"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.