Mobile Ban For Women In Indian Villages

Several villages in India have banned girls under 18 and single women from using mobile phones because they are "distracting".
The ban has reportedly spread from two villages in the Mehsana and Banaskantha areas of Gujarat to elsewhere in the state.
"The girls don't study properly if they have mobile phones, and they can get into all sorts of bad situations," said Ranjit Singh Thakor, president of Mehsana district council.
"Let them study, get married, then they can get their own phones. Until then, they can use their fathers' phones at home, if necessary."
Women at university are exempt from the ban.
It is not the first time such an order has been imposed in India.
Villages in the eastern state of Bihar imposed a similar one a few years ago, saying mobile phones were "debasing the social atmosphere" by causing young women to elope.
The ban has been criticised by human rights groups.
They say it is an assault on freedom that could be harmful to women and deny them access to protection.
Some villages are disobeying the order.