LUCKNOW: At least half-a-dozen newly-wed brides belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities in Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh have raised the banner of revolt against their in-laws over lack of toilets in their household. The newly-wed brides have also returned to their parents' house barely within a couple of weeks of their marriage and are adamant not to go back (to their husbands' place) until toilets are built. 
 
 However, these girls can draw solace from the fact that Sulabh International has decided to redress their grievances, and would be constructing toilets in the said households. According to reports emanating from Kushinagar; Neelam, Kalawati, Shakina, Niranjan, Gudiya and Sita of Khesiya village of Kushinagar protested against their husbands and in-laws when they found that there were no toilets in their houses. After spending couple of days, they returned to their father's home. 
 
 After getting this news, Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak announced that toilets will be built at all the six household, where the newly-wed brides have raised the banner of revolt. Reacting to the development, Pathak termed the revolt by these brides as a bold and extraordinary. He said, "Such kind of rising incidents clearly show the changing mindset of girls over toilets. Now everybody is realising the importance of toilets." 
 
 He further added that the toilets would be constructed by Sulabh International free of cost without any delay, so that they (newly-wed brides) can return to their in-laws' place soon. They will also be honoured for their bold stand, he informed. 
 
 Earlier,a bride of UP's Maharajganj district, Priyanka Bharti, was honoured for taking bold steps for construction of a toilet in her in-laws' house. Now she works as a Sulabh motivator and also appeared with a Bollywood actress in a sanitation advertisement. "Priyanka motivated other women of her village to persuade their partners to build toilets in Maharajganj district," Pathak pointed out. 
 
 According to a World Bank report, lack of toilets and other proper sanitation costs India nearly $54 billion a year through hygiene-related illnesses, loss of productivity and a host of other problems. The menace is especially acute in rural areas, where women suffer the most due to lack of toilets. 
 
 "Women have to wait for darkness for the sake of privacy before attending to the call of nature. They have to leave before sunrise or wait for the sun to go down," Dr Pathak said, adding that a UN study in 2010 found more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet. 
 
 As Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged parliamentarians and the corporate sector to help build separate toilets for girls in schools, Pathak hoped India will become an open defecation free country soon. 
 
 "For the first time in the country's history, the issue of toilet for girls found mention in the speech of any prime minister," he said. Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the PM urged all parliamentarians to invest their MPLAD funds for building toilets in every school. ||||| Image caption The women said they would return only after their husbands had built proper toilets at home 
 
 Six newlywed women in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have returned to their parents because their husbands' homes had no toilets. 
 
 The women, all from Khesiya village in Kushinagar district, said they would return only after their husbands had built proper toilets at home. 
 
 Nearly half of India's 1.2 billion people have no toilets at home. 
 
 Campaigners say the problem is acute in rural India and it is the women who suffer most. 
 
 One of the brides, Gudiya, told BBC Hindi that it was very troublesome to go to the fields. 
 
 "My parents have a toilet at home, but there is no toilet in my husband Ramesh Sharma's home. Going outdoors was a big hassle, so I fought with him and returned to my parents." 
 
 Neelam Sharma, Sakina, Seeta, Nazrum Nisa and Kalavati are the others who have left their marital homes for the same reason. 
 
 Ashima Parveen, who lives in Khesiya village, said all six women had wed in the past year or 18 months. 
 
 "In villages, it is not easy for a new bride to step out of her home because here people believe in the purdah [covering the face with a veil]. In this weather when it's raining and there is water logging everywhere, it gets very difficult for these women to go out to the fields." 
 
 A lack of toilets also exposes women to a risk of attack. 
 
 In his Independence Day speech last Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to end open defecation. 
 
 "We are in the 21st Century and yet there is still no dignity for women as they have to go out in the open to defecate and they have to wait for darkness to fall," he said. 
 
 "Can you imagine the number of problems they have to face because of this?" he asked.
– At least six newlywed brides in India have left their husbands because their new homes lacked a toilet, reports the Times of India. The six returned to their parents' homes in protest and vow not to go back until their in-laws get proper plumbing. The newspaper describes the women's actions as raising "the banner of revolt," because the issue is anything but trivial in India. The UN recently warned about the widespread problem of open defecation in poor areas, and India's prime minister vowed last week to tackle the issue, notes the BBC. "We are in the 21st century and yet there is still no dignity for women as they have to go out in the open to defecate and they have to wait for darkness to fall," said Narendra Modi in his speech. It's not just a sanitary issue, either. The gang rape of two teen cousins in India earlier this year occurred when they went to fields near their homes in the evening. A group called Sulabh International has promised to install toilets for the six newlyweds at no cost, with its founder hailing "the changing mindset" in the country. (A recent fashion shoot in India provoked fury because it was seemingly inspired by a gang rape.)