Minor girls made to stand topless in Madurai temple; spark social media outrage

There has been outrage on social media after images of minor girls participating in a ritual where they are supposed to stay bare-chested for a fortnight at Madurai’s Yezhaikatha Amman temple were shared on social media.

According to an ANI report, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had issued notices to the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh chief secretaries and the director generals of police two days ago over allegations of continuance of the Devadasi system that includes offering girls as slaves to Goddess Mathamma.

Madurai (TN)-Minor girls take part in ritual at Yezhaikatha Amman temple,which include staying at temple bare-chested for a fortnight (25.9) pic.twitter.com/9Fnm9E4z8V

— ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2017

"Allegedly, as part of the ritual, the girls are dressed as a bride and once the ceremony is over, their dresses are removed by five boys, virtually leaving them naked. They are denied to live with their families and have the education. They are forced to live in Mathamma temple deemed to be like a public property and face sexual exploitation," the statement issued by NHRC said.

The commission observed that the allegations made in a complaint as well as a media report about the continuance of this practice were serious in nature, and if true, these amount to violation of human rights including rights to education, life and dignity besides children's rights.