'Restoring' virginity: Govt hospitals see rise in cases of hymen 'repair'

Madhvi Chhabra (name changed), 26, seemed to have had her life sorted out where she had chosen her life-partner and had become sexually active with him. But a few years into the marriage, the man cheated on her and left. The next thing she knew, her parents were looking for another man for her from their own community. But in order to make this arranged marriage work, her family led her to go to a doctor to get her virginity 'restored'.

Madhvi's is not an isolated case. At the Lok Nayak Hospital, one of the few government hospitals that do this procedure, there were at least two to three cases a month in 2017, and one surgery has already been conducted in 2018. There is a 45-60 day waiting period to get the procedure done here in this new year. In the last three years, the cases of 'Hymenoplasty', or 'Re-virgination', has increased multiplefold in the country, where women are going under the knife only to 'prove' their 'virginity'.

"It is a half-an-hour procedure through a hymen can break from various other reasons — including physical activities like horse-riding, sports etc.," says Dr P S Bhandari, Head of Plastic Surgery, Lok Nayak Hospital.

"Times have changed and women have become more aware. The awareness though, good or bad, brings them here asking to get their virginity restored. This is because some of these young girls are from conservative families and are just scared after their break-ups with boyfriends/partners," he adds.

Apart from societal pressure, another reason to get the hymen 'repaired' is a common belief that men prefer virgin wives. In November 2017, a 19-year-old American model auctioned her virginity for $3.9 million and recently, on January 3, another 23-year-old woman put up her virginity for auction.

Not just globally, despite the increased sexual-activeness in India, several surveys show that a huge percentage of men still look for a virgin partner.

"Private clinics have been doing this kind of surgeries for a while and charging hefty amounts but it is still a new trend in the government institutions due to identification problems," says Dr RP Narayan, Head of Plastic Surgery, Safdarjung Hospital. "But women are getting conscious and they know that it is available in the market," he adds.