A Rape Survivor in India Must Balance a Heavy Rock on Her Head to Prove Her Purity | VICE News

A rape survivor in the Indian state of Gujarat is being asked to undergo a "purity test" that involves balancing an 88-pound stone on her head before she can live with her husband again.

Following the rape, the woman was reportedly denied an abortion and then forced to give up the child to the government. Both the husband and wife wish to live together again, but she isn't allowed to unless she passes the purity test.

The test, which is known as "agnipariksha" (meaning "test of fire"), is a cultural tradition in some of India's remote rural areas that requires women whose virtue has supposedly been tainted by sexual abuse or whose chastity has been questioned to complete this unusual and physically challenging stunt. It's unclear precisely how long she would have to keep the stone atop her cranium; her observers would await some sort of spiritual signal to show that she had passed.
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These incidents serve as a reminder that retrograde views remain deeply entrenched in some quarters of Indian society, Michael Kugelman, the senior associate for South and Southeast Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, told VICE News.

"India has global aspirations and wants to project itself prominently on the world stage, but back home it continues to face challenges that have dogged it for years, including patriarchal mentalities that have damaging consequences for women," he said.

A Rape Survivor in India Must Balance a Heavy Rock on Her Head to Prove Her Purity | VICE News