Bombay high court questions early release of women jailed for murder

Bombay high court questions early release of women jailed for murder

MUMBAI: Can a person sentenced to life imprisonment for murder face less punishment just because she is a woman? The Bombay high court on Tuesday questioned the gender discrimination in the state government's new prison rules.

"This is a dangerous trend," a division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Gautam Patel said. "Reservations [for women] can be understood, but showing leniency in punishment on the basis of gender cannot be accepted."

The court asked advocate general Darius Khambata to assist the court on the matter when it hears the case on September 19. The court was hearing a plea for early release from prison by a woman convicted of murdering her husband on the basis of the rules introduced by the government in 2010.

While a woman murder convict sent to prison for life faces minimum imprisonment of between 18 years and 20 years in jail with remissions, men face 20 years to 30 years, depending on the gravity of the crime. Remissions are extra days credited for each day spent in jail.

"Prima facie, we do not see any positive discrimination [in the rules to benefit female convicts] which either improves the dignity or status of women in society," the judges said.

The court pointed out that they had observed many reports in newspapers about women committing serious crimes, including being involved in sexual assault cases. "While the new rules introduce stringent punishment for crimes against women, in the same breath someone who has wronged another woman can get off lightly because of her gender," the judges said.

The court questioned the state on the justification for such a classification on the basis of gender.

"A case-to-case-basis decision on the prison term can be taken by going into the circumstances, but a classification solely on the basis of gender is a dangerous trend," the court said. "The rules do not meet the purpose that they will not be encouraged to commit crimes. Instead, it gives a licence to women that because of their DNA they can get off easily even if they commit a serious crime."

In 2010, the state government had introduced changes to the guidelines for premature release of prisoners under the 14-year rule. According to law, a punishment of life imprisonment awarded to an accused means jail till death. Yet, depending on the severity of the crime, the rules allow a person to be released early from prison once he completes 14 years of actual imprisonment.

The new rules created a new category for women convicts. Those who had committed murder were eligible for release from jail once they had served 18 years, including remissions. If the murder was premeditated, they could be released after 20 years with remissions. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Bombay-high-court-questions-early-release-of-women-jailed-for-murder/articleshow/22304543.cms 

India & A Blonde Tourist: An alternate account

Sometime back some lady called Michaella made indian mens like villain for nothing might be she was feminists & local feminists made her to write lot of things wrong about indian males.

But here you go with gr8 article which tells positive signs about Indian males...

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India & A Blonde Tourist: An alternate account

Jane von Rabenau  New Delhi, September 2, 2013 | UPDATED 18:15 IST

Jane von Rabenau

I have read Michaela Cross's experiences in India several times by now. That makes me no different from a million plus people who too have read her blog.

What's different is that I could have gone through the same harrowing experience as her, because I too have been touring India extensively, alone. And yes, I too am white, in my 20s and a foreign female.

I have traveled alone to many parts of India and am now living in Delhi for over two months. I am overwhelmed with the positive and exciting experiences I have made and the hospitality of Indians towards me.

Why has India been so different to me? Have I been simply lucky? Or have I looked at India very differently to get a very different treatment for myself?

Let me compare notes with some of Michaela's experiences to explain what I am saying.

Do Indian men stare at me? Yes, they do... and so do Indian women and kids, and other European travelers.

They stare with the same curiosity that I get stared at in so many other countries I have traveled to in Africa, South America, Eastern and Southern Europe and other Asian countries.

I guess that is a natural reaction to somebody considered exotic.

When I took my Eritrean friend to my grandmother's village in northern Germany, where foreigners are a rarity, she attracted everyone's looks, some containing a hint of racism.

The stares I got from Italian men were typically accompanied with a "Ciao Bella!" This flirtatious attitude is often welcomed and accepted as part of Italy's macho culture.

In India, it is seen as sexual harassment. Why is an Italian man's stare a compliment and an Indian man's stare a curse, bordering on threat?

Do people take photos of me? Yes, they do... but I take many more photos of them!

We Western travellers typically shoot every monument, sight and many people they come across in India, mostly without asking for permission.

These pictures are posted in our Facebook page or travel blogs. But if an Indian takes a photo of a European, we get irritated and feel our privacy is invaded.

Again, isn't there a double standard here? A white skin's privilege is a brown skin's punishment?

Am I the centre of attention at social events? Yes, I am. Thanks to the immense hospitality of Indians, I had the opportunity to attend five weddings and several festivals.

When I was dancing, lots of people wanted to dance with me, and some also took photos and videos of me.

I was the only white person at these functions, and most people had never seen a white woman dancing to Bollywood tunes.

In my case, the attention I got in these functions was no different from the curious and welcoming attention I received at a wedding party in Kosovo.

Did I have any negative experiences with Indian men? Yes, the worst I had was a businessman in my Air India flight from London try to grope my thigh.

But my positive experiences far outweigh the negative ones, even with men. I only had to deal with people trying to sell me stuff and not leaving me alone; and people staring at me.

However, putting myself in the position of a crafts seller trying to feed his family, and knowing that there is a chance that after annoying a tourist enough, he will give in and buy something, I would also prioritise my family over the tourist.

I have been invited to many Indian homes and have been offered food by the poorest families.

I have hardly ever had to stay in hotels as Indians have welcomed me to stay at their family homes, and then organised me to stay at their wife's cousin's friend's house etc...

On many occasions, dhaba owners or fruit sellers insisted on not taking money from me for the food as I am a guest of India.

Can one generalise my account of India? No, one cannot.

In fact, no one's account can and should be generalised -- one sixth of humanity lives in India; there are many Indias in India; every traveller interacts only with a small fraction of Indians, and can thus only give a tiny fragment of the true Indian experience -- whatever that is.

But I believe that we make our experiences as much as our experiences make us.

I now know Hindi fairly well, but even when I didn't, just speaking a few phrases of Hindi, smiling and being open to chat with people around triggered people's hospitality - and that instilled me with a sense of security.

I have generally been more adapting, less suspicious and more trusting.

For instance, on a recent visit to Kasauli with a female English friend, we wore Kurtis and bangles and joked and chatting with every Indian we interacted with-- chaiwalas, pandits, other Indian tourists.

We started chatting with clothes shop owner and had chai with him. A friend of his insisted on showing us around Kasauli and inviting us to his village.

We ended up having dinner with his family - some delicious daal, sabzi and chawal and looked at his beautiful family photo album.

I feel that many a traveller would have a much more exciting, and "real" experience of India if they would just be a more open and friendly towards Indians.

A very thin line divides intrusion from friendliness. I can interpret one as the other, depending on whether I am apprehensive or open.

I am not suggesting India is a heaven for women. You don't need to hear from me the depressing daily occurrences of molestation, sexual assaults and female infanticide.

However, my experience of India and behaviour of Indians towards me has been incredibly positive. Many of my friends had similar experience.

I hope India treats more foreign travellers like it has treated me. Rather than the treatment Michaela received.

Soon, I will get back to London to continue my Bachelor's at LSE. I will have to adjust to a life without any special attention - no ghaar ka khaana from chaiwalas, no chaat papri, no Bollywood dancing and no poojas.

Maybe I will refuse to readjust and come back to India next year.

(Jane von Rabenau, 21, grew up in Frankurt, Germany. She is studying Philosophy and Economics at London School of Economics. She is on a summer internship to Delhi, working in the area of development cooperation. She has travelled across India and many parts of the world extensively)

Here is a link to Michaela Cross' blog that stirred the debate:http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1023053

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-and-a-blonde-tourist-an-alternate-account/1/305095.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-and-a-blonde-tourist-an-alternate-account/1/305095.html

Marriage Amendment Bill - Draconian Law

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAzVwu1oBXM

Bill weathers‘anti-men’ cry

SOBHANA K.

New Delhi, Aug. 26: The Rajya Sabha today passed amendments to the divorce law but not before several male members dubbed them anti-men and an assault on “human rights”.

The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha in the last session, promises women a larger share of their husband’s property during divorce. (See chart)

Trinamul Congress member Derek O’Brien led the charge, asking: “Why empower women at the expense of men?”

He argued the bill should be made gender-neutral, giving men the same rights as women. Replace the words “wife” and “husband” in the bill with “spouse”, O’Brien said.

Samajwadi Party member Arvind Kumar Singh claimed the bill could be misused like the anti-dowry law.

“If you read this bill, it seems that husbands alone are responsible for divorce. This law is being made to enslave men. One party should not get disproportionately high benefits while the other stands to lose all,” Singh said.

While many women MPs protested against this logic, Vandana Chavan of the Nationalist Congress Party stood on the men’s side.

“There are many women who may be earning the same as their husbands or sometimes even more. We have to fight not just for women’s rights but for human rights. Why make the current generation of men suffer?” Chavan said.

Many members wanted know how unemployed husbands fared in the bill.

“If the husband has no property, does he have a right over the (wife’s) property in case of a divorce?” asked Bahujan Samaj Party member Narender Kumar Kashyap.

Bharat Kumar Raut of the Shiv Sena said the bill would bring family pressure on women not to get a divorce. “Families will think that despite couples having differences, it would be better to stay together to avoid a division of the property,” Raut said.

DMK member Kanimozhi defended the bill stoutly.

“That women will misuse the bill and use it (to seek) revenge against their husbands and mothers-in-law seems to be the dominant thought here. When we have 50 per cent women in this House, we will talk about making such bills gender-neutral,” she said.

BJP members, however, ignored the issue as they pressed their long-standing demand for a uniform civil code. Party member Najma Heputallah accused the government of ignoring the plight of the country’s Muslim women.

Law minister Kapil Sibal said the bill was obviously pro-women and would send a clear message that Parliament was on the women’s side.

“Women’s rights have to be protected. We are in a patriarchal society. Around the world, while women constitute 50 per cent of the population, they own only 2 per cent of global assets,” Sibal said.

Addressing members’ concern about unemployed husbands, Sibal said men were entitled to alimony “under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act”. The bill was cleared as presented by the government.

The Rajya Sabha later discussed the Mumbai gang rape, with junior home minister R.P.N. Singh making a statement.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130827/jsp/nation/story_17277726.jsp#.Uh4seD8vfQ0 

Tamil Nadu tops country in cases of domestic violence

Tamil Nadu tops country in cases of domestic violence

CHENNAI: Disturbing statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that domestic violence is much more prevalent in Tamil Nadu than any other state in the country.
The NCRB data shows the state registered 3,838 cases of domestic violence in 2012 — or 84% of all complaints (4,567) of domestic violence recorded across the country.

Tamil Nadu recorded the most cases of domestic violence in the country, 3,983, last year too, a finding cited by minister for women and child development Krishna Tirath on August 14.
Experts offer several reasons for the high numbers in the state. These include greater awareness about the law in Tamil Nadu and due to an increase in education among women. Police officers, however, say tolerance levels are plunging among young couples, and this has led to a spurt in complaints.
Most complainants are women from middle-class and upper middle-class families.
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was enacted by the Union government in 2005 to protect women from violence at home.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-08-19/india/41424743_1_domestic-violence-act-tamil-nadu-ncrb 

UP accounts for over 80% of illegal arrests in India

UP accounts for over 80% of illegal arrests in India

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh's high-handedness is not just reflected in the arbitrary transfer of officers such as Durga Sakthi Nagpal and slapping of bogus cases against dissenters (as in the case of Dalit scholar Kanwal Bharti), it can also be seen in the massive number of illegal arrests made by the UP police.

According to National Human Rights Commission data, UP records an overwhelming majority of illegal arrests in the country, accounting for more than 80% of all such cases. In fact, it tips its nearest competitor, Delhi, by over 3,000% almost year after year.

In the past three years (April 2010 to July 2013), UP accounted for 3,397 illegal arrests out of 3,950 such cases recorded across India by NHRC. The count for the rest of the 27 states and seven union territories put together was just 553.

"What do you expect from a state where many politicians themselves are criminals? How do you expect them to have any respect for law and order or human rights?" says Colin Gonsalves of Human Rights Law Network.

From April 2012 to March 2013, NHRC recorded 703 cases of illegal arrests in all. As many as 589 of these were against the UP police. UP accounts for 161 of 192 illegal arrests in '13

Its closest rivals in this dubious distinction, Uttarakhand and Delhi, were way behind with 14 cases each. Data for this period shows only two other states where the number of illegal arrests had crossed double figures — Karnataka (12) and Andhra Pradesh (10).

In 2013 too (April 1 to July 20), UP accounted for 161 such cases of the total of 192 recorded by NHRC in the entire country. Its closest rival, Delhi, was again was behind with only five cases.

Year 2011 was the worse for UP, with the state police being at the wrong end of the law 1,101 times of the total of 1,249 cases registered by NHRC. Delhi again took the second spot with 38 cases. In 2010 too UP recorded 1,546 such cases of the total of 1,716. These are cases that were brought to NHRC's notice. The real figures for both UP and other states are bound to be higher as many complainants go to state human rights commissions instead of knocking at NHRC's doors.

Conversely, sources say, UP being closer to Delhi, more people may tend to approach NHRC in the capital. But if that was true, neighbouring Haryana would also show a high number of illegal arrests. However,Haryana's figures for many years have remained in single digits.  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/UP-accounts-for-over-80-of-illegal-arrests-in-India/articleshow/21853340.cms 

India saw 1,35,445 suicides last year

India saw 1,35,445 suicides last year 

As many as 1,35,445 people committed suicide in the country last year. Statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that excluding West Bengal, 79,773 men and 40,715 women had taken the extreme step. West Bengal, where 14,957 suicides were reported, did not provide classification statistics to the NCRB.

The rate of suicide last year stands at 11.2 cases for a population of I lakh. As per rounded off figures provided by the NCRB, on an average, 15 suicides an hour or 371 suicides a day had taken place. When scrutinised further, it reveals 242 male and 129 female suicides a day.

Tamil Nadu tops the list with 16,927 suicides, followed by Maharashtra with 16,112 suicides, West Bengal 3rd and Andhra Pradesh following it with 14,328 suicides. The 28 States together accounted for 1,32,667 cases and the seven Union Territories together for 2,778 suicides. In the administrative division of Lakshadweep, only one person committed suicide. In Delhi UT, it was 1,899. Among the cities of the country, Chennai topped with 2,183 cases.

The rate of suicide at the administrative division of Puducherry was the highest in the country, 36.8 for every 1 lakh persons. With a population close to 15 lakh as per estimated mid-year population, 541 persons committed suicide in Puducherry in 2012. Sikkim follows with a rate of 29.1 per cent and Tamil Nadu 3rd with a rate of 24.9 closely followed by Kerala with 24.3. The national average stands at 11.2.

Family problems accounted for 84 suicides a day on an average. The NCRB figures show that social and economic causes have led most of the men to commit suicides whereas emotional and personal causes have mainly driven women to end their lives. The percentage of suicides by married men was 71.6% and married women 67.9%.

One suicide out of every six suicides was committed by a housewife. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu plus Maharashtra have together accounted for 50.6% of the suicides reported in the country. The highest number of suicide pacts was reported from Rajasthan, 74, followed by Andhra Pradesh (18), Kerala (12), and Gujarat (3), out of 109 such cases reported.

Thirty-seven per cent of the victims took the extreme step by hanging themselves, 29.1 per cent by consuming poison and 8.4 per cent by self-immolation. Last year, 50,062 persons hanged themselves in the country and the majority were men at 34,631. The highest number of such cases was reported from Maharashtra, 7,055 followed by Kerala with 5,629 cases and Tamil Nadu 3rd with 5393 cases.

Nineteen thousand four hundred and forty five persons committed suicide by consuming poison and 12,286 of them were men. Tamil Nadu topped the list with 3,459 cases, followed by Karnataka with 3,173 cases. The number of self-immolation cases was 11,438, the majority being women — 7,326. In this category too, Tamil Nadu topped with 2,349 cases and 1,481 of them were women. Maharashtra followed with 1,674 such cases.

From among the cities, the highest number of self immolation cases was reported from Kanpur (285), followed by Chennai (282). By jumping in front of speeding vehicles, especially trains, 4,259 persons committed suicide and the majority of them were men (3,554). Andhra Pradesh topped this list with 1,101 cases.

As per NCRB statistics, 1,35,585 persons committed suicide in the country in 2011. NCRB statistics from 2002 shows that the annual suicide cases in the country always stood above the 1 lakh mark and the highest number of cases was in 2011. In 2002, it was 1,10,417 cases. 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-saw-135445-suicides-last-year/article4849710.ece