Joseph John, TNN | Oct 25, 2012, 12.44PM IST

RAIPUR: A powerful Other Backward Classes(OBC) community in Chhattisgarh has imposed a ‘dress code‘ on women to force them to wear saris in a particular way in the village of Panditarai in Ambagarh Chowki block in Rajnandgaon district, sparking protests from the females.The issue came to light after a woman, who identified herself as Jayanti, raised the issue through ” CGNet Swara“, a voice-based portal, freely accessible via mobile phone, which allows anyone to report and listen to stories of local interest.

“Local Sahu community has imposed a dress code for women. Anyone disobeying the code will have to pay a fine of Rs 501 as punishment,” Jayanti pointed out expressing her protest over the local community leaders decision to impose the dress code.

Jayanti told TOI over telephone that the local Sahu caste leaders convened a meeting of men and conveyed that all women folk must wear sari in traditional form in which the “pallu” should be on the right shoulder, fully covering the naval portion. She said the local caste leaders were now exerting pressure on men to force women to follow what they term as an age-old tradition of the community. “I have no idea about such diktat. Sahus belong to a progressive community which believes in women’s freedom and their right to choose their dress,” Community’s Rajnandgaon district president Moti Sahu told TOI over telephone.

Sahu Samaj state vice-president Shantanu Sahu said they were not aware about any such diktat by the local leaders in the village and would certainly inquire into it.