meena Kumari told reporters "girls should not be given mobile phones" because they "talk with boys and later run away with them". She also called for round-the-clock policing of young women. "I appeal to parents not to give mobile phones to daughters... if they do, phones should be checked regularly. All this (crime against women) is due to negligence by mothers," she told reporters. "We, as parents and society, have to put a check on our daughters... always see where they are going, and which boys they are sitting with. We have to check their mobile phones... girls will keep talking on their phone and then they are tricked into eloping for marriage," she said.