Pune: Over 500 Women Choose Hymenoplasty To Reconstruct Hymen In Pune And Pimpri Chinchwad Yearly
The illegal status of "virginity" tests in India could never detach the taboo associated with them. Even after knowing that conducting "virginity" tests in India is illegal, few communities still stick to age-old traditions. And even those who do not follow the custom, the men have the notion in their head regarding the "virginity" of the wife.
To deal with the taboo associated with not being a "virgin", many girls choose hymenoplasty — a surgical procedure to reconstruct the hymen. In Pune, private clinics and hospitals yearly see an estimated 600 to 800 procedures in city and Pimpri Chinchwad.
As per the report by Pune Mirror, women between the ages of 22 to 40, including software engineers, bank employees, hospitality workers, and students, are increasingly opting for this surgery, not for health reasons but by choice, to undergo the procedure in Pune.
As per Practo, the average cost of Laser Hymenoplasty is Rs. 27,000, with prices starting at Rs. 20,000 and going up to Rs. 33,000 in Pune.
What is "virginity"?
The concept of "virginity" is a social and cultural construct—not a medically defined condition. It typically refers to someone, often a woman, who has not engaged in sexual intercourse, particularly vaginal intercourse. However, the idea of "virginity" is not universally defined and varies greatly across cultures, religions, and individual beliefs.
Several communities in India follow the ritual. In these tests conducted by family, usually family hands the boy a white sheet to spread under them while they have sex first time after the marriage so the sheet gets spotted with blood. And if the girl is a "virgin", there should be red spots on the bedsheet. If the girl passes this "test", she is declared "pure and virgin".
Thus, "virginity" is often incorrectly linked to the presence of an intact hymen. However, biologically, the hymen can stretch or tear due to many non-sexual activities (like sports or using tampons), and some women are even born without one and a medical test cannot reliably determine "virginity".
In 2018, A group of United Nations agencies has issued a joint statement calling for a ban on tests meant to assess the "virginity" of a girl or a woman, which was then a common practice in at least 20 countries.
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