Gurugram society shames female tenants for inviting men, accuses them of 'supporting prostitution'

In a shocking case of moral policing, a group of women were publicly shamed by the society members of Essel Towers in Gurugram for having male guests over in their flats, citing a rule that disallowed unmarried tenants from inviting people to their flats of the opposite sex, media reports said. The housing society accused the women tenants of supporting prostitution. In a video uploaded on social media, a member of the Resident’s Welfare Association (RWA) tells one of the women, “Please give me your landlord’s name. I will tell him you’re supporting prostitution in the society.”

The RWA later denied having said those words in the heated argument with the women. Speaking to The Times of India, Shivani Singh, a lawyer, said she joined fellow residents to support the women, who had been reduced to tears when the society guards refused to let their male friends enter. “We offered to help them. That is when we were told we are supporting prostitution,” Singh, who is also a tenant, was quoted as saying. Essel Towers had earlier grabbed the headlines in April when it had announced a ban on visitors of the opposite sex at rented accommodations occupied by single tenants in the society. The notice issued then, The Indian Express had reported_,_ with the subject ‘rules and regulations for residents and visitors’, had stated: “Where only girls are staying boy visitors shall not be allowed and where boys are staying girl visitors shall not be allowed.” The RWA members had justified the move, claiming that the step was taken after several incidents in which the male and female visitors created ruckus in the society. “If required, the tenants presently residing in the society may be asked to leave,” RWA president Rajeev Sinha had said, according to The Times of India.