The
Calcutta Telegraph reports that India's Supreme Court yesterday took quick action in response to a recently filed Public Interest Lawsuit to try to prevent exploitation of young girls in a ceremony scheduled for the night of February 13-14 in front of the Uttangi Durga Hindu temple in the city of Davangere in India's Karnataka state. According to the report:
Under the devadasi system, girls on attaining puberty are married off to the local temple’s female deity at a ceremony willingly consented to by the parents in most cases, though in some cases local panchayats have been known to use a certain degree of coercion.
After being “married” off and “dedicated” to the deity, the girls are forced to sing and dance before their village chiefs, rich landlords and other influential persons and have often been sexually exploited.
The PIL cited newspaper reports that said that despite the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982, the practice continued.... The petition alleged that many devadasis, exploited by local landlords and influential men, had been left to fend for themselves and were dying of poverty or sexually transmitted diseases.
The court told counsel for the non-profit foundation filing the suit that they should have come to the court sooner. As an interim measure, the court yesterday faxed an order to the chief secretary of the state of Karnataka ordering him to take steps to prevent unmarried girls from being forced to become
devadasis at the February 13-14 religious event.
