 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. 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. 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. "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. 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.
– 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.)