Hostel curfews protect girls from hormonal outbursts, says Maneka Gandhi

New Delhi: Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi came under fire following her comment on Monday that hostels should have an early curfew as youngsters are "hormonally challenged" and to protect them from such hormonal outbursts, a "lakshman rekha" needs to be drawn.

Gandhi made the statement in an interview with NDTV ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.

“As a parent who's sending a daughter to a college - or a son - I would expect her and him to be protected. And perhaps one of the protections is against themselves. When you are 16 or 17 you are also hormonally very challenged. So to protect you from your own hormonal outbursts, perhaps a lakshman rekha is drawn. It really is for your own safety,” said Gandhi, when asked by a college student the justification for having early curfew only for girls in hostels.

Maneka also said the security at women's college cannot be ensured by making "two Bihari gentlemen stand at gate with dandas. It has to be solved literally by giving time limits for everything. Give them (boys) two nights to go to the library and two nights for girls--if you want to go to library, that is".

She further said that the deadlines should be the same for both boys and girls. “Why should the boys be allowed to wander about in the campus after 6'o-clock? Let them also stay in and do their work.”

College students have been advocating the ‘Pinjra Tod’ movement – to break such curfews and let women reclaim public spaces.