Housewife porn shocks India

NEW DELHI – IN THE land of the Kama Sutra, it was the cartoon escapades of a buxom, sexually liberated married woman that finally proved a broken taboo too far for the Indian government censors.

Savita Bhabhi, the star of her eponymous online porn strip, had titillated up to 60 million visitors monthly until the government asked Internet service providers to block the site in June.

Now she lives on in the heated debate surrounding her sudden demise. The government issued the orders under laws normally applied to websites deemed to be a threat to national security, prompting fans to question why the axe fell on a cartoon featuring a libidinous housewife rather than the more explicit material easily accessible on the Internet.

While not entirely Indian in its creation – Savita Bhabhi is the brainchild of Puneet Agarwal, a 38-year-old British businessman of Indian-origin – observers say the storyline may have hit too close to home for government censors.

‘Bhabhi’ means ‘sister-in-law’ in Hindi – specifically an older brother’s wife – and the name was ostensibly chosen to highlight her status as a married woman, making her promiscuity more scandalous.

Still, it is unclear whether the government was more outraged by what it viewed as an assault on Indian values or by the cartoon’s graphic depictions of sex.

Pornography is a thorny issue in India, but the private cubicles fitted in internet cafes show that, despite the prudish veneer, there is an appetite for x-rated material in this culturally conservative nation.

A survey conducted last year by India Today magazine found that three out of five men and one out of five women approved of pornography, which is illegal but widely available in India.

From softcore magazines to underground movie theatres offering adult entertainment for labourers and truck drivers in regional languages, there has always been an element of secrecy involved in procuring and consuming so-called ‘blue’ goods in the country. — AFP

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