London, May 11: : British government is facing demands for an official apology after confidential documents disclosed that more than 80 Indian women seeking entry to the UK were subjected to ‘virginity tests’ to check their marital status in the late 1970s.
The confidential Home Office files show that intimate examinations – used to “check the marital status” of Indian and Pakistani women coming to UK to marry – were on a far wider scale than previously known, The Guardian has reported.
According to the documents, 73 women underwent the tests in New Delhi and nine in Mumbai at British embassies between 1976 and 79 to weed out “bogus” immigration claims.
The fresh revelations have prompted demands that the government apologise to the individuals subjected to the practice.
–Agencies