In Mumbai, India, mannequins modeling lingerie will be banned from the public to discourage men from having impure thoughts.
Local officers believe that banning such apparel on mannequins will reduce the number of rape cases and sexual assaults.
They believe that mannequins dressed in lacy underwear, stockings and suspenders, had led to a “pollution of minds” among men in the city, which has India’s second-highest number of rapes, after Delhi.
Members of Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, however, said the mannequins were illegal and immoral. “I have raised this issue and want an end to showcasing of women’s bodies on Mumbai streets. Mannequins displaying two-piece clothes or other lingerie are corrupting the minds of people and are against the morals of this society. This affects the mindset of men towards women and they see her as a commodity. As members of the society, we have to understand the awkwardness a woman or a family in a market will feel standing in front of such a mannequin,” said Ritu Tawade, who proposed the ban.
“Our demand to ban the displaying of mannequins wearing scantly dresses is based on the Provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, which reads, ‘Indecent representation of women means the depiction in any manner of the figure of a woman; her form or body or any part thereof in such way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to, or denigrating women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals,'” she explained.
On the other hand, the opposition says that mannequins aren’t supposed to be blamed for these crimes.