On Wednesday, the Kerala High Court questioned night curfews for women and girls in a hearing plea filed by five women students of Kozhikode Medical College against a government order from 2019 that restricted the movement of female hostel inmates after 9.30 PM. The court went on to ask the state government to ensure women and girls be given the same freedom as is given to boys and men.
Referring to the matter, Justice Ramachandran said that there is no need to fear the night and that it is the government’s responsibility to ensure safety for everyone after dark. 'Girls also have to live in this society. Will heads fall off after 9.30 PM? Will mountains collapse? The government has an obligation to keep the campus safe,' said the court. The court added that it was problematic for men who should be locked up and questioned why only women or girls needed to be controlled and why a curfew of 9.30 PM has been fixed only for the women in hostels of the medical college.
In a previous hearing, the court said that ‘in the modern times, any patriarchism - even in the guise of offering protection based on gender - would have to be frowned upon because girls, as much as boys, are fully capable of taking care of themselves; and if not, it must be the endeavour of the State and the Public Authorities to make so competent, rather than being locked.’
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