NEW DELHI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- India's rights panel National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the local governments of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in southern India over parading young girls naked inside temples, officials said Wednesday.
The girls, according to the NHRC, are forcibly taken to the temple of Goddess Mathamma for offering in Thiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu and adjoining places.
As part of the ritual, the girls are dressed like brides and once the ceremony is over, their dresses will be removed by five boys, virtually leaving them naked.
The girls are denied to live with their families and receive school education. They are forced to live in Mathamma temple like a public property and often face sexual exploitation, NHRC said.
The practice is a form of Devadasi system and is reportedly still practiced in some parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
In ancient Devadasi practice, parents used to marry one of their daughters to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reach puberty.
"The commission has observed that the allegations made in complaint as well as a media report about the continuance of this practice are serious in nature, and if true, these amount to violation of human rights," said an official at the rights panel.
"Notices have been issued to the chief secretaries and the director generals of police of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and to the district magistrates and superintendents of police of Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu and Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, calling for reports within four weeks on the matter."
