Delhi gang rapists sentenced to death

The four men faced either life imprisonment or death by hanging [AFP]

An Indian court has sentenced four men to death for the gang rape and murder of a studen

Four men have been convicted over roles in rape and murder of 23-year-old woman in capital Delhi last year.

An Indian court has sentenced four men to death for the gang rape and murder of a student in the capital Delhi.

Friday's ruling came after her parents begged for the "cold-blooded" killers' execution.

Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta were convicted on Tuesday in the December attack of the 23-year-old woman, a crime that unleashed a wave of public anger over the treatment of women in India.

The woman died two weeks after the attack of internal injuries.

Judge Yogesh Khanna said on Friday the case fell in the "rarest of rare category", rejecting pleas for lighter sentence.

'Cannot turn blind eye'

Khanna said the attack "shocked the collective conscience" of India, and that "courts cannot turn a blind eye" to such crimes.

"This case definitely falls in the rarest of rare categories and warrants the exemplary punishment of death," he added.

The four men faced either life imprisonment or death by hanging.

The men called out to reporters as police drove them into the courthouse complex before the sentencing hearing.

"Save us, brothers! Save us!" they could be heard shouting from the police van.

One of the convicted men, Vinay Sharma, broke down in tears and cried loudly as the sentence was announced.

Earlier, protesters outside the court had demanded that the four men must be hanged.

As the news broke, crowds inside the building and outside the courtroom roared with cheers and applauded the judgement.

The prosecution team congratulated each other, with lead lawyer Dayan Krishnan saying: "We did our job. We are happy with this sentence".

The father of the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the family was also satisfied as he left with his wife and sons.

"We are very happy. Justice has been delivered," he told reporters inside court flanked by his wife and sons.

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/09/201391392314350126.html

Delhi rape suspects face death sentences

Juvenile convict was sentenced to three years in a correctional facility, the maximum allowed by law [AFP]

Four men will learn on Friday if they are to hang for the shocking murder and gang rape of an Indian

Indian judge will announce if case of four men, accused for rape and murder, fulfills for meriting death sentence. Four men will learn on Friday if they are to hang for the shocking murder and gang rape of an Indian student after her parents begged for the "cold-blooded" killers' execution. Three days after finding the gang guilty of a murderous assault which sickened a nation, Judge Yogesh Khanna will announce whether it fulfils the "rarest of rare" criteria for crimes that merit capital punishment. There has been a huge clamour for the four, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh to be executed for their attack on a 23-year-old physiotherapy student and her male companion on board a bus on December 16. After prosecution lawyers argued on Wednesday the gang were guilty of a "diabolical" crime, the victim's mother implored the judge to hand down the death sentence. "We beg the court that justice should be given to our daughter," said the mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her late daughter. "It was not merely a mistake, they planned and killed her mercilessly," she told reporters. The victim's father has said only the death penalty can bring the family some closure. During Wednesday's hearing, defence lawyers argued Judge Khanna should resist "political pressure" and instead jail the gang for life, citing the youth of their clients who are all in their teens or 20s. Rape cases increasing Handing down his verdict at the end of a seven-month trial on Tuesday, Khanna found the men guilty of the "cold-blooded" murder of a "helpless victim" whose fight for life won her the nickname of Braveheart. Feelings though are running high in a country disgusted by daily reports of gang rapes and sex assaults on children. A total of 1,098 cases of rape have been reported to police in Delhi alone so far this year, according to figures in The Times of India on Friday. That represents a massive increase on the 450 recorded in the same period last year, although campaigners say the rise is reflective of a greater willingness by victims to come forward after the December 16 attack. Lawyers for the men have already said they will appeal the convictions in the Delhi High Court, which will spell years of argument and delays in India's notoriously slow legal system. In appeal, the defence is likely to advocate lesser sentences for some of the gang, and argue it was a "spur of the moment" crime and not premeditated. There was widespread anger after a juvenile who was convicted last month for his role in the bus attack was sentenced to just three years in a correctional facility, the maximum allowed by law. Rattled by the mass protests, the government rushed through new anti-rape laws and ordered the trial be held in a special fast-track court.

Source:  http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/09/201391362338796515.html

Delhi gang rape verdict on September 10

A fast track court in Delhi on Tuesday said it will give its judgment on September 10 in the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape case in which four accused are facing trial.

Additional Session Judge Yogesh Khanna reserved the order after defence counsel concluded their arguments. The prosecution ended its arguments earlier.

The case relates to a 23-year-old physiotherapist, who was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus by five men and a juvenile, after she boarded the vehicle with her male friend.

The victim later succumbed in a Singapore hospital, where she had been taken for treatment for her injuries.

One of the accused allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail, where he was lodged.

The juvenile was sentenced to three years stay at reform home by a Juvenile Justice Board on August 31.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/delhi-gang-rape-verdict-on-september-10/article5089281.ece

Two sentenced to death for rape and murder

NAGPUR: Seven years after a 19-year-old girl from Kalmeshwar was raped and murdered in a gruesome manner, the court on Friday sentenced the perpetrators — two hardened criminals — to the gallows. Rakesh Kamble (25), a resident of Gaurakshan slums in Wardha, and Amarsing Thakur (27), from Bajrang Nagar in city, were convicted for kidnapping, murder, and rape of Kanchan Meshram, a resident of Lonara slums in Kalmeshwar on December 18, 2005.

These two join seven others in the 'death penalty' club of Nagpur court over the last five years.

Looking at the past criminal record of the accused duo, including fleeing from police custody, the third district and sessions judge Vibha Ingle had no hesitation in putting the dastardly act under "rarest of rare" category. "They be hanged by neck till dead," the court mentioned while reading out an operative order in the packed courtroom.

Apart from the capital punishment, the duo was awarded lifer for gang rape, 20 years rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping for murder and another 10 years for criminal intimidation and trespassing into house at night. They were also fined Rs 22,000 on various counts. All the jail terms will run concurrently, the court ordered.

However, the duo was acquitted of charges under the Arms Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Citing testimony of 19 witnesses, including the girl's parents, brother and other villagers, assistant public prosecutor (APP) Kalpana Pande strongly advocated the maximum punishment, contending that the accused were serial offenders and showed no signs of reformation.

Security was tight inside and outside the courtroom, considering the fact that the accused duo had a history of fleeing from custody and had created trouble every time they were brought for a hearing. Even Sadar PI Rajratan Bansod was personally present. There was no remorse on the faces of the convicts when the verdict was announced and they even threatened media persons with dire consequences.

The night of horror

Pande said the history-sheeter duo were friends with a cousin of the deceased and used to tease her. A few days before the incident, Kanchan had even rapped Rakesh for indecent behaviour and thrown a slipper at him. An enraged Rakesh then decided to teach her a lesson. He barged into the girl's small hut with Amarsing at about 3am, when she was sleeping with her parents and brother. Both were armed with knives and a country-made revolver.

Sensing trouble, Kanchan's mother signalled her to escape. She ran away from home and took shelter under the bed in her uncle's house. However, the goons entered by breaking open the front door and dragged her out. Her parents and other villagers tried their best to stop them, but the goons brandished their weapons to keep them at bay while taking her away.

Next morning, Kanchan's naked body was found at a nearby farm with 14 injuries, including stab marks and scratches on her private parts. Her blood stained clothes were lying all over the farm and blood was found splattered at many places, providing ample testimony of the spine chilling torment she underwent. The post mortem report confirmed her rape and murder.

The accused had fled to an unknown place after committing the crime. After a complaint was lodged at Kalmeshwar police, Rakesh was arrested at Khamgaon in Buldhana on June 6, 2006, six months after the incident. However, it took over five years for the police to nab the other accused Amarsing on May 29, 2005. In fact, he was arrested by Gwalior police for some other offence and was brought to the city for this case.
 : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Two-sentenced-to-death-for-rape-and-murder/articleshow/20823395.cms

Delhi rape case: Demand for death penalty for rapist's increases, Delhi Police take some protesters into custody

New Delhi:  April 21 (ANI): Even as the public clamours for giving the death penalty to rapists, police in Delhi took several protesters into preventive custody on Sunday.

A demonstrator fell unconscious while protesting the brutal rape of the five-year old girl in New Delhi, and demanding more safety for women.

An irate protester, Shikha Rai, said the police and the government should take adequate security measures for the safety of women in the country.

She added: "Our demand is to make safe a safe place for women. We elect government for the security and safety of the people and if they or if Delhi police are unable to provide that security that I think, we will have to come out and take care of ourselves."

Meanwhile, reports of protests against the rape of a five-year-old are coming in from other parts of the country.

Protesters took to the streets raising slogans, demanding a harsh punishment for the man suspected of raping the five-year-old girl who is battling for her life at a hospital in New Delhi.

To express solidarity with the five-year-old girl, protesters shouted slogans against Delhi Police and the Union government demanding the resignation of Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar.

An agitated protester, Neelam said, "We are demonstrating against the brutal incident done by an animal like human being with the small girl. We demand resignation of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, as during his tenure, another horrifying incident happened after the December 16 incident. Attitude of police has not changed. They still do not lodge FIR and the family of victims is asked to compromise and shut their mouth. We want to ask them as to what is their role? What is their duty? Is it to make the victim keep quite or to help them?"

Lashing out at United Progressive Alliance (UPA), a protester Sharda, urged the government to hang the accused.

"The biggest problem is that the culprits are not being punished due to which they are fearlessly raping women. I just want to say that in such cases, the culprits should be hanged to death or else women will have to find ways to protect themselves," said Sharda

A woman also fainted while raising her voice against the safety for women during the protest. She was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment.

The victim, whose parents work as labourers and live in the eastern neighbourhood of Delhi, went missing on April 15.

Police found her with bruise marks on her body in the suspect's house in a semi-conscious condition on Thursday after her parents had registered a complaint.

Delhi police had arrested the 25-year-old man for the rape of the child from arrested from Muzaffarpur town in India's eastern state of Bihar. The man was taken into transit custody to be brought to New Delhi.

The rape, which left the young girl in a critical condition, revived memories of the brutal gang rape by five adult men and a teenaged boy of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a bus on December 16 in New Delhi. That woman died of her injuries.

Earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement that he was deeply disturbed by the latest incident. In December his administration had faced criticism for failing to respond to public anger over the horrific attack on the physiotherapy student.

Singh's government passed tougher laws to fight gender crimes in March, putting in place new provisions and tougher punishments, which include criminalising voyeurism and stalking and making acid attacks and human trafficking specific offences.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/delhi-rape-case-demand-death-penalty-rapists-increases-121825672.html

Delhi gang rape trial sparks Indian media frenzy

Digital media have been barred, but print journalists wait outside to swarm lawyers, the accused and their families

BY MARY KENNEY

Indian children participate in a protest against child abuse and rising crimes against women, in Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, March 16, 2013. (Credit: AP/Biswaranjan Rout)

This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.

NEW DELHI, India — Across town from the district courthouse, employees of Ambedkar University’s Center for Community Knowledge argued about India’s most infamous trial.

“The defense lawyers are saying, ‘well, you know, she was out late,’” said Ranjani Prasad, 24, gesturing with her hands and clearly irritated.

Her co-worker, 26-year-old Anoushka Mathews, nodded thoughtfully and crossed her arms. “It might actually work,” she said. “The judge might listen to that.”

On trial are four of the six men accused of gang raping a young woman on a New Delhi bus in December, a crime that made headlines around the world and forced a typically uninterested Indian judicial system to take action.

One of the two not being tried is 17 years old and in juvenile court. The other is Ram Singh, the bus driver branded as the group’s ringleader. He was found hanging by a noose tied from prison clothes in his cell on March 11.

The victim, Jyoti Singh Pandey, 23, was brutally beaten, raped, tortured and then left for dead. She later succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital.

The crime — and now the trial — has brought the issue of sexual violence into the public sphere in India like never before. Reacting to the public uproar, the government passed a law in March allowing the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rapes that led to a victim’s death, such as the Pandey case.

The case has for months been splashed across Indian newspapers and broadcasts, and has inspired news features on sexual assaults. The scene both inside and outside the courtroom is frenzied. Digital media have been barred, but print journalists wait outside to swarm lawyers, the accused and their families.

Manohar Lal Sharma, one of the defense lawyers, stops every time to feed quotes to the hungry press. He has become famous for his angry outbursts and controversial remarks, blaming the victim for the attack. Earlier this week, he stormed out of the courtroom, furious that authorities wanted to bring one of the defendants, who had been hospitalized with chest pains, back to court to stand trial.

“They have no sympathy for Mukesh,” Sharma complained to a group of journalists, referring to Mukesh Singh, the bus driver Ram’s brother.

Sharma, along with Singh’s parents, believe Ram’s death was murder, not suicide. They cite the injuries reported on his hands and the fact that he was under a suicide watch. He shared his cell with three other men, and it seems suspicious, the family says, that they all claim to have slept through his hanging.

Sharma said the police are now being irresponsible again, trying to yank Mukesh from his hospital bed to sit in a courtroom.

“One person they have murdered,” he told the gathered journalists, shaking his head, “and now they’re doing it to another one.”

Vijay Sansanwal, another defense lawyer, wrote off the possibility that Ram Singh was murdered. Ram had three children and a wife who left him after the details of the case came out, he said. He nodded, as if that explained everything.

The trial is on hold until the question of whether Mukesh is healthy enough to stand trial is resolved. In the meantime, speculation continues about how the case will ultimately unfold.

Among the Indian public, few feel any sympathy for any of the defendants. Though many support the government’s new law to impose the death penalty, some fear it could backfire.

Sagolsem Pavel Meitei and Priyanka Singh are master’s students in gender studies. They worry that implementing the death penalty or castration, another suggestion from the public, would make the conviction rate for sexual assaults plummet.

Pavel worries the men could be found not guilty because the burden of proof is so much higher in a trial that carries a sentence of capital punishment.

“Plus [the accused] have sympathy points,” Priyanka added. “They say, ‘look, one has already killed himself.’”

Priyanka doesn’t believe the men will be put to death. She thinks the case will be drawn out as political parties use it to garner popularity.

Pavel spoke rapidly and had to pause several times to gather his thoughts about Pandey’s trial and the larger issue of sexual assault.

“It isn’t just about justice for her,” Pavel said. “It’s about changing how sexual assault is seen in India.”
Priyanka interrupted him, “This concept of women in distress, so passive and weak … it’s just pathetic. It doesn’t help in any way. It victimizes the women again.”

Source: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/28/delhi_gang_rape_trial_sparks_media_frenzy_in_india_partner/

Suryanelli rape case: Court issues notice to Kurien

The horrific Suryanelli sex case occurred in Kerala's Idukki district Jan 1996, when a 16-year-old was threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor. She was sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Kerala court today issued a notice to Rajya Sabha speaker PJ Kurien and five others in connection with the Suryanelli gangrape case.

This comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court setting aside the Kerala HC's acquittal of 35 people accused of raping a girl from Suryanelli village in Kerala's Idukki district in 1996.

Following the SC verdict, the girl demanded a fresh investigation against Kurien - which snowballed into a political controversy.

The apex court said the high court did not look at the evidence properly and directed that the case be re-judged again within six months.

Earlier, a lower court in Kerala on Saturday has rejected Suryanelli rape case survivor's plea against key accused Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien in the 1996 gangrape case.

The court said that there was no new evidence against Kurien. The verdict comes as a relief for Kurien as the Kerala High Court was yet to decide on a PIL seeking orders to make him accused in the 1996 rape case.

What is the Suryanelli sex case?

The horrific Suryanelli sex case occurred in Kerala's Idukki district Jan 1996, when a 16-year-old was threatened, abducted and abused by a bus conductor. She was sexually assaulted for 45 days by 42 men, and then threatened with dire consequences if she spoke of the incident, before being allowed to return home.

In repeated statements, the victim has claimed that PJ Kurien was among the men who abused her 17 years ago.

The Supreme Court Jan 31 ordered a retrial in the case, setting aside the acquittal in 2005 by the Kerala High Court of all but one of the 35 accused.

As the victim and her parents repeat that Kurien got away lightly, without being so much as named among the accused, thanks to his political clout, the Left has rushed to draw mileage from the accusations.

The tormented girl mustered the courage to talk of her experience, and the names of the high and mighty appeared as a special court named 35 accused and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment.

On September 6, 2000, the trial special court convicted 36 people and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment of varying terms. The Kerala High Court, however, acquitted all 35 convicts earlier and found only one of them person guilty of crimes related to the sex trade and sentenced him to five years jail term and a fine of Rs 50,000.

In 2005, however, the Kerala High Court acquitted all but one of those earlier named as accused. 

The victim's family and the state moved the Supreme Court in 2005 against the high court's verdict.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/suryanelli-rape-case--court-issues-notice-to-kurien-101250552.html

India: A civilisation of rapists?

by Lakshmi Chaudhry Mar 26, 2013

The shocking and tragic Delhi gang rape has borne many a fruit, a few sweet, others bitter, and some just plain strange. Unprecedented street protests challenging sexual violence against women. A long-overdue national debate over gender roles and rights. A flawed anti-rape bill. And reams and reams of media coverage, including innumerable op-eds, reported stories, and in-depth features.

In recent days, the news coverage has taken a new and disturbing turn. Three separate stories in reputed publications over the past few days have put forward, to varying degrees, a similar thesis: Indians are culturally predisposed to rape. In some cases, the logic is specious; in others, the reporting flawed, but the subtext is the same: There is something about India — its men, culture, history — that makes rape a signature national trait.

It’s our cultural DNA

In a Business Standard op-ed titled ‘Consent vs Civilisation’, Devangshu Datta argues that our “twinned obsession with rape and incest leads quite naturally to multitudes of Indians being raped by their relatives.” His thesis is, in part, an attempt to explain why “mom,” “Indian aunty” and “rape” feature in the top ten search words on porn sites for India. As cultural evidence for his case, he offers the following: “street abuse [that] focuses on the sex lives of female relatives.”; regional traditions that permit inter-familial marriages (uncle-niece or between cousins); rape as a recurring motif in mythology and movies.

A large number of men came out protesting the spate of rapes in India. AFP.

Most of these are fairly easy to debunk. Mother- and sister- curses are common to most cultures across the world, and which share the assumption that the best way to impugn a man’s honour is to insinuate sexual contact with his female relatives.

As for incestuous relationships, ‘kissing cousins’ have long been common in the West (and account for a great number of royal progeny), while the Bible is chock-a-block with “inappropriate” relationships: Abraham married his half-sister, Lot had sex with his daughters etc. One Tamil tradition involving maternal uncles does not an incestuous culture make. And as for those porn stats, ‘mom’ rates number 9 on Tennessee’s list, one notch above India.

On the matter of mythology, Datta himself concedes that “Greek, Roman and Norse classics are also full of graphic rapes”, but avers, “The difference is that India has proudly maintained an unbroken cultural tradition in its fascination with rape. It has always been a popular motif in Indian cinema. Rape is depicted far more often onscreen than consensual sex… YouTube is chock-a-block with compilations of ‘Bollywood hot rapes,’ ‘Tamil aunty rape’ and the like.”

This is the strongest and most persuasive piece of evidence Datta presents, but he confuses the egg for the chicken. In a society where “good” women could never be shown as desiring sex, and censorship rules were stricter on matters of sex than violence, the Great Indian Rape Scene emerged as the default titillation ingredient for male moviemakers. That generations of men have been weaned on this toxic fantasy of desire has created an Indian iteration of the rape fetish — but one, as Datta acknowledges, that we share with Turkey which has evolved from a mingling of European and Middle Eastern cultures.

It’s Hindu law

In a reported piece — first accompanied by the incendiary headline “Why India allows men to rape their wives” (later changed to a tamer ‘Why India still allows marital rape’) — India Real Time’s Preetika Rana points to the 1955 Hindu Marriage Act as the prime culprit:

Some legal experts believe the government is reluctant to criminalise marital rape because it would require them to tweak laws based on religious practices, including the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, which says a wife is duty-bound to have sex with her husband. Denying sex, according to traditional Hindu beliefs, goes against the duties of an ideal wife…

There is no denying that Indian personal laws — be it Hindu or Muslim — are retrograde and gendered, or the politics of religious pandering. But there is nothing uniquely Hindu about the demand that a woman’s body belongs to her husband. In Western canon, rape was long defined as the violation of the property rights of a male:

Michelle J. Anderson, dean of the City University of New York School of Law and a leading scholar on rape law, added that marriage was “a transfer of property from father to husband and if someone deflowered the virgin, that removed the property rights of the father. Rape was about stealing his property.”… Until recent decades, marital rape was not considered a crime. In fact, rape was defined as forcing sexual intercourse on a person other than the wife of the accused.

Husbands were exempt from rape charges until the 1990s in Europe, and marital rape continues to remain an issue in even gender-equal societies like Norway, which, as the New York Times notes, is “still one of 127 countries in the world — including 12 members of the European Union — that do not explicitly criminalise rape within marriage.”

The criminalising of marital rape in most nations has indeed entailed, as Datta puts it, “cutting ourselves adrift from our cultural moorings,” or rather a universal tradition of patriarchy that treats women’s bodies as male property, be it in France, USA or India.
It’s the Indian male

Where Rana and Datta fear to tread, The Observer’s Gethin Chamberlain rushes in with unabashed enthusiasm. Armed with a large and representative sample of 6 (yes, you read that number right) Goan males, he lets us in on the big dirty secret: all Indian men think women deserve to be raped! The men dutifully serve up a variety of “alarming” and “frightening” quotes designed to scare the average female reader.

“When the girls look sexy and the boys can’t control themselves, they are going to rape. It happens,” says a young man. “Rape is a big, big problem. It starts with the woman. They drive the man fucking crazy,” declares another in this rhetorical orgy of misogyny, allowing Chamberlain to grandly conclude that his little “discussion” reveals “the deep moral conservatism of some young Indian males, coupled with confusion about gender roles in a society where economic modernisation is outstripping social attitudes.”

Of course, the key word here is “some,” a niggling detail the article bats aside so:

This collection of young men is a small, random sample, and plenty of Indians would find their views abhorrent. Foreigners thinking of visiting India – particularly young women – will find these views not only repulsive, but dangerous. Though this is a small sample, it is telling that they speak so openly, and it is clearly the case that other young Indian men would express similar thoughts – even if large numbers of their compatriots would find them shocking.

It isn’t, in fact, “clear” at all as to how six guys in a Goan bar can be used to extrapolate the thoughts of other Indian men. More accurately, these quintessentially “Indian” views — that women’s bodies are there for the taking — are shared by many men, irrespective of nationality, including those football players in Steubenville.

“The Steubenville rapists claim that, when they drove a passed-out girl from party to party, slinging her into and out-of cars like a deflated sex-dolly and sticking their fingers inside her, they didn’t know they were doing anything wrong,” writes Laurie Penny in the New Statesman, also noting, “The pictures from Steubenville don’t just show a girl being raped. They show that rape being condoned, encouraged, celebrated. What type of culture could possibly produce such pictures?”

What type of culture indeed!

Just because rape is a problem in almost every part of the world ought not to be reason to ignore it in our backyard — i.e. let’s not console ourselves by claiming, “Americans are no better.” But let’s not lose sight of our shared history of patriarchy that lies beneath its various cultural iterations. Rape is not a civilisational trait, peculiar to Indian or any other culture. No society has a monopoly on misogyny.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/living/india-a-civilisation-of-rapists-675937.html

Man gets death for rape and murder

March. 26, 2013 at 11:45 AM

BHUBANESWAR, India, March 26 (UPI) -- A court in southeastern India sentenced a man to death Tuesday for the rape and murder of an elderly woman two years ago, a prosecutor said.

Mishro Parija, 25, was convicted of raping the 60-year-old woman in a cattle-grazing field, beating her to death and taking her body to a cremation ground, Indo-Asian News Service reported.

The court heard from 18 witnesses during his trial.

He is the second man in the Indian province of Odisha to receive a death sentence for rape and murder.

Friday, a court in Jharsuguda sentenced a 22-year-old man to death for killing a minor girl and then having sex with her dead body, IANS said.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/03/26/Man-gets-death-for-rape-and-murder/UPI-56751364312738/

Dress 'appropriately', MLA tells national women’s kabaddi coach

Gurgaon, Sat Mar 23 2013, 03:38 hrs

A Haryana MLA allegedly insulted the coach of the national women's kabaddi team in public on Friday, causing the distressed woman to faint, and triggering protests from her wards.

Badshahpur MLA Rao Dharampal allegedly told Sunil Dabas, one of the very few woman Dronacharya awardees, to dress "appropriately" in a sari and not in "shirt and jeans". The MLA was chief guest at the annual day celebration at Gurgaon's Dronacharya College of Engineering, where Dabas is a member of the staff.

According to students who said they were witnesses, Dharampal also expressed scepticism about Dabas's ability to discipline her wards. A shaken Dabas protested, and was so stressed out and unhappy that she needed medical attention, the students, who demanded an apology from the MLA, said.

Dharampal said, "I did not do or say anything wrong. While meeting all the staff members, just like a father in good faith, I told her, "kapde bhi theek-thaak pehan liya karo". I also told her that we are all proud of her and her achievements. I had no intention of humiliating her. She is like my own daughter."

Dabas and the college principal were not available for comment.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dress-appropriately-mla-tells-national-womens-kabaddi-coach/1092240/

Press Release by Activists on Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2013

The passing of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2013 in both houses of Parliament is historic and India has taken one step forward in its journey to justice for women. Even as the Bill signals a step forward, the process of its passage shows us that degrading attitudes to women persist at the highest levels of legislative decision-making. With notable and welcome exceptions, the general tenor of debates in Lok Sabha on this Bill has deeply troubled us, as women and as citizens. The nation watched with shame many of our honorable Members of Parliament freely express sentiments that undermined the dignity of all women, unmindful of the gravity of issues of rape and violence. Coming, as this Bill does, after the brutal homicidal gang rape of a young woman in the heart of the nation’s capital, the level of parliamentary debate dishonored her memory, and dishonored the public outpouring led by thousands of our young people demanding greater dignity and more safety for women.

As representatives of women’s rights groups, lawyers and activists from across the country who have worked hard, campaigned for decades, and particularly vigorously in the last three months, to reform laws on rape and sexual assault we, therefore, welcome even more that in such an anti-women environment we have wrested significant gains for women in the CLA Bill 2013, including,

• Denting of impunity enjoyed by police and public servants – Section 166A of the CLA Bill fixes a minimum mandatory sentence for dereliction of duty. No prior sanction under 197 (1) CrPC will be required for public servants charged under this Section. We hope this will be a strong legal deterrent against police dereliction to make our streets and our lives safer.
• Expanded definition of rape beyond peno-vaginal penetration
• Definition of consent and a crucial proviso to Section 375 (Provided that a woman who does not physically resist to the act of penetration shall not be reason only of that fact be regarded as consenting to the sexual activity).
• Inclusion of crimes like forced disrobing, acid attacks and stalking that destroy women’s lives, and can lead to their rape and brutal murders.
• Free, immediate treatment to victims of acid attack and sexual violence to be given by all Health service providers, with penalties for refusal.

At the same time,

• We are deeply disappointed by the widening of the age net for statutory rape to 18 years, when it has stood at 16 years for 3 decades. We are worried that this provision will criminalize our young boys, tainting them as rapists for life, when what we need is discussion and education on issues of sexual contact. We ask Parliament to revisit this provision and to amend it.
• We are disturbed that yet again rape within marriage finds no acknowledgement in the Bill
• Systemic sexual violence against dalit and tribal women is not acknowledged as aggravated rape
• We find it incomprehensible that in a Bill which clarifies that no sanction for prosecution under 197 (1) CrPC is required for public servants charged with sexual offences, a similar clarification regarding 197 (2) CrPC covering armed forces is excluded.
• Why, when all persons can be victims of rape committed by men, does the Bill define the victim as woman only? We urge government and Parliament to revisit the Bill at an early stage, to recognize the reality and vulnerability of transgenders and men to sexual abuse by other men, and amend the definition of victim to make it ‘person’.

 We now ask Government to take the next step towards comprehensive reforms outlined in the Justice Verma Committee report, and amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 and the Representation of People Act, 1951 to erase immunity and instill accountability across all institutions.

Finally, we call upon the government, upon all political parties and all citizens to join us in continuing this journey to justice and equal rights for women, and in vigorously implementing these laws we have fought so long and so hard to get.

Source: Via Facebook: by Kavita Krishnan (Notes) on Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 11:10pm

Orphanage founder gets death sentence in girls' gangrape, murder case

PTI : Mumbai, Thu Mar 21 2013, 

Observing that the convict "was a menace to the society," a local court today awarded death sentence to the founder of an orphanage for murder of an inmate and gangrape of five mentally-challenged girls, including three minors.

One of the victims, suffering from tuberculosis, died after she was gang raped. Hence, prime accused and director of orphanage - Ramchandra Karanjule (54) - faced additional murder charge and was convicted on this count.

"He was menace to the society and life imprisonment will be highly inadequate in this case. The convict had no right to live in the society for the heinous crime he had committed," said sessions judge P V Ganediwalla while awarding capital punishment to Karanjule.

"Every day crimes against women are being committed. It is increasing day-by-day. The law changes as per the needs of the society. It is the need of the hour to create deterrent effect by imposing the highest punishment, otherwise judicial conscience will be taken for granted," the judge observed.

Karanjule and five others were convicted yesterday and today the court gave judgement on the quantum of punishment.

The offence was committed at the orphanage, located in Kalamboli area in Navi Mumbai and run by a private organisation, Kalyani Mahila Bal Seva Sanstha.

Of the three victims who testified in the court, one girl was mentally-challenged, while two girls were deaf and mute, who identified the main accused using signs.

Besides, awarding death sentence to Karanjule, the court sentenced to life imprisonment Khandu Kasbe, who runs a similar home in Shirdi, and Prakash Khadke, a teacher in the orphanage.

Also, orphanage superintendent Sonali Badade and caretaker Parvati Mavle were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.

Another convict Nanabhau Karanjule, convicted for molestation, was sentenced to two-year imprisonment.

Judge Ganediwalla said that Ramchandra, in the name of running a very noble institution for the cause of mentally challenged girls, created a 'demi god' sort of impression in the minds of the prospective donors which ensured free and continuous flow of donations to the orphanage in all forms.

"He not only exploited the vulnerable, defenceless physically disabled girls but also exploited the emotions of the donors," said the court.

The prosecution's case was that 19 victims were gang raped by three accused, while the rest were tried for other offences against juveniles.

Statements of 19 victims were recorded by a magistrate and of them, three had come before the court to testify against the accused.

Ramchandra, while holding quasi parental position, has in fact breached the trust and fiduciary relationship with the inmates of the home to satisfy his insatiable lust, it said.

The court also observed that the girls were not allowed to move around. These 19 girls were dumped in a shop-like enclosure of 250 sq ft which had no doors but rolling shutter. The girls were literally stuffed in the small room with no space to move around.

"The scars of injuries on their bodies speak for itself," the court observed.

Two untrained unqualified staff were kept to look after the girls. One of them was an illiterate old lady and other was a young girl who had an illicit relation with Ramchandra.

"The only objective behind running the orphanage was to satisfy the lust and to earn money. Ramchandra not only exploited the girls for years together but also allowed his friends to exploit the girls," the judge said.

The court also observed that the proceedings are unique and have shown the vulnerability of the orphans, especially the mentally and physically disabled girls and need for their protection.

While observing the quantum of sentence, the judge cited the Dhananjoy Chatterjee case and said that it was well settled that the death penalty should be inflicted on rarest of the rare case.

"The cumulative effect of all the circumstances which came on record shows that the present case is the rarest of the rare in its kind," observed the judge.

Praising the Child Welfare Committee the judge observed "but for the exhausting inspection and timely action the whole episode would not have seen the light of the day."

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/orphanage-founder-gets-death-sentence-in-girls-gangrape-murder-case/1091452/1

Anti-rape bill gets Parliament nod

PTI : New Delhi, Thu Mar 21 2013, 18:42 hrs

Parliament today passed the anti-rape bill providing natural life term or even death for repeat offenders of rape, with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde stating the "law will impact the society for years to come".

Terming it as a "unique law", he said the government is open to further improvement if there is such a need.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 commonly known as the anti-rape bill was passed by Rajya Sabha after amendments moved by Left MPs were defeated. The Lok Sabha had passed the legislation on March 19.

Replying to queries, Shinde said the purpose of the bill is to provide stringent punishment also for offences like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks and human trafficking.

"The bill is significant as it aims to protect mothers and sisters of this country. Over years, such stringent law has not been made," he noted.

On whether influential people would be covered under the law, the minister said, "Those in authority who abuse and influence victims...politicians and all financially influential persons are covered under section 367 of the law."

The Bill seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 3, which will expire on April 4. It seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

On human trafficking of minor girls, the Minister said the government has taken cognisance of this offence and certain sections have been incorporated to give stringent punishment. "Police officers and executive officers involved in such offence will also be punished under the law," he said.

Earlier, while moving the bill, Shinde said the "conscience of whole nation was shaken" in the aftermath of December 16 gangrape and a clarion call was given for complete overhaul of laws on rape.

"After the horrendous gangrape, government constituted Justice Verma Committee" to ensure speedy justice and enhanced punishment to offenders.

He said new offences have been included in IPC and provisions are also being made for acid attacks. Harsher punishments are being prescribed for crime against women, he said.

Shinde said, "The eyes of the nation are on us and let us honour (through legislative framework) the braveheart who sacrificed herself fighting for honour and dignity."

As per the bill, an offender can be sentenced to rigourous imprisonment for a term, which shall not be less than 20 years, but may extend to life, meaning imprisonment for remainder of that person's natural life and with a fine.

It has provisions for handing out death sentence to offenders who may have been convicted earlier for such crimes.

The Bill, for the first time, defines stalking and voyeurism as non-bailable offences if repeated for a second time. Perpetrators of acid attack will attract a 10-year jail term.

Bachchan termed the bill as "anti-male" saying "in order to provide justice to one part of the society, you cannot be unfair to the other section. This bill can be misused.

She said stalking was done by women also as one could hear very often women saying that "that man is so hot...Please do not do justice to one section at the cost of the other."

She objected to usage of "patronising words" such as "protection" in case of women. "You have made the pepper spray also cheaper. It is so patronisng," she said.

Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) objected to portrayal of women as "objects of sex" in television advertisements and urged that the practice should be stopped immediately.

Najma Heptulla (BJP) said since the bill was being cleared in a hurry, the Home Minister should assure the House that the bill would be brought back for discussion once the session resumes after the month-long recess from tomorrow.

She said the Juvenile Justice Act should be changed as children of today are becoming mature much earlier than earlier days.

Vasanthy Stanley (DMK), V Maitreyan (AIADMK), Ashok Ganguly (Nom) and Bharatkumar Raut (Shiv Sena) also spoke.

Venkaiah Naidu (BJP), who headed Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home that looked into anti-rape bill, said the law is the right step in the right direction but certain aspects of the bill are not discussed and some points are missing.

"Please go through the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Mere bill will not solve the problem. What is required is political will," he said.

He said ragging should be make cognisable offence. It also sought incorporation of some suggestions like mandatory filing of FIR, time limit to take action, strengthening women police, judicial reforms, moral education and fixing responsibility of higher officials in the bill.

He complained that the government has not given sufficient time to discuss the bill. "Include all suggestion and bring a more progressive bill," he said.

Ravishankar Prasad (BJP) sought to know as to what would happen if hospitals failed to provide medical help to rape victims. He also said that proper infrastructure facilities were required to provide speedy justice to rape victims.

D Raja (CPI) said the Ordinance was brought to score political mileage and was done in haste without due consideration of the Justice Verma panel recommendations.

Raja, who had moved a statutory resolution to disapprove the Ordinance, said there was "systematic, widespread violence against women of India...It is duty of Parliament to respond through a legislation."

Maya Singh (BJP) lamented that girls were neither safe at home, nor outside and situation has deteriorated to such an extent that an NGO during a survey found that 53 per cent of children were sexually abused.

She demanded speedy trial in rape cases besides ensuring that a rape victim is not tortured in court during interrogations.

She said if any juvenile carried out such an act, he should not be considered juvenile.

Prabha Thakur (Cong) sought stringent punishment to offenders of such crime citing how strong legislations in countries like Middle East, Russia and China had resulted in curbing such incidents.

S C Misra (BSP) demanded fast-tracking such cases and appointment of women judges for hearing of such cases.

T N Seema (CPI-M) expressed apprehension that certain provisions in the bill would be detrimental for adolescent boys in case of sex through consent.

"How can you send a young boy to jail for falling in love or biological attraction," she asked, apprehending that such provisions could become tool in the hands of parents of rich girls to harass boys.

Derek O'Brien (Trinamool) said during the Shimla accord between India and Pakistan the government has used the code "A boy is born" to send the message that talks were a success, which reflected on the mindset of the UPA government.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/antirape-bill-gets-parliament-nod/1091455/4