Reuters

THE NUMBER GAME: According to the survey, the average age of the first sexual encounter has fallen to 18 years from 23.

New Delhi, Nov 6: Nearly two-thirds of young Indian men expect the woman they marry to be a virgin, but nearly half have had sex with prostitutes, according to a poll.

The survey of more than 2,500 men aged between 16 and 25 conducted by India Today magazine across 11 cities found that 49 per cent claimed to have had sex with a sex worker while 37 per cent said they had had a homosexual experience.

But 63 per cent of young men in India said they expected the women they married to be a virgin.

The average age of their first sexual encounter appears to be falling to 18 years from 23 in a similar survey two years ago, but the use of condom is on the rise, the report said.

More than half of the men surveyed said they always used a condom. Fourteen per cent of those surveyed said they had had sex with a member of their own family.