Gandhinagar, March 8: On the International Women's day, Gujarat High Court directed the state government on Monday, to prohibit the social exclusion of women at public places due to menstrual cycles and to spread awareness through various mediums and sensitisation programmes of health workers.

The Gujarat High Court also directed the government to allocate required funds for the same. The high court also asked the state and centre to respond to the directions and has scheduled the next hearing on the March 30.

This was an intermediate order in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Gujarat high court by Nirjhari Mukul Sinha, well known social activist. The high court bench of Justice, J B Pardiwala and Justice Ilesh J Vora, issued the directions to Gujarat government and the Central Government regarding the social exclusion practiced by many institutions and sections of society against menstruating women.

In the order, the court directed the state government to prohibit social exclusion of women on the basis of their menstrual status at all places, be it private or public, religious or educational. The bench also directed the government to spread awareness among its citizens regarding social exclusion through various mediums like posters in public spaces, including the subject in school curriculum, using audio visual mediums like radio, entertainment and news channels and short films. The bench asked to spread awareness among school teachers regarding menstrual cycles.

The court observed that empowering women through education and increasing their role in decision-making could also help in this area. "Sensitisation of health workers, accredited social activists and Anganwadi workers regarding menstrual cycle must be undertaken to disseminate knowledge in the community and to mobilise social support to bust myths about menstruation," the Gujarat High Court observed.

"This public interest litigation is the outcome of a very unfortunate incident that was reported by the media on 14th February, 2020," the high court said in its order on Monday.

"We are talking about the incident that occurred with 68 girls in a hostel run by the respondent No.5, (Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI), Bhuj) herein being forced to undergo a strip test. It was reported that 68 undergraduate girls were paraded through the college into the restroom and forced to individually remove their undergarments to prove that they were not menstruating. 

The incident in question took place after the hostel rector complained to the principal that some of the girls had been violating the religious norms which menstruating students were required to follow.

The Bhuj police, in February last year, had booked four people in an FIR in the Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) case where 68 girls were allegedly forced to strip to prove that they were not menstruating. 

The National Commission of Women (NCW) had also taken a suo moto cognizance of the matter and had set up an enquiry committee to probe the matter. Gujarat State Women Commission (GSWC) had also ordered the state police to conduct an investigation in the matter.

The Bhuj Police had booked the SSGI Principal Rita Raninga, hostel coordinator Anita Chauhan, hostel supervisor Rameelaben and peon Naynaben on charges of sexual harassment, extortion and criminal intimidation among other charges in the said case.

According to the students of the SSGI, the administration kept the girls in physical isolation during their monthly menstrual period, but the girls were asked to strip for the first time in February 2020.

The incident occurred after a hostel staff found a blood stained sanitary napkin on the hostel premises. The authorities wanted to identify the “culprit” who had “violated the menstrual cycle norms of the college”. The warden informed the principal of the college and asked her to take action. 

They made an announcement and asked all hostel residents to assemble in the lobby where the principal threatened to rusticate the students from the college if they protested against the check.  The girls were then called into the washroom where the female peon embarrassed the girls by asking them to remove their inner garments to check their menstrual status.

The Gujarat HC has scheduled further hearing on March 30 in the case.