Panaji:
Rave parties should be completely banned in Goa and scantily-clad women should be dropped from government advertisements promoting tourism outside the state, Goa's only woman legislator has said.
Speaking during a discussion in the Assembly on Thursday, Congress legislator Victoria Fernandes claimed that rave parties rampantly encouraged the use of drugs among tourists and local youngsters.
"Rave parties create a fearful atmosphere. Such night parties should be completely banned. They are having an evil impact on society," she said.
Drug-laced rave parties are a common occurrence on several beaches along the state's 105-km coastline, especially along beaches like Anjuna, Morjim, Arambol and Agonda.
The legislator from St Cruz legislative constituency, on the outskirts of Panaji, also criticised the Goa government's tourism-related advertisements, which, she said, depicted women in bad light.
"The Goa government's ads should not have scantily-clad women to attract tourists to the state. It is a dirty, insensitive trend which has to be stopped," Fernandes said.