Patna: After a bizarre diktat, comes an even more bizarre defence.
According to Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey, ‘virgin’ means the same as ‘unmarried’ and ‘pure’, and hence Patna's Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences did “nothing wrong” when it asked applicants to declare their virginity.
“Virgin, as per the dictionary, means an unmarried and pure girl. So all these words are not objectionable,” Pandey said. He didn't specify which dictionary he was referring to.
Pandey's statement is the second such explanation extended after the virginity clause in the application form invited the ire of activists and women’s rights groups.
On Wednesday, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences superintendent Manish Mandal had claimed that disclosing one’s “virginity status” would help if a “rape case is registered in future”. Mandal refused to explain further.
He had also put the onus on the Centre, saying the hospital administration was following the format it received from the central government.
The form, riddled with spelling errors, gave applicants three options to disclose their marital status:
1. I am a ''bechelor''/widower/vergin (sic).
2. I am married and have only one wife living.
3. I am married to a person who has no other wife living/ I am married to a person who has another wife living.
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