The district administration of Buner in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa arrested 14 shopkeepers for selling women’s undergarments in the open, The Express Tribune reported on Wednesday. “We received complaints from locals about open showcasing of women’s undergarments, including bras, panties and other materials,” Buner Additional Assistant Commissioner Zahid Usman Kakakhel said. “Such practices are against the cultural norms and values of the region.”
Kakakhel said the shopkeepers also hooted to call out customers. He said he had personally seen shopkeepers call out women on the street to buy their undergarments. The commissioner added that displaying women’s undergarments openly for sale may also incite people to create a law and order problem in the region.
Kakakhel said he had arrested the shopkeepers for “spreading obscenity”. “We have arrested the shopkeepers in good faith because people did not like open selling of women’s undergarments.” However, the shopkeepers were released after they promised in the presence of local elders that they would not do so again.
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