印度北方邦的一个地区议会近日发布公告，禁止该地区未婚女性携带手机，希望此举能够阻止当地不同种姓间的男女交往过密甚至私奔。

A local council in northern India has banned unmarried women from carrying mobile telephones to halt a series of illicit¹（违法的） romances between partners from different castes（世袭的社会等级） , media reports said Wednesday.

The Baliyan council in Uttar Pradesh state decided² to act after at least 23 young couples ran away and got married over the last year against their parents' wishes.

"The panchayat（村务委员会） (assembly) was convinced that the couples planned their elopement（私奔，潜逃） over their cell phones," village elder Jatin Raghuvanshi told the Calcutta Telegraph.

The rules of inter-caste marriages are complicated and extremely rigid³ in many rural communities in India, with some lovers even murdered in "honour killings⁴" by relatives trying to protect their family's reputation.

"All parents were told to ensure their unmarried daughters do not use cell phones. The boys can do so, but only under their parents' monitoring," said Satish Tyagi, a spokesman for the village assembly.

Caste discrimination is banned in India but still pervades⁵（遍及，弥漫） many aspects of daily life, especially outside the cities.

Traditional Hindu society breaks down into brahmins（婆罗门） (priests and scholars), kshatriya（刹帝利） (soldiers), vaishya（吠舍） (merchants) and shudra（首陀罗） (labourers). Below the caste system are the Dalits, formerly⁶ known as "Untouchables".

Caste categories often determine Indians' life prospects⁷, and conservative families will only marry within their own caste sub-division.