BANGALORE, India -

A microphone in his hand, Christian evangelist Aldrin Bogi walks around a college auditorium and gives a fire and brimstone lecture to adolescent girls about the dangers of pre-marital sex. “Sex before marriage has many dangers associated with it,” Bogi tells his rapt audience.

“It leads to many complications and you stand a chance of ending up with deadly diseases. Say no to it, especially if you are a girl.” At the end of Bogi’s hour-long talk, more than 1000 girls of Mount Carmel College, based in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, signed a green card pledging sexual abstinence until they marry.

Bogi belongs to an outfit called Morelove, an organisation founded by three evangelists, which has launched a campaign on chastity in the high-tech city, home to more than 350,000 young technology workers." I found many young people being promiscuous without understanding the meaning of it,” Dominic Dixon, founder of Morelove, told AFP. “We came up with this idea of abstinence commitment to counter deadly diseases such as AIDS.”

“One way to prevent AIDS and other sexual diseases is to abstain from sex until marriage and keeping sex within the context of marriage,” said Dixon, whose campaign has so far netted 2,500 pledges of abstinence from women. The campaign is similar to those launched by US-based groups such as the Pure Love movement of the Roman Catholic Church. Morelove has counsellors based in colleges, schools and call centres in Bangalore where they advise teenaged girls and women on problems related to sex, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Influence of western culture

“Young Indians are getting adapted to a (Western) culture that is not Indian. When you adulterate an ideology it destroys the values we have as Indians. We want to promote the campaign as a PURE INDIA,” Dixon said. “When you look at young people employed in the call centres there is an increasing need for help. These people out there have so much money and liberty. They do not know how to handle what they have.”

In India, sexual intimacy such as kissing is never shown on television and rarely even in mainstream Bollywood films. Pre-marital sex is not discussed in public

But in Bangalore, riding a wave of prosperity as companies abroad outsource services such as software and call centres, couples can been seen kissing in parks and in bars. In the call centres, media reports talk of condoms blocking toilet drains and guards being posted outside toilets during nights.

The call for sexual purity had a profound effect on 16-year-old Savya Sherlin, who said that in any pre-marital relationship in India it was the girl who has to suffer the consequences. “I think it (abstinence) is very necessary for the youth of India. Sex is very common. Casually if you ask any friend, she will say she has slept with her boyfriend. They do not know what the consequences are,” the devout Christian said. “Girls have to be more aware of sex. They can be stuck with something, say unwanted pregnancy, and cannot carry on in life,” she said.

Holding a card, which read “I, Savya Sherlin, commit before God to save the gift of my sexuality from now until marriage regardless of my past”, Sherlin said it was a treasure. “Everytime I open my purse I see it and feels really nice. Marriage is something which organises everything for you, including sex,” she said. Her colleague, 17-year-old Shalat Nancy, said she signed the card because it made her remember her family values and the advice her parents gave her.

“Marriage is something that is holy. Sex is only good when you are married as it comes along with it. One has to cherish it within marriage. It is planned by God and it happens, Nancy said.

Morelove has people, mostly women, writing in and staying connected through their website www.morelove.in. The website lists the advantages of staying a virgin until marriage and has a section on counselling.

*DISCLAIMER: Aldrin Bogi is not an employee of MORELOVE. He was a guest speaker for one of the campaigns. The Campaign was the sole efforts of MORELOVE.