"Women Cannot Be Punished For Adultery"

A woman, even if she is involved in an illicit relationship, cannot be punished for adultery and is treated as the victim under law.

And the National Commission for Women (NCW) has shot down proposals for amending Section 497 so that women can be prosecuted for adultery.

The Commission had been asked by the Centre to review Section 497 which does not envisage prosecution of the wife by the husband for adultery.

The section provides expressly that the wife shall not be punishable even as an abettor, based on the reasoning that the wife, who is involved in an illicit relationship with another man, is a victim and not the author of the crime.

According to NCW sources, the Commission does not feel that by merely prescribing punishment for women by amending Section 497, the marriage can be protected or saved.

The NCW has forwarded its recommendations to the government, in which it has stated that considering the relatively socially disempowered position of women, the Commission suggests no amendments to Section 497 of IPC.

The existing provision in the IPC is based on the mindset that the wife is a personal possession of the husband, who is the sole aggrieved person in an incident of adultery.

The Commission has, however, recommended suitable amendments to Section 198(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPRC), which as of now disqualifies the wife of an unfaithful husband from prosecuting him for his promiscuous behaviour.

It has told the government that as the wife already can take action against her husband under various other legal provisions, such as Section 498A of IPC, there is no reason that she should be debarred from initiating prosecution under Section 198 of CRPC.

The wife, in such cases, ought to be the person aggrieved and competent to file a complaint under Section 198.

In another important recommendation, the Commission has said adultery should be treated as a civil wrong and not a criminal offence.

It is of the view that there may be many instances where the woman wants to save the marriage and sees the adulterous relationship as an aberration.

The issue of adultery should be viewed as a breach of trust and be treated as a civil wrong rather than as a criminal offence.

The NCW has, however, said this should be done only after a national consensus is formed on the issue.

"Delhi Police Official's Daughter Found Burnt For Dowry"

Ghaziabad, April 2 The daughter of a Delhi Police sub-inspector was allegedly burnt alive by her in-laws in Ghaziabad Thursday for not getting dowry, her family members said. The police are investigating the case.

Babli, 26, - daughter of Delhi Police sub-inspector Atar Singh - was married to Dev Raj on June 18, 2004. While Atar Singh's family stayed at Indirapuri colony in Loni, Dev Raj lived at Balramnagar in the same area.

On Thursday morning, the police were informed that Babli was lying dead in her husband's house with extensive burns. Babli's parents were also informed and reached the spot.

Babli's husband and in-laws were missing from the house when the police reached.

Babli's brother Rishi Raj said his sister was constantly harassed by her in-laws for dowry.

He said Babli had been turned out of her husband's house many times in the past to bring money and various articles from her father. She had called her father Wednesday night and told him that her in-laws were conspiring to kill her, he said.

Babli's father filed a complaint at the Loni police station but the police were yet to register a case till Thursday night.

However, senior officials assured the fanmily and media that the police were taking action.

"We are looking out for the girl's husband and his family. They would be taken to task. The matter is under investigation," Anant Dev, the superintendent of police (city), said.

"Fighting India's Dowry Crime"

India's illegal dowry system is still thriving, leaving women vulnerable to abuse, sometimes even murder. Adam Mynott asks if new police powers to combat violence against brides are proving effective.

Vimla Mehra tours the offices round the women's crime unit in south Delhi every morning.

As police superintendent in charge of the unit, she likes to keep in touch with what is going on.

Inside each cramped office is a desk and, round the walls, half a dozen chairs.

These chairs are occupied from dawn till dusk by warring families.

Wives have turned up to accuse husbands of mental torture and beatings; mothers and fathers accuse their sons-in-law of theft or of demanding dowry payments with menaces long after the wedding.

Husbands are claiming their wives have been cheating on them.

In the middle a police officer - usually a woman - listens patiently as the exchanges pick up from annoyance to anger to fury.

Occasionally, she will intervene to try to calm the shouting and the screaming.

Soaring crime

The Crime Women Cell, tucked away behind a gudwara (a Sikh temple), just off the inner ring road in south Delhi, was set up to help protect women in male dominated Indian society.

Crimes against women have soared in the past 10 years.

There were nearly 150,000 recorded in 2000 by the National Crimes Record Bureau, up from 130,000 in 1998, and many more crimes are committed than recorded.

These are serious crimes: murder, rape and assault.

Mrs Mehra says: "The main problem is dowry. I don't know why, but more and more women come to us.

"Husbands are demanding things - a scooter or some money - it's one of the easiest ways to get money."

She has seen it all and says that the growing middle class in India is fuelling the demands for dowry cash and gifts.

"They have more, and they want more."

'Bride burning'

Mrs Mehra's police unit has just been given new powers to arrest and detain suspects.

Until now they were mainly a counselling and advice service.

But the task is overwhelming.

Delhi has a population of 14 million; the Crime Women Cell has one van to answer calls.

It can take two hours to get to the other side of the city and they rely on co-operation from a police force that is riddled with corruption and inefficiency.

The pattern is familiar: a woman is burned to death in her kitchen; the police arrive; the family of the husband claim it is a "cooking stove" accident; the police are assisted towards this conclusion with a wad of rupees.

By the time the Crime Women Cell has weaved its way through the traffic jams and potholes of Delhi it is a done deal.

Corruption

Giving or receiving any dowry of more than 7,000 rupees (£90/US$150) is a crime in India.

But it is a law that is universally ignored and it is a problem that leads to the abuse and degradation, even the death, of women.

Despite the corruption and the bureaucracy, hundreds are convicted of dowry crime every year.

The main prison in Delhi, Tihar Jail, has a "mother-in-law" cell block, set aside exclusively for women who have killed or harassed their daughters-in-law.

It is full of elderly women, some of whom are serving 20-year sentences for murder.

Dowries are not going away. They are deeply ingrained in Indian society and are growing stronger, and the law prohibiting them is treated with contempt.

The police are powerless to stop it and even communities such as Muslims, who never used to give dowries, are now doing so with the inevitable sinister consequences.

"High Prevalence Of Child Marriage In India Fuels Fertility Risks"

Despite India's economic and educational reform efforts in the last decade, the prevalence of child marriage remains high, fueling the risks of multiple unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy terminations and female sterilizations, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher.

The study, led by Anita Raj, PhD, associate professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences at BUSPH, found that nearly half of adult Indian women, aged 20 to 24, were married before the legal age of 18, and that those child marriages were significantly associated with poor fertility outcomes, such as unwanted and terminated pregnancies, repeat childbirths in less than 24 months, and increased sterilization rates.

The study was published online in The Lancet and will be printed in an upcoming issue.

"The prevalence of child marriage remains unacceptably high," Dr. Raj and colleagues wrote. "These results suggest that neither recent progress in economic and women's development, nor existing policy or programmatic efforts to prevent child marriage and promote maternal and child health, have been sufficient to reduce the prevalence of child marriage in India to that of most other developing nations."

The study found that 44.5 percent of women ages 22 to 24 were married before age 18. More than one in five – 22.6 percent – were married before age 16, while 2.6 percent were married before age 13.

India, the largest and most prosperous nation in south Asia, raised the legal age for marriage to 18 in 1978. In the past 15 years, national policy efforts have been developed to increase educational and economic opportunities for girls and women, reduce child marriage and expand family-planning support.

The authors said that while there had been a slight reduction – 5 percent -- in the rate of child marriage compared with national data from 1998-99, the continued prevalence of the practice and its association with poor fertility outcomes highlights "the crucial need for increased family-planning interventions tailored to married adolescents."

"National economic development gains have inadequately targeted the most rural and poor populations, which might have hindered further reduction in child marriage," they wrote.

The study found that women who married younger than 18 were significantly more likely to report no contraceptive use before their first childbirth than were those who married as adults. Nearly half – 48.4 percent – of women who were married as children reported giving birth before they turned 18. Women married as children also were more likely to have had repeat childbirths in less than 24 months and to have had three or more childbirths, than those married as adults.

Child marriage also was associated with an increased prevalence of unwanted pregnancies and an increased prevalence of pregnancy termination, defined as miscarriage, abortion or stillbirth.

The study found sterilization rates were higher for women married as children than for those married as adults – 19.5 percent, compared to 4.6 percent. Overall, more than one in eight women, or 13.4 percent, had been sterilized.

Of those not sterilized, more than three-quarters reported no present contraception use, the research found.

"Increased prevalence of sterilization in young women married as children could be attributable to these women having their desired number of children at an earlier age, as indicated by their high fertility," the authors wrote. "However, our findings suggest that sterilization might also be the consequence of inadequate fertility control, which is evident from the increased risk of unwanted pregnancies in women married as children."

The authors recommend that existing intervention programs should be broadened to emphasize contraception other than sterilization, especially among young women who are married as children. They said such interventions also should include husbands and in-laws, "who might have more control of family planning."

Other authors on the study were Niranjan Saggurti, PhD, of the Population Council, New Delhi, India; Donta Balaiah, PhD, of the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Indian Council of Medical Research, Mumbai, India; and Jay G. Silverman, PhD, associate professor of the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health.

The study was funded by a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Indian Council on Medical Research Indo-US Program on Maternal and Child Health and Human Development.

"High Prevalence Of Child Marriage In India"

A large proportion of women in India are married when they are still children and researchers have warned that such unions carry high risks of unwanted pregnancies and female sterilization.

UNICEF defines child marriage as marriage before 18 years of age and such practice has been increasingly viewed as a violation of human rights. Marriage at a very young age carries grave health consequences for both the girl and her children and it is well documented that adolescent mothers are more likely to experience complications such as obstetric fistula.

Researchers from UK analyzed data from a national family health survey that was conducted from 2005 to 2006 in India. The survey involved 22,807 Indian women who were aged between 20 and 24 at the time of the survey. Of these, 23 percent were married before they were 16, 44 percent were married when they were between 16 and 17, and 2.6 percent were married before they turned 13.

Women who were married as children remained significantly more likely to have had three or more childbirths, a repeat childbirth in less than 24 months, multiple unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy termination, and sterilization. Nearly all the women who were married before they reached the legal age of 18 reported that they used no contraception before they had their first child.

India introduced laws against child marriage in 1929 and set the legal age for marriage at 12 years. The legal age for marriage was increased to 18 years in 1978. While the practice of child marriage has decreased slowly, its prevalence remains unacceptably high, and rural, poor, less educated girls and those from central or eastern regions of the country are most vulnerable to the practice.

The findings indicate that child marriage affects not only adolescents aged 16 to 17 years, but also large numbers of pubescent girls aged 14 to 15 years, and show that existing policies and economic development gains have failed to help rural and poor populations. They attributed the high numbers of sterilization in young women married as children to them having their desired number of children at an earlier age. But it was also indicative of inadequate fertility control, which was evident from the high numbers of unwanted pregnancies among these women.

The researchers warned that sterilization might reduce condom use in such couples, which would heighten the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Child-marriage prevention programs should be broadened to include interventions for women married as children and men who might pursue children for marriage.

"Woman Killed After Refusing Sex"

Tripla was born in the jungles of eastern India. But she died hundreds of miles from home, in the scrubby fields around Delhi, murdered by her husband because she refused to have sex with his brother.

She was born into a penniless family. So when a man came looking for a wife and offered £170 for her, her parents accepted.

She never saw her home or her family again. Her husband took her to his village in Mewat district, an hour's drive from Delhi. There is a shortage of women in the area, because of the practice of female foeticide.

They lived together as husband and wife for six months. Then Ajmer ordered her to sleep with his brother, who could not afford a wife.

When Tripla refused, Ajmer dragged her to a field near the village and beheaded her with a sickle.

Tripla's story was uncovered by Rishi Kant, a women's rights campaigner. When he told her parents in Jharkhand what had happened, her mother wept. "But what could we do?" she asked him. "We are facing so much poverty we had no choice but to sell her." Her husband is now facing trial for murder. Hers is one case among thousands. Every week, in the villages of Mewat alone, Mr Kant rescues more women who have been bought as wives and face lives of abuse.

"India Abolishes Husbands' 'RIGHT' To Rape Wife"

For the first time, women in India have legal protection against abuse in their own homes under a law which came into force yesterday. It is the first time Indian law has recognised marital rape, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse of a woman by her husband as crimes. India is a country where the streets are safe - but a woman is not safe inside her own home.

There is a remarkably low rate of violent crime against strangers in most of the big cities, and it is safe to walk the streets of Mumbai or Bangalore late at night. But every six hours, a young married woman is burnt to death, beaten to death, or driven to suicide by emotional abuse from her husband, figures show.

More than two-thirds of married women in India aged between 15 and 49 have been beaten, raped or forced to provide sex, according to the UN Population Fund.

One of the most common causes of violence against women is dowry-related. In most of India, women's families are still expected to provide their husbands with dowries when they marry.

Husbands - or their families - who are dissatisfied with the dowry beat, emotionally abuse and often even kill the women.

Last year 6,787 cases were recorded of women murdered by their husbands or their husbands' families because of their dowries. Many die in "stove burnings": set alight by husbands or in-laws who then claim it was a kitchen accident.

Domestic violence against women is already illegal, under a 1983 law. But the new law marks the first time India has recognised marital rape. Previously it was impossible to prosecute a man for raping his wife, which was considered to be within his conjugal rights.

The new law also for the first time recognises emotional, verbal and economic abuse of a woman by her husband as a crime. Punishment can include a jail sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to 20,000 rupees (£230). Existing law already provides longer sentences for physical violence.

But more importantly, the new law also provides a share of an abusive husband's earnings and property for the victim, and medical costs.

Crucially, it also guarantees abused wives the right to continue living in the family house. Houses are still shared by extended families in much of India, and abused wives are often thrown out by their husbands' in-laws, leaving them destitute and homeless.

"It's going to orient women to stand up for their own rights and take the necessary precautions to empower themselves," said Renuka Chowdhury, minister of women and child development. Previously many women are believed to have been afraid to speak out because they risk losing their husband's financial support for themselves and their children.

But concerns remain that even under the new law, many cases of abuse will still go unreported, unless attitudes towards domestic abuse change. The UN Population Fund's 2005 report found that 70 per cent of Indian women believed wife-beating was justified under certain circumstances, including refusal to provide sex, or preparing dinner late.

"55 Year Old Man Arrested For Raping Mentally Challenged Girl"

The police have arrested a 55-year-old man on charges of raping a 21-year-old mentally challenged girl here yesterday.

According to the police the girl, was his neighbour, and the accused, identified as Varghese, committed the heinous crime on September 27, after which he absconded. He was later arrested by the police following a tip off from the P.P.M junction at Kaliackavila.

Varghese has been arrested and has been remanded to judicial custody. A case has been registered under section 376 of the IPC.

"Youth Convicted For Rape"

A city court has sentenced a 20-year-old youth in connection with the rape of a minor girl here yesterday.

According to the police the accused, identified, as Abulla was found guilty of raping a 10-year-old girl in K.G. Halli in 1998. He had reportedly sneaked into her house and gagged her before raping her. He had even allegedly threatened to kill her if she spoke about this ghastly incident with anyone.

He was sentenced to 10 years RI and was also asked to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000.

"(Young) Adults' Nude Pictures On The Net"

Mumbai police Crime Branch arrested a Belgium national on Sunday for allegedly clicking nude photos of children and posting them on the Internet. The operation was carried out by the Crime Branch Unit 9 of Bandra.

A holiday metropolitan magistrate has remanded Weldela Noro Gayton, the accused, to two day's police custody.

According to the police, Gayton used to lure poor street and slum children with money and chocolates and promises of giving them modelling assignments and then take them to his 11th floor rented office-cum-residence. There he used to make them strip and after clicking their nude pictures he used to upload them on the Internet. He was staying in the Pacific Building in Andheri (West).

The police has seized Gayton's passport, a camera, a laptop and a memory chip. The police has found strong evidence from the memory chip.

Now the police is trying to find out whether any of the children were sexually assualted or indulged in sex trafficking. They are also trying to find out whether he worked alone or was a part of any gang.

"Double Trouble For The Award-Winning Doctor"

Just a day after cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vijay Sharma was arrested and later released on bail for allegedly molesting a television reporter, who had gone to his clinic for a story on cosmetic surgery, another woman came forward with a molestation complaint against him.

After this complaint Sharma, was re-arrested. According to the complainant’s husband a year ago the complainant got silicon breast implants and liposuction surgeries done by Sharma. Then when she would go back to Sharma, after she developed some complications on six or seven occasions Sharma kissed her and took her to the bathroom and stripped her, complainant alleged.

Sharma was earlier arrested on Saturday after a TV journalist accused him of molested. He was charged under sections 354 and 506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code for outraging modesty and criminal intimidation with threat of death respectively.

Sharma has been a surgeon since 1987 and is mentioned in he Limca Book of Records for having conducted the most number of plastic surgeries in India. He also received best Asian cosmetic surgeon award at the hands of Michael Jackson.

"CID To Investigate The Akola Sex Racket Case"

The much talked about sex racket case, that has swayed Akola, has been taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday.

The racket came to light when an 18-year-old woman alleged that she had been forced to offer sexual favours to a lot of government officials and businessmen, including the Akola district police chief Deepak Pandey.

However, the woman later withdrew allegations against Pandey, an IPS officer, who has been involved in other controversies in the past. Later still, she said that she had indeed been taken to Pandey by the racket kingpin Nitu Takwat but was excused as she was unwell and another woman had been arranged to offer sexual favours to Pandey.

According to the police sources, the Home Department had asked Pandey to proceed on leave to make sure that his presence did not hamper the inquiry.

Pandey denied all the charges and said that he knew about the racket a month ago and had also ordered an inquiry.

In 2004 the then aide-de-camp to the governor was charged with misbehaving with a traffic constable, making him stand in the scorching heat on the Raj Bhavan and threatening to transfer him. In November 2004, Pandey was suspended after his wife Dr. Nidhi Pandey, an IAS official, alleged physical torture and demands for dowry from her husband.

"Another Rape In Goa"

A 52 year old non-resident Indian (NRI) women, based in new york, has alleged that she was raped in a five-star hotel in Goa on march 7.

The women who was in a hotel said that she was dragged into a room from a stairway & raped by an unknown person.

Panaji police have registered a case after they received the communication from Delhi police, with whom the woman has filed the complaint.

The police complaint was lodged on march 17, when she went to delhi. Goa police is in touch with Delhi counterparts to get more details about the victim who was raped.

Panaji police confirming the receipt of complaint said that they will call the victim to Goa as she is required for a medical examination.

"New Opportunities For Women Draw Anger And Abuse From Men In India"

Every morning, Gitanjali Chaudhry, 17, walks to her high school through a labyrinth of temples and vegetable markets. Along with her books, she carries an Indian version of Mace -- a bag of chili powder and a pouch of safety pins -- to fend off the often boorish men who loiter in the narrow passageways.

"We learned that women have to be brave," said Chaudhry, a loquacious, ponytailed girl who wants to be a lawyer. She has started attending increasingly popular neighborhood classes on self-defense for women.

Chaudhry is one of the brightest students in her working-class district. But since several local men started following her to class, she sometimes stays home now. She has friends who have been raped or are constant victims of "Eve teasing," when men on the street spew lewd comments or aggressively paw women's bodies.

"We thought opportunities were getting better for young Indian women. But the harassment only seems to be getting worse," Chaudhry said, as friends gathered at a recent "self-respect and self-esteem session" held by the nonprofit Smile Foundation.

For India's middle-class urban women, the past decade has brought unprecedented opportunities to advance in a social order long dominated by men. But a powerful male backlash has accompanied the women's revolution, an upwelling of resentment that has expressed itself in sexual violence and harassment.

In India today, women are working in lucrative retail and technology jobs, sometimes in cities far from their home towns. Economic independence has, in some cases, allowed them to delay marriage and early childbirth. Social mobility among India's young is also undermining the country's traditional joint-family system, in which couples are expected to move in with the husband's parents. The shift has empowered the modern Indian wife, freeing her from the scourge of the bossy, nosy mother-in-law.

At the same time, however, the number of reported instances of domestic violence, rape and dowry killings is spiking in South Asian cities, according to women's groups, demographers and sociologists.

Violence against women is the fastest-growing crime in India, a recent study concluded. Every 26 minutes a woman is molested, every 34 minutes a rape takes place, and every 43 minutes a woman is kidnapped, according to the Home Ministry's National Crime Records Bureau.

With about 19,000 reported rapes a year, India ranks fifth highest in that category out of 84 countries studied, according to a 2006 report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. But women's groups say fewer than 2 percent of women who have been sexually assaulted in India report the crime to police, largely because the social stigma attached to rape may undermine a woman's chance for marriage.

The United States, where the reporting of sexual attacks is more common, ranks highest in the world, with 95,000 reported rapes each year.

In the past few months, newspapers here have dubbed New Delhi the "rape capital" of South Asia, with more than 330 rape and molestation cases reported in the first four months of 2008, including one high-profile case in which a 12-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by a Delhi police constable and an accomplice. Experts predict that the number of sexual attacks in 2008 may exceed the total in 2007, when 544 rapes were reported in the city. "The latest statistics are terrifying. And it clearly points to male rage," said Shobhaa Dé, a novelist and popular social commentator. "Underneath our incredible social change, the Indian male is experiencing nothing short of a psychological frenzy."

Part of the problem is also that men's expectations of women have not kept pace with the changes women are experiencing at home and at work. Many matrimonial ads in India's Sunday newspapers -- often written by parents -- include descriptions of potential brides as "economically independent, but homely." That's code for a working woman who can happily organize a proper 10-course Indian dinner even after a long day at the office. It's a fantasy that many urbanized Indian women are rejecting, much to the dismay of many men.

Despite recent growth, unemployment remains high in India, topping 7 percent. Sixty percent of those who do work are self-employed farmers and often very poor, according to World Bank data. Men who earn little or are unable to find work can be resentful when they see women finding well-paid office jobs, women's groups say.

The change in power has been too fast for some Indian men, whose intense curiosity about women can often be traced back to a segregated youth. Some boys hanging out in Chaudhry's neighborhood said they had spent more time looking at photographs of women in magazines then with girls they knew and were interested in.

"I was never really taught how to act around a girl," said Raja Kumar, 21, who works odd jobs on Chaudhry's block. "I thought teasing was the way to get them to notice me."

Standing nearby was Ram Swarup, 70, the neighborhood elder, a graying retired laundry worker who has six children, four of them boys. He said that whenever his wife had a girl, he asked her to try again for a son.

Because of the traditional custom of paying high dowries to a groom's parents, he said, girls were seen in the past as a heavy burden. "No one was happy about their birth," he said. "They therefore got little respect in India."

"When we were growing up, girls were never sent to school. Usually they were married off right away," Swarup added. "I liked being the breadwinner and king of my house. But India is changing now. My daughters-in-law work and think they can therefore be bosses and queens of the house. Some men find it a struggle. We are trying to adjust to the new ways of girls venturing forth. It may be better in the end, since the women now earn money."

In South Asia, the contrast between the achievements of female political leaders and the lowly status of ordinary women has its roots in dynastic traditions. Professions here are inherited, in politics as in industry. In India, former prime minister Indira Gandhi came into politics through family connections, as did former prime minister Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto inherited her station in politics from her father and mentor, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

In India, women were urged by men to take to the streets during the country's struggle for independence from Britain. But despite the relative abundance of female leaders in South Asia, many women in the region suffer from profound inequalities in access to education and health care, women's advocates say.

According to a study published in the British medical journal the Lancet in 2006, almost 10 million female fetuses were aborted in India in the preceding 20 years.

The practice -- outlawed, though the law is seldom enforced -- is on the rise partly because more people can afford sonograms.

"If India is really going to become a world superpower, it has to stop killing its girls in the womb," said Divya Kulshreshtha, who runs a Smile Foundation mobile women's health clinic. "If India wants to shine, then its women should be allowed to shine."

Bangladesh, where more than half a million women have gained employment in the garment industry, has also seen a startling increase in violence against women -- a development some attribute to working women's increased willingness to report attacks.

"In many ways, the South Asian woman is out of the oven and into the frying pan," said Ayesha Khanam, president of the Bangladesh Women's Council, which tracks violence against women across the subcontinent. "They bring home money, they share in power in the society. But they are also doing something very powerful that may enrage men: toppling the old family structure."

With South Asian society in transition, the Smile Foundation decided to reach out to men with humorous neighborhood plays and education programs.

On a recent Saturday afternoon in New Delhi, shopkeepers leaned out their windows and groups of boys gathered on rooftops to watch a street-theater skit, along with Chaudhry and her friends fresh from an empowerment session.

Wearing a droopy mustache and rubbing his fake potbelly, a man pretended to lean lecherously against a graceful young woman riding a public bus. The audience exploded with laughter as she moved away.

In a more somber skit, a man tried to buy his niece's affection with biscuits. Then he raped her.

The audience stood silent, stunned. Some women started to cry.

Afterward, Divya Yadav, 20, the female lead, complained that she herself is harassed daily during her bus trips home from her performances.

"Talking directly to the men is the first step," she said, turning to one of her fans, Lalit Kumar, an 18-year-old high school student who had formed a youth group for boys who wanted to help.

Kumar and his friends offered to escort the actress home. Things still weren't safe, they agreed.

" Civil Unrest"

Demonstrations can occur spontaneously, and pose risks to travelers' personal safety and disrupt transportation systems and city services. In response to such events, Indian authorities occasionally impose curfews and/or restrict travel. Political rallies and demonstrations in India have the potential for violence, especially immediately preceding and following elections. U.S. citizens are urged to avoid demonstrations and rallies. In addition, religious and inter-caste violence occasionally occurs unpredictably.

Episodes of civil unrest are relatively common in India. Some have resulted from separatist movements, where as others have been caused by clashes between ethnic and religious groups and different castes. Violent separatist conflicts have taken place in the states of Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Conflicts between ethnic and religious groups have resulted in riots across various states between Hindus and Muslims. In addition, violence against Dalits (formerly called "Untouchables") has been widespread across various states both in rural and urban areas. Increasing linguistic and cultural identities have also led to conflicts against outsiders in Assam, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

"International And Transnational Terrorism"

There have been random acts of terrorism over recent years in various regions of India. The Jammu and Kashmir region in particular has been the scene of considerable violence, parts of which can be characterized as being a semi-permissive security environment. Attacks throughout India often occur in public places without regard to collateral causalities and damage. International terrorist groups have claimed responsibiiity for large wide-scale attacks in India, such as the New Delhi Market blasts in October 2005 and the Mumbai train bombings in July 2006.

" Regional Terrorism And Organized Crime"

The most common regional terrorist threat is from the Naxalite communist movement within India. The Naxalite violence is primarily concentrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. In the past, police action in these states has compelled Naxalites to enter Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput and Malkangiri districts in Orissa for shelter. There are also reports that several hundred Naxalites have moved into the forests of Garhwa district in Jharkhand.

"Overall Crime And Safety Situation"

India, like any country, has a full range of criminal activity. Petty crime, especially theft of personal property, is common. Pickpockets can be very adept, and women have reported having their purse straps cut or the bottom of their purses slit without their knowledge. Theft of U.S. passports is quite common, particularly in major tourist areas. Some westerners, including U.S. citizens, have been the victims of robberies, rapes or other violent attacks. The common thread for most attacks has been that the victims were alone. Because U.S. citizens' purchasing power is comparatively large relative to that of the general population, travelers also should always exercise modesty and caution in their financial dealings in India to reduce the chance of being a target for robbery or other serious crime. Scam artists operate in many major Indian cities, selling rugs or other expensive items that may not be of the quality promised. Travelers should deal only with reputable businesses and should not give their credit cards or money unless they are certain goods being shipped to them are the goods they purchased. Travelers should be aware of a number of other scams that have been perpetrated against foreign travelers, particularly in the Jaipur area. The scams generally target younger travelers and involve suggestions that money can be made by privately transporting gems or gold (both of which can result in arrest) or by taking delivery abroad of expensive carpets, supposedly while avoiding customs duties. The scam artists describe the theoretical profits that can be made upon delivery of the goods. Most such schemes require that the traveler first put up a "deposit" to either show "sincerity" or as a "do," or as the "wholesale cost." All travelers are strongly cautioned that the schemes invariably result in the traveler being fleeced. The "gems" or "gold" are nearly always fake and if they were real, the traveler could be subject to arrest. Such schemes often pull the unsuspecting traveler in over the course of several days and begin with a new "friend" who offers to show the traveler the sights so that the "friend" or another new acquaintance can "practice his English." Offers of cheap lodgings and meals also can place the traveler in the physical custody of the scam artist and can leave the traveler at the mercy of threats or even physical coercion. The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to local police and the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

"College Reels Under Crime Fear"

Repeated instances of snatching and theft at the campus have led to insecurity among women students of Viharilal College of Home and Social Science in South Kolkata. At the college hostel, students are living under constant fear, said a group of students.

"We are feeling insecure on the campus. Incidents of thefts and snatching have increased in the last few months and more and more outsiders are seen on the campus," a student said.

Nearly 10 days ago, an outsider snatched a girl's mobile and ran away. The snatcher also bit the girl on the hand when she tried to resist.

In another incident, some anti-social elements took away iron rods from a construction site in the college premises and threatened the security guard with dire consequences when he tried to stop them.

Interestingly, there is no boundary wall between Alipore Multipurpose Girls High School and the Viharilal College located on 20 Judges Court Road at Alipore, also known as the home science campus of the University of Calcutta. The boundary is demarcated mostly by dense bushes and tress.

According to the students, the school side is vulnerable as outsiders can easily enter and exit from that side.

"We have informed the university authorities about the security lapses. The police are keeping a vigil at night. We hope that the situation will improve in a few days," said Shanta Dutta, principal of the college.

The university authorities are also insisting that barbed wire fencing should be put to guard the boundary of the college.

They said that complaints have been lodged with the police and the local councillor has been approached for help in this regard.

"One lakh Malay Indian Youth Linked To Crime"

The Malaysian Government has information that over 100,000 Indian youth are involved in crime, including theft, robbery, distributing drugs, gangsterism and murder.

Human Resources
Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam disclosed this recently, and said lack of jobs, guidance and the influence of friends were major contributors to the social problems.

Dr Subramaniam, who is also Malaysian Indian Congress secretary-general, was speaking to reporters after launching a building fund donation drive for the Malacca Indians Education, Economic, Welfare and Cultural Development Association (Minda).

He added that the Indian community and religious leaders should pay serious attention to organising more youth development programmes, The Star reported.

Dr Subramaniam also said that plantation owners must provide housing quarters for their workers.

He said he had instructed his staff to hold talks and find an amicable solution with the owners who had not provided the necessary housing.

He said the ministry would also talk to Syarikat Perumahan Nasional Berhad after the plantation owners have given their approval for the building of housing quarters.

"Mobilise Social Security To Check Crime Against Women: APSCW"

Alarmed at the rising crimes against women in the state particularly in urban areas, the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) has called for concerted efforts in mobilising social security to check crimes against the fair sex.

The commission, while condemning the rape of a minor girl by three youths on February 13 at Itanagar, sought immediate arrest of the third accused and urged the administration
not to release any accused on bail.

The victim was gangraped by three youths in the wee hours of February 13 when she was taking a stroll in the morning. However, Itanagar police managed to arrest two culprits while the third was absconding.

Responding to the appeal of the Galo Students' Union, the APSCW said the commission was inquiring with the police department on the case.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Women's Welfare Society (APWWS), led by its president Mangwati Mangmow, visited the victim and her family and assured to extend all possible help in providing exemplary punishment to the accused.

The society, while condemning the incident, urged the concerned authorities to nab the absconding culprit. It also called upon the students' organisations, NGOs and the society as a whole to stand against such heinous crimes.

"Ignoring Vehicular Pollution Is A Social Crime"

How cautious are the city residents in preventing negligence? Is it the system to be blamed or the people or the petrol pump owners?
Procuring a pollution-free certificate has become a mockery, at least, many felt.

Officials will be investigating the case, following revelations by TOC. However, people had various views on the matter:

"People should question the authorities. For instance, in Himachal the pollution centre clicks the picture of the vehicle type with its number plate so that there is no discrepancy.

Of course this requires a few bucks more than in the conventional system. We shall be shortly starting this regulatory mechanism," notes Ashwani Sood, petrol pump owner at Sector 22.

Condemning the lackadaisical attitude of the concerned officials and the people themselves, Manmohan Singh Kohli, owner, Hotel Aroma, says, "Ignoring the level of vehicular pollution is a social crime due to which we are forced to breathe death.

The enforcement should not be levelled and leveraged by a monetary fine, but by unbailable imprisonment. There should also be a social
awareness and harassment-free system. The society can only be counselled, but regulation works through enforcement."

Amrit Dhingra, president, Senior Citizens Welfare Association, said, "Of course, people should be educated about such issues.

Such a probe is highly appreciable. More voluntary organisations should be involved in motivating the residents to take a serious action against such carelessness."

Appreciating such an initiative by TOC, Mahinder Singh, president, Environment Awareness and Welfare Association, Sector 27, felt that such ignorance should be penalised.

"This initiative of the media is praiseworthy. It allows the people to be more responsible and vigilant. After all, we are also allowing the environment to become hazardous.

It is for our own betterment that we get our pollution checked every six months. The traffic officials should focus on a clean environment by penalising those who do not believe in getting an authentic vehicular check-up done," he said.

"Human trafficking: Cops Undergo Training To Combat Biggest Social Crime"

Over 1,000 human traffickers have been arrested ever since the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) started its operations in India early in 2007.

The achievement also motivated the Ministry of Home Affairs to initiate a training programme under which nearly 10,000 police officers from six states will be covered till June.

The first such programme, being held at the Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur, in collaboration with UNODC, aims

to train police officers in handling human trafficking cases effectively.

Dr Geeta Sekhon, project coordinator, Anti-Human Trafficking, UNODC, said today that the training of 13,000 police officers and public prosecutors across the five most vulnerable states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Goa and West Bengal — has brought

a significant impact in the fight against human trafficking in the country.

“There has been a marked increase in the number of traffickers arrested and convicted, victims rescued and cases registered under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, 1956,” Dr Sekhon said.

She added that over 1,000 traffickers have been arrested between January 2007 and December 2008. “Besides, over 1,000 victims have also been rescued from the clutches of commercial sexual exploitation,” Dr Sekhon said.

What, according to her, has come as a welcome change is that “people, especially the law enforcement personnel, now see victims as ‘victims’ and not as accused”.

“As many as 297 anti-human trafficking units have been sanctioned for various states of the country. They will be set up in the next four years in order to counter the illegal operations of human trafficking being run at a very large scale,” Dr Sekhon said.

Some districts of Punjab will also have anti-human trafficking units as per the plan chalked out by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s anti-human trafficking campaign has provided an impetus to the nationwide efforts against the crime listed as the second most prolific crime after the trade of arms and drugs,” she remarked.

On the second day of the training programme, in which about 25 officers, most of them of the rank of superintendent of police (Detective) from different districts of the state participated, a delegation from the UK briefed them on various aspects of the crime.

Deborah Harrod, chief superintendent and Steve Harrod, superintendent, Leicestershire Constabulary, UK, interacted with the participants on issues like forced marriages, honour-based violence and human trafficking in UK respectively.

Commenting on NRI marriages, M F Farooqui, deputy director (Indoor), PPA, told the delegation on how for want of a proper procedure, it has become difficult to tackle cases wherein people marry an NRI in the UK or USA to get visas and later dump the spouse, sometimes resulting in murders.

"Child Marriage"

More than 40 per cent of the world's child marriages take place in India, even though the legal age for wedding is 18. A report by UNICEF highlights India's high rate of child marriage as a major reason for the large number of maternal and infant deaths.

Child-marriage was not prevalent in ancient India. The most popular form of marriage was Swayamvara where grooms assembled at the bride' s house and the bride selected her spouse. Svayam-vara can be translated as self selection of one' s husband, Svayam = self, Vara = husband. Instances of Swayamvara ceremony are found in our national epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Various types of marraiges were prevalant in ancient India Gandharva Vivaha (love marriage), Asura Viviha (marriage by abduction) etc., But among these Bal-Viviha is conspicuous in its absence.

There are many reasons to believe that this custom originated in the medieval ages. As mentioned earlier in the turbulent atmosphere of the medieavel ages, law and order was not yet a universal phenomenon and arbitrary powers were concentrated in the hands of a hierarchy led by a despotic monarch. In India the Sultans of Delhi who held the place of the despotic monarch, came from a different type of culture. They were orthodox in their beliefs with a fanatical commitment to their religion and a ruthless method in its propagation. Intolerant as they were to all forms of worship other than their own, they also exercised contempt for members of other faiths. (See note at the end of this chapter).

Women as it is are at the receiving and during any war, arson, plunder, etc. During the reign of the Delhi Sultans these were the order of the day and the worst sufferers were Hindu women. During these dark days were spawned customs like child-marriage and selection of women from the rest of the society, wearing of the Ghungat (veil). This age also perpetuated customs like Sati and looking upon the birth of a female baby as an ill omen, even killing newly born baby girls by drowning them in a tub of milk. Amidst the feeling of insecurity, the presence of young unmarried girls was a potential invitation for disaster.

The predatory Sarasenic feudal lords and princelings of Sarasenic origins who stalked all over India in the middle ages were a source of constant threat . Hence parents would seek to get over with the responsibilities of their daughters by getting them married off before they reached the marriage age. The custom of child marriages with the 'bride' and 'groom' still in their cradles was a culmination of this tendency. This way the danger to a growing girl's virginity was somewhat reduced.

Alongwith this principal reason, there were a few other reasons arising from the nature of the feudal society which were conducive for the prevalence of this practice. In a feudal society, qualities like rivalry, personal honour, hereditary friendship or enmity are rated very highly. Because of this, military alliances play a very important role in preserving or destroying the balance of power between the various kingdoms and fiefdoms. To ensure that the military alliances entered into were observed by both parties, practices like exchanging Juvenile members of the respective families who were educated and brought up at each other's palaces were followed.

They were a sort of captives who were held to ensure that the military alliances between the two kingdoms or clans were honoured. But a more lasting bond that could back up military alliances were-matrimonial alliances between members of the two famlies . But such matrimonial alliances could be worked out smoothly only if the bride and groom were ready to accept each others Young men and women of marriageable age are bound to be choosy. This difficulty could be avoided when the marriage was between two children or babies where there was no question of their having any sense of choice as to who their partners in life should be.

The caste hierarchy also perhaps had its role to play in perpetuating such a system. Caste which is based on birth and heredity does not allow marriages between members of different castes . But as youngsters whose emotions and passions could be ruled by other considerations might violate this injunction. Out of the necessity to preserve itself, the hereditary caste system could have helped in nourishing the practice of child-marriage.

Among other subsidiary considerations which could have helped to preserve this custom might be the belief that adults (or adolescent) boys and girls would indulge in loose moral practices. This consideration would have - been more relevant in the context of the puritanical and orthodox environment of the bygone ages. The practice could also have been perpetuated, especially among- the economically weaker sections, by the consideration of keeping marriage expenses to a minimum. A child-marriage need not have been as grand an affair as adult marriages.

"DOWRY: A HEINOUS SOCIAL CRIME"

According to my information, in no other civilized country similar problem of this magnitude exists. This is indeed a slur on our great heritage, ancient culture and civilization." The division Bench comprising Justice S B Sinha and Justice Dalveer Bhandari in their judgment dated August 21 2006 commented and voiced their concern over the alarming rise of dowry-related deaths, upholding a Patna High Court judgment of convicting a victim’s husband and father-in-law for poisoning her to death.

The evil of dowry is existent in India since ancient times. The custom first originated in Vaishya Hindu community that later crept in to other Hindu communities. Subsequently, with passage of time when Muslims and other communities grew in India this social curse kept on spreading almost in all considerable communities. Now, this practice has affected the entire fabric of our society, especially the poor, backward and middle class families whose economic and financial resources are limited.

There is a whole mindset behind the dowry system. Since the Hindu religion regards boys superior to girls and grants them more rights than the poor girls. The tradition of sati in past and dowry custom in present take their root in this history of discrimination and prejudice. The widows were denied social status and remarrying right; therefore they were forced to torch themselves with the corpse of their husbands so that they no more are alive to feel the bitter taste of discrimination, hatred and seclusion.

Also, the girls were denied any share in the property and wealth of their deceased father and other family members. The girls were considered a burden to be disposed off in marriage with dowry. All the things that they were had right to receive from their father’s property was only dowry, as if this was their part of inheritance that they may get. After marriage, the parents and brothers had less relations with them, even today a custom prevails that the parents do not take even a drop of water or a bite of bread from their daughters’ houses. The custom of marrying away a daughter in Hindu communities is called ‘Kanyadaan’; ‘kanya’ daughter and ‘daan’ means gift or donation.

In the modern India of the New Millennium, the dowry custom is outlawed and demanding dowry has been labelled a heinous crime, even though the menace of dowry is growing. Across the country nearly in every community the dowry custom is prevalent, practiced and even there are cases of prospective bridegrooms' families demanding a dowry from the bride’s family. In most of the cases, the parents, desperate to get their daughters married, are compelled to meet the dowry custom or demand even though they are not able to lift such a huge burden. Usually, people are apt to accept dowry as a custom and have no courage to object or reject it outright. In some areas the dowry demand takes place as bargaining and bridegrooms are valued and auctioned as they are saleable commodity.

The dowry custom is one of the biggest social evils in India. It has eaten into the moral fabric of our society. It is believed that the practice of dowry has spread far more widely among communities and regions where it was virtually non-existent until four decades ago. The committee on the Status of Women in India and the Women's Movement, in the mid-1970s, had noted that dowry had spread much beyond the Hindu upper castes, among whom it had traditionally been practised, it deepened its tentacles and spread to more groups of middle and lower castes among Hindus Muslims Christians and tribals.

The dowry system involves many unholy and dreadful results. Because of the dowry even today the birth of a female child is viewed as a curse and the girls are considered as burden. The dowry custom prompts many parents to go for female foeticide. Thousands of girls do not get a chance to live and are silenced in the wombs of their mothers. With the used of widespread gender tests some parents choose an abortion to avoid the burden of an unwanted female child. A study has revealed that an estimated one million (1,000,000) female foetuses are being destroyed every year in India alone. A century ago, the female population ratio in India stood at 972 for 1,000 men. Now, it is steadily declining and in some states it has dropped to less than 750 to 1,000.

"If I don’t kill her today; tomorrow she will kill me financially or some one else will burn her for the sake of dowry," This is the rationalization of a would-be-father of an unborn female child, at the time of deciding a premature end for her. Such is the evil of dowry, rampantly prevailing in Indian society.

Due to the curse of this dowry system many girls remain unmarried because of the financial problems of their parents. Some of such girls take recourse to suicide while few of them enter flesh trade. The evil practice of dowry has turned the sacred relationship of husband and wife into a commercial relation making the life of girls and their parents a hell. It has given rise to suicide, corruption and moral degradation.

The dowry custom motivates many inlaws to commit horrendous crimes of burning, poisoning or murdering the brides. Even in cities such as the capital, New Delhi, "bride-burnings" are reported every day. A report from the federal Department of Women and Child Development—published as Violence Against Women—stated that registered dowry deaths rose from a total of 1,912 cases in 1987 to 5,157 in 1991. But women activists claim that at least 10 times as many cases are never registered. And, not to speak of the physical and mental torture by inlaws that often go unreported and unregistered. Some brides commit suicide because of the constant pressure of fetching demanded money, car TV etc from their fathers’ house whereas they have already supplied abundant dowry beyond their means.

In many cases, the poor parents get loan on interest for getting their daughters married away. Later, this loan proves such a load that multiplies and holds the entire family into its cruel grip.

The Supreme Court, in its verdict on Aug 21, 2006, said that for eradication of social evil of dowry, effective steps can be taken by the society itself. A vigorous national campaign is needed to create social awareness and social consensus to abolish the dowry system. Our younger generation should come forward to rectify this trend. They should set an example by neither demanding nor offering dowry. Those who demand dowry should be socially boycotted. Unless the younger generations volunteer for such noble tasks, no such reformatory projects can succeed.

At some place or the other, we have to put an end to the cycle of taking and giving dowry. Sometimes, it is seen that even people who have undergone the traumatic experience of having to pay dowry on the marriages of their daughters, are keen on getting dowry on their sons’ marriage. The abolishment of such social curse requires sacrifice and determination.

Moreover, an effective implementation of the law is needed to tackle the problem. According to the apex court more severe legislative measures are urgently required to curb dowry-related deaths. Also, dowry will have to be tackled through the united efforts of NGOs, and religious bodies. Media may play a vital role to mobilise public opinion against this social evil.

As soon as a daughter is born, Muslim father are given glad tiding by the Prophet (peace be upon him) that one who is bestowed daughters or sisters, and he brings them up, educates them and marries them away, he will enter paradise. (Tirmizi, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah)

Islam made Nikah (marriage) so easy and simple. Islam does not put any financial burden on the father of the girl. A Muslim father is told to get her daughter married away in a most simple ‘Nikah’ ceremony solemnized by a ‘Qazi’ (priest) in a mosque with two witnesses. He is not even required to give any feast to the handful of invitees assembled for this occasion. In fact it is desirable on the part of the groom that he offers a Waleema to his relatives and friends. Later, it is husband who is responsible to arrange accommodation, furniture, food and all expenses for his wife.

The example of such a simple marriage was set up by the Prophet (pbuh) himself. He got his daughters married in the simplest possible manner. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "The best of the marriages is one which is least burdensome in the financial sense.” (Musnad Ahamd, Abu Dawood)

A Muslim father does not have to bother for dowry for his daughter. On the contrary, Islam enjoins the groom to give a ‘bridal-gift’ or ‘Dower’ as a token of love and assurance to his would be wife at the time of marriage. In fact without payment of this sum, the marriage cannot be completed. The Holy Qur’an instructs the Muslims: "And give the women (whom you marry) their dower (obligatory bridal gift) happily" (Al-Quran)

It is regretful that Muslims who were given such a noble and simple way of life have gone blind and are following the evil practices of dowry. Instead of having an influence of the countrymen and tailing their footsteps, it must have been their duty to strive hard to eradicate this bane of Indian society.

"Soon, Adultery Won’t Be A Crime But A Social Offence"

For long, there has been a debate on whether adultery should be regarded as a crime as it is under Indian laws. Finally, the argument seems to be going in favour of those against this social malaise being treated as a criminal act.

The draft National Policy on Criminal Justice, authored by the Madhava Menon committee, has responded to the demand of the National Commission for Women (NCW) to de-criminalise adultery by recommending that it should be treated as a social rather than a criminal offence.

While listing adultery among the offences that should be removed from the category of criminal acts, the Madhava Menon panel has said that by treating an adulterer as a criminal actually becomes an obstacle in any rapprochement between husband and wife, besides making the accused vulnerable to extortionist policemen.

Says the draft report: "There is a universal tendency to put down all types of social conduct with the use of criminal sanctions without examining the use of possible alternative means of social control and without studying the impact of such step on the status of criminal justice in the country."

At present, Section 497 of IPC provides for jail up to five years as well as a fine for adultery. Interestingly, NCW has opposed a proposal to amend Section 497 to bring women also under the purview. IPC says the wife shall not be liable even as an abettor, based on the reasoning that a woman involved in illicit relationship with a married man is a victim rather than author of the ‘crime’.

"Mobilise Social Security To Check Crime Against Women"

Alarmed at the rising crimes against women in the state particularly in urban areas, the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW) has called for concerted efforts in mobilising social security to check crimes against the fair sex.
The commission, while condemning the rape of a minor girl by three youths on February 13 at Itanagar, sought immediate arrest of the third accused and urged the administration
not to release any accused on bail.

The victim was gangraped by three youths in the wee hours of February 13 when she was taking a stroll in the morning. However, Itanagar police managed to arrest two culprits while the third was absconding.

Responding to the appeal of the Galo Students' Union, the APSCW said the commission was inquiring with the police department on the case.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Women's Welfare Society (APWWS), led by its president Mangwati Mangmow, visited the victim and her family and assured to extend all possible help in providing exemplary punishment to the accused.

The society, while condemning the incident, urged the concerned authorities to nab the absconding culprit. It also called upon the students' organisations, NGOs and the society as a whole to stand against such heinous crimes.

SOCIAL CRIMES/ EVILS IN INDIA

There are a number of Social Crime/ Evils prevalent in India.
The top in the list are: -

1.Dowry
2. Poverty
3. Gender Inequality
4. Drugs
5. Human Inequality
6. Child Labour
7. Prostitution

and many more........ every individual needs to take steps in order to make India a better place to live.. My friends come on... lets help to make a clean and green country, free from sins..




DOWRY




A dowry (also known as trousseau or torture) is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her new husband. Compare bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both dowry and bride price. The dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it.

It is described in the oldest records, such as the Code of Hammurabi as a pre-existing custom, prescribing only regulations for how it was to be handled and also included regulations for a bride price. If a woman died without sons, her husband had to refund the dowry but could deduct the value of the bride price; the dowry would normally have been the larger of the sums. It marks the first record of long-lasting customs, such as the wife being entitled to her dowry at her husband's death as part of her dower, her dowry being inheritable only by her own children, not by her husband's children by other women, and a woman not being entitled to a (subsequent) inheritance if her father had provided her dowry in marriage.


One of the basic functions of a dowry has been to serve as a form of protection for the wife against the very real possibility of ill treatment by her husband and his family.[citation needed] In other words, the dowry provides an incentive to the husband not to harm the wife.

It is one of the major Social Crime prevalent in India. Sometimes due to lack of dowry the woman becomes a victim of dire consequence. Different cases related to dowry comes up every day in the news and papers. We must all strive to put an end to these evils. These acts always comes in between social progress and development. Though dowry is prevalent in other countries too, the influence is very little compared to India.




POVERTY


The World Bank further estimates that a third of the global poor now reside in India.Income inequality in India is increasing. On the other hand, the Planning Commission of India uses its own criteria and has estimated that 27.5% of the population was living below the poverty line in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994. The source for this was the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the criterion used was monthly per capita consumption expenditure below Rs. 356.35 for rural areas and Rs. 538.60 for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are daily wagers, self-employed householders and landless laborers.

Although Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas. Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for Gujarat (8.8%), Haryana (8.7%), or Delhi (7.4%) were much higher than for Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh (3.5%). Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar (41%) are among the world's most extreme.

India has a higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three (46% in year 2007) than any other country in the world.


Despite significant economic progress, 1/4 of the nation's population earns less than the government-specified poverty threshold of $0.40/day. Official figures estimate that 27.5% of Indians lived below the national poverty line in 2004-2005. A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 25% of Indians, or 236 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day with most working in "informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty.





GENDER INEQUALITY


Gender inequality refers to the obvious or hidden disparity between individuals due to gender performance (gender can differ from biological sex; see Sex/gender distinction). Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences. The dichotomous nature of gender lends to the creation of inequality that manifests in numerous dimensions of daily life.Also when distinction is made between males and females and differential treatment is meted out to boys and girls then there is a gender inequality.

DRUGS EFFECTS


Although syringe exchange and other harm reduction interventions have generally been effective in reducing blood-borne pathogen incidence among injection drug users (IDUs), in some cases a minority of IDUs continues to engage in risky injection behavior. Building on emerging perspectives in social epidemiology and research on drug use in anthropology that point to the importance of examining fundamental social causes of risk behavior, or what puts individuals at risk for risk, this study used a multilevel perspective to explore whether forms of capital, social network characteristics, and other contextual factors influence continued risky injection behavior. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected on IDUs in the city of Marseilles, France, where sterile injection equipment has been legal and officially promoted since 1995. In multivariate analysis on data concerning active users, location in the densest part of a large, interconnected network of IDUs greatly increased the likelihood of risky injection practices, while there was a non-significant tendency for low Acquired Cultural and Economic Capital to predict this behavior. Among the strongest individual-level characteristics to predict this outcome were illicit use of prescribed medication, generally high dose buprenorphine, and unprotected sex. Parental abuse of psychoactive drugs during the subject's childhood, on the other hand, greatly decreased the chances of engaging in risky injection behavior. Additionally, qualitative data analysis suggests that risky injection may be linked to lack of resources to procure drugs, and not simply to inadequate sterile injection equipment. Further research,
including ecological models, is needed to better understand how fundamental social conditions are related to “risk for risk”. However, public health interventions can already address the need for community-level interventions, while rethinking the consequences of inaccessible drugs and unintended “leakage” from the introduction of buprenorphine and other medicalized treatments for opiate dependency.

Ma fnds can we put an end to drugs in India. I am waiting 2 hear 4m you ma blog readers. I am a drug user but now I stopped n wanna put an end 2 this ..... Is this possible fnd how???



HUMAN INEQUALITY

Can a country where a third of the population is illiterate be an Information Technology superpower? Can a country where 78 million rural homes have never seen electricity be an economic superpower? Can anyone feel safe living in islands of prosperity in a sea of poverty? While India’s educated elite are reveling in their new found status on the global stage, inequitable distribution of wealth and opportunities are shaking the very foundation of India’s new economy. Will the Indian government’s apathy towards the rural poor bring India’s party to an abrupt end?


In the last 12 years, India's economy has grown at an average annual rate of about 7 percent, reducing poverty by 10 percent. However, 40 percent of the world's poor still live in India, and 28 percent of the country's population continues to live below the poverty line. More than one third live on less than a dollar a day, and 80 percent live on less than two dollars a day. India's recent economic growth has been attributed to the service industry, but 60 percent of the workforce remains in agriculture.

The rate of increasing disparity between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, is hard to miss in tech centers like Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi. Technology professionals are returning, having made their millions in the US. They are driving expensive cars and living in luxury apartments. Cities are growing in all directions. Farmlands are being acquired to build luxury townships, golf courses, five star hotels, spas and clubs. Poor farmers get paid off, and are forced to move further away from the city. And while global leaders and businessmen wax eloquent about India’s growing status as an IT superpower, everyone turns a blind eye to the majority of the population untouched by the economic growth.


And the scenario is not too different in smaller cities. Nagpur is a bustling metropolis in the heart of India, in a region known as Vidarbha. There are signs of economic boom everywhere in the city – shopping arcades, multiplexes, pubs, and luxury clubs. Yet, right outside the city, farmers are committing suicide due to their inability to repay debts as small as $100. In the last five years, almost two thousand farmers in the region have killed themselves.

Hyderabad is the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh. In the last decade, Hyderabad has established itself as a worthy successor to Bangalore. Companies like Microsoft, Wipro, Infosys, GE, HSBC have all made their presence felt in the city. Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Jack Welch and a host of other global biggies have visited the city and proclaimed their confidence in its play in the global world. Yet, a continuing drought and a lack of government support has led to 4500 farmer suicides in the last 7 years in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

A socio-economic structure as lopsided as this is bound to collapse sooner or later. And some horrific incidents in the recent past signal the appearance of cracks in the Indian structure.

Last month, Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta’s two-year old son was kidnapped from Noida in suburban New Delhi. The child was released on the payment of a ransom of $100,000, but the kidnappers were eventually caught by the police and the ransom amount recovered.

More recently, Adhip Lahiri, a young man working for i2 technologies in Bangalore, was brutally murdered as he was returning home from work at 10.30 pm. His wristwatch, ring, wallet, laptop, cell phone and car were missing, and robbery seems to be the motive behind the crime.

In the last six months, five cases of carjacking have been reported from Bangalore alone.


It is quite obvious that India’s recent economic growth has not trickled down to the bottom. The majority of the population has been sitting by the sidelines watching the buildings grow taller and the roads get wider. What’s concerning is that there doesn’t seem to be any concerted government effort to rectify the situation. For the poor, a severe lack of basic health, education and training opportunities mean that not only are they in a miserable condition today, there isn’t much hope for the future either. It is only a matter of time when they barter their spades for knives, in a desperate attempt to liberate themselves from the throes of poverty.

A country with such an unequal distribution of opportunities and wealth can never promise long-term security and stability. Any individual or establishment that symbolizes this economic and social disparity will be under threat. India wishes to become an economic superpower. But, if India wants what it wishes, these glaring social and economic problems must be addressed directly and earnestly. And until, these problems are addressed, no company setting up base in India can feel truly secure.


While, the government must own primary responsibility for social upliftment, the answer to India’s woes probably lies in a public-private partnership towards addressing India’s deprived poor. It’s happening in pockets. Companies like the Tata Group have ingrained social responsibility in their DNA. Azim Premji Foundation, promoted by the Wipro Chairman, is working with state governments to improve grassroots level education in rural India. What’s probably now needed is for all private enterprises and government bodies to collaborate, to create a larger, more meaningful, nationwide impact.

Corporations should not view it purely from a philanthropic perspective. A bigger pool of educated and employable population will mean availability of better quality human resources. And a stable society creates a far more secure environment to do business in. Cleansing the environment where you are running your operations definitely makes better long term business sense. And the sooner corporations realize this, the better it is for everyone.



CHILD LABOUR


Child labour, or child labor, is the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many countries and international organizations. Child labour was utilized to varying extents through most of history, but entered public dispute with the beginning of universal schooling, with changes in working conditions during industrialization, and with the emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights. Child labour is still common in some places where the school leaving age is lower.

Child labour is common in some parts of the world, and can be factory work, mining, prostitution, quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business, having one's own small business (for example selling food), or doing odd jobs. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and restaurants (where they may also work as waiters). Other children are forced to do tedious and repetitive jobs such as: assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a store's products, or cleaning. However, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most child labour occurs in the informal sector, "selling many things on the streets, at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses—far from the reach of official labour inspectors and from media scrutiny." And all the work that they did was done in all types of weather; and was also done for minimal pay.

According to UNICEF, there are an estimated 158 million children aged 5 to 14 in child labour worldwide, excluding child domestic labour.



PROSTITUTION IN INDIA


The term devadasi originally described a Hindu religious practice in which girls were "married" and dedicated to a deity (deva or devi). In addition to taking care of the temple, and performing rituals they learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status. The popularity of devadasis seems to have reached its pinnacle around the 10th and 11th centuries. The rise and fall in the status of devadasis can be seen to be running parallel to the rise and fall of Hindu temples. Invaders from West Asia attained their first victory in India at the beginning of the second millennium CE. The destruction of temples by invaders started from the northwestern borders of the country and spread through the whole of the country. Thereafter the status of the temples fell very quickly in North India and slowly in South India. As the temples became poorer and lost their patron kings, and in some cases were destroyed, the devadasis were forced into a life of poverty, misery, and, in some cases, prostitution.

Following the demise of the great Hindu kingdoms the practice degenerated. Pressure from the colonial "reform" movement led to suppression of the practice. Adherents of this movement considered devadasis immoral since they engaged in sex outside of the traditional concept of marriage, and described them as prostitutes. As a result of these social changes, devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage. Colonial views on devadasis are hotly disputed by several groups and organizations in India and by western academics.


In Goa, a Portuguese colony in India, during the late 16th and 17th centuries, there was a community of Japanese slaves, who were usually young Japanese women and girls brought or captured as sexual slaves by Portuguese traders and their South Asian lascar crewmembers from Japan.

During the British East India Company's rule in India in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was initially fairly common for British soldiers to frequently visit local Indian nautch dancers. Likewise, Indian lascar seamen taken to the United Kingdom also frequently visited the local British prostitutes there. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of women and girls from continental Europe and Japan were also trafficked into British India, where they worked as prostitutes servicing both British soldiers and local Indian men.

Prostitution is currently a contentious issue in India. India is estimated to have 2 million female sex workers. According to a Human Rights Watch report, Indian anti-trafficking laws are designed to combat commercialized vice; prostitution, as such, is not illegal. A sex worker can be punished for soliciting or seducing in public while clients can be punished for sexual activity close to a public place.

Brothels are illegal de jure but in practice they are restricted in location to certain areas of any given town and thus although the profession does not have official sanction, little effort is made to stamp it out or to take action to impede it. Sonagachi in Kolkata and Kamathipura in Mumbai , G.B. Road in New Delhi, Reshampura in Gwalior and Budhwar Peth in Pune host thousands of sex workers there and they are famous red light centres in India. Earlier there was a centere in Dalmandi in Varanasi and Naqqasa Bazaar in Saharanpur also.