Shiv Sena corporator orders BMC to remove Illegal Lingerie Mannequins In Mumbai

The Shiv Sena has demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) remove unauthorised mannequins that display women’s lingerie in Mumbai. Sena corporator and BMC Law Committee chairperson Sheetal Mhatre also ordered the administration to take strict action against unauthorised mannequins in the city in the next 15 days and cancel license of those found at fault.

"The proposal has come time and again in the past six years in front of the Law Committee. It seems the BMC has no power to act against those who display illegal mannequins. There is a proper manner to display it. We have decided to act against those found guilty," Mhatre was quoted as telling news agency ANI.

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Mhatre said mannequin busts hanging on tree branches with lingerie on them make it “very embarrassing for women”. She added that there is no need to advertise lingerie as women know where to find it. "There is a proper way to display lingerie. We have decided to act against those found guilty," she said.

 Earlier also the issue was raised when in  2013, Shiv Sena corporator Ritu Tawde had demanded the removal of mannequins from lingerie shops in the city. The administration had informed them that there is no such provision in the MMC Act. The Licence Department said they can only take action similar to unauthorised hawking and nothing more.

Representatives on the city's local authority had voted to ban the models which they believed may reduce the number of rapes and sexual assaults.

Members of Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, however, said the mannequins were illegal and immoral. "I have raised this issue and want an end to showcasing of women's body on Mumbai streets. Mannequins displaying two-piece clothes or other lingerie are corrupting the minds of people and are against the morals of the society. This affects the mindset of men towards women and they see her as a commodity. As a member of the society, we have to understand the awkwardness a woman or a family in a market will feel standing in front of such a mannequin,"  had said Ritu Tawade in 2013.