700 Brides get "Wooden bat" to beat drunk husbands

Wooden Bat (Mogri)

During a mass marriage ceremony on Monday, an Indian Rural Development Minister, Gopal Bhargava, gave bats to nearly 700 brides in his home town Garhakota in Sagar district.
Bhargava said:

“Whenever I visit any rural or urban area in my constituency, women complain about their husband’s drinking habit. They inform me that whatever little they earn is snatched away by their husband for alcohol. They (women) are also subjected to physical violence,”

“The idea of gifting mogri struck me when a woman asked me whether she should get her husband to stop drinking by beating him with this wooden plank,” the minister said.

“The government or police alone would not be able to solve this problem. For this, people have to come forward. There are many examples in history which show that when masses intervene, things have changed for the better,” he said.

The Minister feels this feat would help deal with the menace of alcoholism.