Daughters-in-law abuse elderly more, says HelpAge India study

Daughters-in-law abuse elderly more, says HelpAge India study 

Daughters-in-law are the worst abusers of the elderly in homes in Thiruvananthapuram, a study conducted by HelpAge India says.

The study, covering 24 cities including the Kerala capital, released here on Friday, says that daughters-in-law constituted 44 per cent of the abusers, followed by daughters (32 per cent) and sons (24 per cent). The study was released to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Saturday.

The report says that the elders’ perception of abuse constituted neglect (38 per cent), economic exploitation (27 per cent), and disrespect (35 per cent). Among the abused, 24 per cent made an attempt to report it, their first choice being a community leader. Their second choice was the local police and the third choice relatives, friends, and NGOs.

Those who did not report abuse did so in order to maintain confidentiality of family matters; ignorance about the best way to deal with the problem; or lack of confidence in the ability of the person or agency.

Twenty two per cent of those surveyed reported experiencing abuse, 34 per cent of them experienced abuse for three to five years. For 33 per cent of the respondents, abuse was a daily experience. Among those who reported abuse, 89 per cent of the elderly belong to age group of 60-70 years, 10 per cent to 71-80 years. The mean age of those who reported abuse was 65 years. Forty five per cent of respondents were postgraduates, 25 per cent graduates. Among them, 85 per cent were married and 14 per cent were widows or widowers, the study says.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/daughtersinlaw-abuse-elderly-more-says-helpage-india-study/article4817075.ece 

SC cautions on slapping murder charge in dowry death case

SC cautions on slapping murder charge in dowry death case 

HDFC Bank’s 30 year home loan New Delhi, July 4: In dowry death cases, the trial courts should not mechanically frame a murder charge against the accused unless there is prima facie evidence supporting the finding, the Supreme Court has said. "The question whether it is murder punishable under Section 302 IPC or a dowry death punishable under Section 304B IPC depends upon the fact, situation and the evidence in the case," said the apex court bench of Justice TS Thakur and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai in a recent judgment. "If there is evidence whether direct or circumstantial to prima facie support a charge under Section 302 IPC, the trial court can and indeed ought to frame a charge of murder punishable under Section 302 IPC, which would then be the main charge and not an alternative charge as is erroneously assumed in some quarters," said Justice Thakur pronouncing the judgment. If the main charge of murder was not proved against the accused at the trial, the court could look into the evidence to determine whether the alternative charge of dowry death punishable under Section 304B was established, the apex court said. The ingredients constituting the two offences were different, thereby demanding appreciation of evidence from the perspective relevant to such ingredients, the bench said. A charge under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not a substitute for a charge of murder punishable under Section 302 of the IPC, the court said. The court said this while clarifying its earlier order of Nov 22, 2010, which was being "mechanically" read to invoke the charge of murder in every dowry death case. The apex court by its interim order had directed all trial courts to ordinarily add Section 302 of the IPC to the charge under Section 304B "so that death sentences could be imposed in such heinous and barbaric crimes against women". Setting aside a Delhi High Court order upholding the addition of murder charges by the trial court in pursuance to the apex court's Nov 22, 2010, interim order, Justice Thakur and Justice Desai said: "That was not, in our opinion, the true purport of the order passed by this court." Clarifying the Nov 22, 2010, interim order, the apex court said: "The direction was not meant to be followed mechanically and without due regard to the nature of the evidence available in the case." "All that this court meant to say was that in a case where a charge alleging dowry death is framed, a charge under Section 302 can also be framed if the evidence otherwise permits," the judgment said. It is common ground that a charge under Section 304B IPC is not a substitute for a charge of murder punishable under Section 302. The court said this while addressing the question whether the high court was justified in affirming the trial court decision to add murder charge against Jasvinder Saini and others who were under penal provisions for punishment for cruelty against woman by her husband and his relatives, dowry death and criminal breach of trust. Initially while framing the charges, the trial court did not find any evidence to invoke the murder charge but added it after the apex court's Nov 22, 2010, interim order. Saini and his relatives were named as accused in the case of his wife Chandni's death under unnatural circumstance.

http://www.samachar.com/SC-cautions-on-slapping-murder-charge-in-dowry-death-case-nheuM3hdbbj.html

Wives Are Cheating 40% More Than They Used to, but Still Half as Much as Men

Wives Are Cheating 40% More Than They Used to, but Still Half as Much as Men

According to recent data from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey, American wives were nearly 40 percent more likely to be cheating on their spouses in 2010 than in 1990. The number of husbands reporting infidelity, meanwhile, stayed constant at 21 percent. Could women soon be catching up with male indiscretions in the world of infidelity? Yanyi Djamba, director of the AUM Center for Demographic Research, certainly seems to think so, telling Bloomberg that "the gender gap is closing" and explaining that men have been more likely to blame adultery on an unhappy marriage.
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What could be driving the rise of female cheating? Explanations abound, ranging from women's increased economic independence over the past several decades (women "can afford the potential consequences of an affair, with higher incomes and more job prospects," argued one sociologist) to  cultural shifts to the Internet (including but not limited to dating and extramarital meetup sites). The user data for one such service, Ashley Madison, more or less confirms the data, at least in terms of age brackets:

The ratio of males to females is greatest among users older than 65, with 14 men for every woman. The ratio is 4-to-1 among users in their 50s, 3-to-1 for spouses in their 40s, and evenly divided among people using Ashley Madison in their 30s.

But there's no word on whether or not the NORC survey contains data on same-sex marriages — which, of course, did not exist in the '80s — and how the patterns may change as more and more gay couples are legally able to <strike>commit adultery</strike> get married. What we do know is that executives and managers are more likely to cheat than any other career, supporting the notion that wealth and power plays a role in encouraging infidelity — but then was that ever really in doubt?

http://news.yahoo.com/wives-cheating-40-more-used-still-half-much-193141903.html