News Analysis India

Tag: crimes against women

  • Woman alleges rape by ward boy in Madhya Pradesh govt hospital; FIR registered

    By PTI
    INDORE: A 50-year-old woman patient was allegedly raped by a ward boy at a government hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district, police said on Tuesday.

    The incident took place at the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital (MYH) on July 28 and an FIR was registered against the 32-year-old absconding accused on Monday night, Sanyogitaganj police station in-charge Rajiv Tripathi said.

    The woman, a resident of neighbouring Dhar district, had come to the MYH for dialysis on July 28 when the ward boy allegedly took her to an isolated room for changing clothes and committed the offence, the official said.

    When she resisted, the accused raised the fear of social stigma to dissuade her from approaching police and got her admitted to a private ward of the hospital for two days.

    Later, the ward boy gave Rs 1,000 to the woman and sent her back home, the official said.

    Two days later, the woman informed about the alleged incident to media and a video of the same surfaced on social media.

    After the incident came to light, the police case registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 376 (rape), the official said, adding that efforts were on to trace the absconding accused.

  • BSF personnel arrested for ‘raping’ Bangladeshi woman in custody

    By PTI
    BANGAON: A BSF personnel has been arrested for allegedly raping a Bangladeshi woman, nabbed while illegally crossing over into India, on the pretext of interrogating her inside a camp of the paramilitary force in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, police said on Friday.

    Acting on a complaint lodged by the survivor at Gaighata police station, the accused BSF sub-inspector was arrested on Thursday, a senior police officer said.

    “The incident took place on the night of July 27. After it came to light, the BSF itself handed over the jawan to the local police and placed him under suspension,” a senior officer of the paramilitary force said.

    The survivor and another woman, both hailing from Bangladesh’s Gopalganj, were arrested while illegally crossing over into India.

    As per the survivor’s police complaint, the two women were arrested by personnel of the 158th battalion of the BSF while they were illegally entering India through the Jhaudanga border.

    “She has alleged that the BSF personnel took both of them to the Kharer Math camp of the paramilitary force for questioning. When nobody was around, the accused trooper raped the woman on the pretext of interrogating her,” the police officer said, quoting the FIR.

    The BSF personnel has been booked under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, and produced before the Bangaon Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, which remanded him to two days in police custody, he said.

    The woman’s confidential statement has been recorded by the magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, and medical tests were conducted on her, the officer added.

  • Bihar Police on a mission to save minor girls from orchestra groups

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Rinku (name changed), 14, was lured for a job in Bihar with handsome salary. She wasbrought from a place in West Bengal a few months ago by an orchestra organiser in Gopalganj district of Bihar.

    Rinku, along with two other minor girls, was forced to dance in the orchestra and thereafter one of them was allegedly raped by a youth at an isolated place. The survivor, along with the other girls, later reported the incident to police and an FIR was lodged against the culprit.

    In another incident, a minor girl was employed in an orchestra party in West Champaran and was allegedly physically exploited. Later in July this year, 6 minor girls including her were rescued following an initiative of a social activist. In the orchestra, they were allegedly being exploited physically by the owner and organisers. Similarly, 6 minors were rescued from an orchestra unit in Rohtas district of Bihar and 5 persons werearrested by police for forced flesh-trade.

    In past, many minor girls and women were rescued from the clutches of orchestras organisers, who were lured for jobs from many states, like Maharashtra, West Bengal, UP, Odisha, Nepal and other places. They were also allegedly being exploited physically in the guise of orchestra performances.

    Taking serious note of such frequently reported incidents of sexual exploitations in the orchestra groups with minor girls, the state government’s social welfare department in a first such move has directed the district magistrates and the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of districts, identified vulnerable for engaging minor girls in flesh trade in the guise of orchestras, to keep strict vigil on the functioning of musical orchestra groups and units and the artists being hired for performances by the organisers.

    Raj Kumar-the director of social welfare department of state government, said that that all the orchestras and musical groups, who employ the girls, would be constantly watched by the local administrations. Social activist Shiana Parween had written a letter on July 3 this year to the department informing that illegal activities like exploitation of girls in many orchestra groups. In the letter, the woman activist had pointed out that many organisers use the financial difficulties of families emerged in thewake of Covid-19 pandemic to lure girls.

    Social welfare director Raj Kumar the district magistrates of Bihar’s 31 districts and the SPs of 21 districts have been directed to keep strict vigil on the functioning of orchestra groups in their districts and ensure complete ban on the engagement of minor-aged girls in the orchestra.

    “28 districts have started keeping watch on the orchestra groups and action would be taken upon finding minor girls being used in orchestras in the guise of musical performers”, the director said, adding that the National Human Rights Commission(Law Division) has being communicated about steps taken prevent entry of minor girls in orchestra.

    In Bihar as per a rough estimate, more than 3500 orchestra groups and units are functioning in many districts.

  • Police rescue 16-year-old MP girl who was abducted, sold for marriage 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A 16-year-old girl, who was abducted, sexually assaulted and ‘sold’ to a person for Rs 50,000 with whom she was also forcibly married, has been rescued from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district and the accused arrested, police said on Saturday.

    The accused, Rajeev Garg, had befriended the girl by creating a fake ID on social media and emotionally blackmailed her to meet him in northwest Delhi from where she was abducted and taken to Bhind, they said.

    On May 29, the girl told her parents that she was going to one of her friends’ house but when she did not return, her family starting searching her. When she was not found, a case was registered at Ranhola police station next day under section 363 (punishment for kidnapping), a senior police officer said.

    The call detail records of the victim were scrutinized.

    The police focused on a particular mobile number whose location was found to be in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah, and Gwalior and Bhind in MP, the officer said.

    “The location of that mobile number was in Delhi on the day the girl went missing. Its movement was followed and police apprehended Garg on Thursday from Bhind,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Monika Bhardwaj said.

    Based on his disclosure, the victim was rescued from a house near Bhind’s bus stand, the police said.

    Enquiry revealed that the accused had created an ID on social media in the name of Mahi Garg, and came in contact with the victim there, the DCP said.

    Both of them started interacting.

    However, one day, when the girl came to know that her virtual friend is a male, she stopped talking to him and also blocked his mobile number when he tried to contact her, police said.

    Garg then called her from a different mobile number and emotionally blackmailed her to continue their friendship and unblock his phone number, they said, adding the accused also convinced her to meet him at Madhuban Chowk in northwest Delhi.

    On May 29, the girl went to Madhuban Chowk and met Garg who abducted her and took her to Bhind, police said.

    The victim was physically and sexually assaulted by Garg.

    She told the police that Garg had sold her to a man named Ram Mohan, also a resident of Bhind, for Rs 50,000 and she was forced to marry him, the police said.

    Garg was in Gwalior Jail for seven months in a dowry case.

    Mohan was Garg’s tenant and is presently at large.

    The victim and Garg were brought to Delhi, police added.

  • Minor girl beaten to death over insistence to wear jeans in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    DEORIA (Uttar Pradesh): A teenage girl died after she was allegedly thrashed by her family members over her insistence to wear jeans at a village here, police said on Thursday.

    Family members have also been accused of trying to dispose of the body by throwing it from over the Patanwa bridge on the Deoria-Kasya here but it got stuck in its railing and was spotted by police later.

    The 17-year-old girl from Savreji Kharg village was severely thrashed by her family members after she insisted on wearing jeans and a top on Monday.

    According to the complaint given by her mother, the girl received serious head injuries when she was beaten up, leading to her death, Circle Officer (City) Yash Tripathi said.

    The post-mortem examination has also confirmed severe injury and fracture in the head, the CO said.

    The girl’s mother has given a complaint against 10 people, including grandparents.

    The case has been registered case under Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 302 (punishment for murder) and other provisions of the IPC, Mahuadih SHO Ram Mohan Singh said.

    The grandparents have been taken into custody and are being interrogated.

    Police, however, said the story of family members being angry over her insistence on wearing jeans is not very convincing.

    The reason for the incident appears to be something else, which the family members are trying to hide and investigations are on, police said.

  • 25 per cent rise in plaints from women during Covid pandemic: NCW latest report

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Covid-19 pandemic seems to be proving difficult particularly for women in India as the latest report by the National Commission for Women (NCW), confirming the early indications, shows that it recorded over 25 per cent complaints by aggrieved women as compared to the previous year.

    In 2020-21, the commission received 26,513 complaints from women, marking a sharp rise from the 20,309 complaints registered in 2019-20, which means an increase of 25.09 per cent in the complaints, a recently compiled report by the NCW shows. The maximum number of complaints received by the NCW was registered as a violation of the right to live with dignity and in 2020-21 8,688 women approached the Commission saying that this right was violated.

    There was also a steep rise in the cases of domestic violence and 6,049 women, nearly double than the previous year, recorded their complaints with the commission in 2020-21. Other categories that saw a worrying rise against women included cybercrime and harassment due to dowry.

    Women activists have said the Covid-induced lockdowns, that saw men staying at home for longer hours, and financial volatility that families have undergone due to worsening of the economic situation may have a major role to play in increasing violence against women. 

    ​Chairperson of the NCW Rekha Sharma said while there had been a worrying rise in crimes against women, she also pointed out that the panel had made it easier for women to reach out and complain.

    “At one point during the lockdown, our team was working in three shifts to record and address the complaints of aggrieved women,” she told The New Indian Express. Sharma also assured that through a real-time dashboard, the women’s rights body has kept a track of each of the complaints and has been taking up suitable follow-up action in all the cases.

    A parliamentary panel, led by Congress MP Anand Sharma, in its report tabled in March, had recommended that cash transfers and a moratorium on loan repayments be continued to empower women.

    “The committee notes that there was a sudden spurt in domestic violence and trafficking of women and children during the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic outbreak,” said the report adding that this was mainly due to disruption in economic activities, work from home and family spending more time at home during lockdowns.

  • BCCC asks TV channels to exercise restraint on portrayal of gender-based violence

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) on Thursday asked non-news TV channels to exercise restraint in depicting content related to crimes against women, children and people from the LGBTQ community.

    Issuing a detailed advisory for the portrayal of gender-based violence in TV programmes, the council asked the channels to ensure that explicit visualisation of violence against women, children and people from the LGBTQ community is minimised, and the message that such violence is unacceptable and must be abjured is clearly conveyed.

    “The BCCC will like to reemphasise that the channels must exercise necessary prudence and caution while scripting, filming and editing such scenes,” it said in the advisory.

    “The council, therefore, advises television channels to exercise self-moderation while framing such plotlines based on social issues engulfing gender-based violence; ensure that their depiction is subtle and nuanced,” it added.

    In addition, the BCCC said, the TV channels should also ensure that any such portrayal of violence on television is accompanied with an on-screen disclaimer in English, Hindi and other regional languages stating: “Gender-based violence is a penal offence.

    This channel does not support or endorse any form of gender-based violence or abuse of any nature.

    ” “The BCCC asks for sensitivity while portraying such persons as victims of different forms of violence on television and expects channels to strive to use the impact and reach of television for constructive and reformative purposes,” the council said in the advisory.

    The BCCC advisory comes two weeks after the Union government granted statutory recognition to a self-regulatory complaint-redressal mechanism for television channels.

    “It is an all-encompassing advisory for broadcasters to exercise restraint on depicting content related to crimes against women, children and persons from the LGBTQ community.

    Sexual and domestic violence are matters of deep concern for the society and must be addressed with all seriousness,” BCCC chairperson Justice (retd.) Gita Mittal said.

    The Union government had notified the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 on June 17 which provides for a three-layer statutory mechanism for redressal of complaints relating to content aired on TV channels.

    The BCCC, set up by the Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) in June 2011, is a self-regulatory body that examines content-related grievances against more than 300 non-news channels in the country.

    “The council has so far issued 15 advisories over various aspects of content aired on television channels.

    The new advisory covers various dimensions of the portrayal of gender-based violence on television,” the BCCC said.

    According to the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021, the self-regulating bodies are required to register themselves with the central government within 30 days from the date of publication of the amended rules, or within 30 days from the date of its constitution, whichever is earlier.

    “The BCCC, which has redressed thousands of complaints against general entertainment channels over the past 10 years, is set to be registered with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” the council said.

  • Man circulates video of him raping woman in UP village on WhatsApp

    By PTI
    SAMBHAL: A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped in a village in this district when she had gone to a forest to collect fodder, police said on Tuesday.

    The alleged incident took place on June 26 and the accused also recorded the act and circulated the video on social media, they said.

    A complaint regarding the incident was lodged by the woman’s father.

    It was alleged that on June 26, two women of his village took his 19-year-old daughter with them to collect fodder in the forest, where the accused youth raped her, Sambhal Circle Officer (CO) Arun Kumar Singh said.

    On Monday, a case was registered against the youth and the women and efforts are being made to nab them, the CO said, adding the victim has been sent for medical examination.

    Police have taken cognisance of the video circulated by the accused on WhatsApp and relevant sections of the IT Act have also been added, Singh said.

  • Post-poll violence in Bengal: Pleas in SC seek SIT probe in alleged rape cases

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A 60-year-old woman and a minor girl, who have alleged that they have been gang raped by TMC supporters or workers during post-poll violence in West Bengal, have moved the Supreme Court seeking probe by an SIT in these cases.

    Two separate applications have been filed by the woman and a 17-year-old girl seeking impleadment in the pending petition related to alleged killing of two BJP workers in poll-related violence in the state.

    On May 18, the apex court had issued notices to the Centre, West Bengal government and others seeking their responses on a petition filed by Biswajit Sarkar, whose elder brother was killed, and co-petitioner Swaranalata Adhikari, whose husband was killed in poll-related violence.

    The application filed by the 60-year-old woman alleged that she was gang raped in front of her six-year-old grandson by supporters or workers of the state’s “ruling political party” on the intervening night of May 4-5.

    It alleged that case was registered by the police but it has named only one of the five accused in the FIR.

    The plea claimed that a day after the declaration of assembly poll result, the applicant’s house was surrounded by a mob allegedly comprising of supports of Trinamool Congress party and threats were hurled asking her family to leave the house or face the consequences.

    Alleging that conduct of the state police is “unsatisfactory and non-cooperative”, the application has said that the case be transferred to a SIT or an independent agency.

    It had also said that trial of the case be transferred out of West Bengal.

    Another application, filed in the top court by the minor girl belonging to a Scheduled Caste community, has alleged that she was gang raped on May 9 by the members or supporters of the ruling political party.

    It said that an FIR was lodged in the matter on May 10.

    She has sought transfer of probe of the case to a SIT or the CBI and shifting of trial out of West Bengal.

    On May 25, the West Bengal government had informed the apex court that three people were arrested in connection with the alleged killing of two BJP workers in poll-related violence on May 2 in the state.

    The top court was hearing a plea filed by the victims’ kin seeking court monitored probe and transfer of cases to the CBI or SIT.

    The plea has also sought direction to monitor the investigation, trial and the progress of criminal cases emanating from the incident and attacks occurring in the aftermath of the assembly elections in the state of West Bengal.

    Mamata Banerjee led All India Trinamool Congress had won 213 seats out of 292 seats in West Bengal assembly elections in the hotly contested polls while BJP won 77 seats.

    Several violent incidents were reported after supporters of Trinamool Congress and BJP allegedly clashed in various parts of the state since May 2, killing at least 16 people and triggering alleged exodus.

  • 19-year-old gang-raped in UP’s Bareilly, three of six accused arrested

    By PTI
    BAREILLY: Three men have been arrested in connection with the alleged gangrape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in this Uttar Pradesh district, police said on Monday.

    Senior Superintendent of Police Rohit Singh Sajwan said two of the accused were arrested on Sunday, while one was held on Monday.

    The incident occurred in the Izzatnagar police station area of Bareilly city on May 31.

    The woman, along with two of her male friends, had gone to the area on a scooty.

    The six accused against whom a case has been registered allegedly caught hold of her, took turns to rape her and then beat her up, while her friends were chased away, police said.

    Initially, the woman did not narrate her ordeal to her family members but later, told her sister about it.

    A case of gangrape was registered against the six accused on Saturday.

    Police said the accused arrested on Monday had intercepted the woman and her two friends on the day of the incident and informed the five others.

    Those arrested on Sunday have been sent to jail, while the one held on Monday is being interrogated, they added.