Dalit Children Burnt Alive
A Dalit family’s house was set on fire by people belonging to the “upper caste” and two children (aged two and a half & 11 months) died in the blaze in Sunpedh district of Faridabad (in other words, somewhere in the outskirts of Delhi). Their parent sustained injuries in an attempt to save these children. Seven people of a family are held by the police following this incident.
Union Minister General VK Singh’s severely insensitive statement – “If someone throws stones at a dog, the government is not responsible” – also gained a lot of attention.
Of Cows, Sanghi Terror & #LynchIndia
Three persons were injured in a petrol-bomb attack on a truck during protests against the death of three cows in Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir.
A man was beaten to death by a mob at Sirmaur in the Sarahan area of Himachal Pradesh for allegedly trying to smuggle a truck load of cattle to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Two Muslim youths were thrashed by cops in Mumbai and were asked to “leave India and go to Pakistan.” The police claimed that they were suspected to be “Pakistani terrorists or ISIS agents.”
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its sister organization the Bajrang Dal are mulling a massive ‘anti-cow slaughter’ drive in the communally sensitive western UP districts. This is raising alarm bells in minds of activists working in riot-affected areas who are worried that this could see a repeat of the Muzzafarnagar riots of 2013.
Independent Jammu & Kashmir MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, better known as Engineer Rashid, was attacked by Hindu Sena activists who blackened his face with ink and mobil oil in Delhi for holding a beef party.
And BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj pitched for a law that provides for death penalty for cow slaughter.
Police Misogyny
Three policemen, arrested in connection with the alleged custodial torture and sexual assault of a woman in Udumalpet, were remanded and lodged in the Central Jail in Coimbatore.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh over the gangrape of a woman constable by her colleagues.
A rape survivor in Jaipur has accused that the Pratap Nagar police is deliberately delaying the investigation.
Rape, Reports & “Reasons”
According to reports, despite there being fast track courts to deal with rape cases, trial of more than 93 per cent of them are pending for the last three years.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan conveyed his patriarchal & misogynistic ideas by trying to explain rape. He said, “Two-and-a-half-year olds getting raped, why? It’s because of mobile phones. Even in villages people can download things.”
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that his government will examine and recommend a proposal to lower the age of juvenile offenders from 18 to 15 in cases of heinous crimes such as rape and murder. However, activists have pointed out that lowering the juvenile age will not stop crimes against children.
Several cases of rape and child sexual abuse were reported.
Other News
Chetana Thirthahalli, a Bengaluru-based writer, filmmaker and script writer was threatened with rape, acid attack and other ‘dire consequences’ on Facebook following a series of articles she wrote questioning Hindu customs and the beef ban.
In response to the petition questioning the restricted entry of women in the Haji Ali Dargah, the trustees of the Dargah told Bombay High Court that “Entry of women in close proximity of grave of a male Muslim saint is a grievous sin in Islam.” This petition was filed in 2014 by Noorjehan Niaz and Zakia Soman of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan. They pointed out that this sudden restriction was introduced in 2011, despite the fact that 12 of the 19 major Muslim dargahs in Mumbai allow women to enter the inner sanctum.
Featured Image Credit: A group of protestors demanding for action against the accused in the case of two Dalit children burnt alive | www.bbc.com
