Bombay barmaids stage protest over dress codes

AT LEAST 10,000 barmaids crowded into a huge park in Bombay yesterday to protest against new government rules that impose dress rules and a code of conduct in nightclubs.

Hundreds of women, many with their faces veiled, poured out of buses and trucks and waded through slush and rainwater to make their way to a park in the heart of the city.

“Down with rules, down with rules, let us also live,” the protesters shouted, as bar owners slammed the government for what they called its “step motherly treatment” of their industry.