The Indian Parliament’s lower house passed a landmark law Tuesday that sets tougher penalties for rapists and police who refuse to file a woman’s complaint of rape, as well as criminalizing sexual offenses such as stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks.
The amendments to the existing law incorporate some of the sweeping changes that were demanded after the fatal gang rape of a young paramedical student in New Delhi in December, an incident that sparked a nationwide outcry against the lack of safety for women.
Despite the unprecedented protests that galvanized tens of thousands of Indians, the number of incidents of sexual assault has not diminished.
Those convicted of sexual assault in India will now face the death penalty in cases where their victim(s) dies or is left in a permanently vegetative state, and mandatory minimum sentences have been raised to 20 years in prison (formerly 7-10 years). Government approval will no longer be needed to pursue charges against policemen, government officials, politicians, or judges either; however, the legislation fails to address cases of marital rape or sex crimes committed by members of the Indian military. Still, it’s pretty hard not to look at today’s changes as signs of progress.
backyardgoldmine says: I don’t understand why American news organizations are more concerned about the gang rapes that happen in India than the ones that happen here. Like the only articles Shortform Blog have about Stubenville are two articles about Rick Santorum giving a speech there.
» SFB says: We posted an article about Steubenville just a couple of days ago. As far as the case in India, it’s very significant issue culturally in that country and prior cases have led to mass protests. We try to cover issues happening in the U.S. as well as internationally. Fact of the matter: Both cases are worth our time and important to cover. — Ernie @ SFB
After spending the day in the picturesque Orchha town, known for its several forts and temples, the couple were camping about 250 metres off National Highway 75, a furlong from the local police station, inside the forest. According to local journalists, a few villagers had met the couple on Friday evening as they arrived. However, seven or eight men came back later with clubs and, after an altercation, started beating up the man.
The attackers “tied up the man and gang-raped the woman in his presence,” DIG (Chambal Range) D.K. Arya told The Hindu. Once the woman’s complaint was registered, she was taken to Gwalior district for a medical test around 8 a.m. as Datia does not have lady doctors to conduct medical tests. By midday, the test was conducted and rape was “informally” confirmed by a three-member panel of doctors at the Kamalaraje Women and Children’s Hospital in Gwalior. Later, the woman was brought back to Datia. “She is with us in Datia and out of danger,” Mr. Arya said.
The DIG confirmed that, so far, “50-60 villagers” from Datia and adjoining areas had been detained and a massive operation launched to nab the culprits. The attackers stole Rs. 12,000 and a mobile phone from the woman, the sources said.
The latest attack comes less than three months after a similar attack in New Delhi involving a medical student who later died. That incident led to massive protests throughout India.
Need some inspiration? Take some from Fauja Singh, a 101-year-old Indian man who ran a 10K in Hong Kong over the weekend. He finished the 10-kilometer run in one hour, 32 minutes, 28 seconds. He’s hanging up his running shoes after this, but he might as well, because he’s most likely the oldest person to ever finish a race this long. No topping that.
EDIT: Modified to note that he ran a 10K, not a marathon. Sorry about that.
Outrage as Indian guru blames gang rape victim
AFP: A popular Indian spiritual guru has sparked a backlash after saying a 23-year-old student could have averted a murderous gang-rape by begging for mercy from her attackers.
Self-styled godman Asharam, known to his followers as Bapu, or father, told his devotees on Tuesday that blame for the assault on a moving bus in New Delhi on December 16 should not just rest with her attackers.
Photo: Activists hold placards during a protest at Saket District Court in New Delhi on Thursday (Prakash Singh / AFP - Getty Images)
“This tragedy would not have happened if she had chanted God’s name and fallen at the feet of the attackers. The error was not committed by just one side.” WTF? It’s a good thing major publications are ripping him for that stance.
After careful consideration and some research, I have come to the conclusion that this article is a hoax—a clever and elaborate hoax, but a hoax nonetheless. An online search for “Bicholim conflict” or for many of the article’s purported sources produces only results that can be traced back to the article itself. Take, for example, one of the article’s major sources: Thompson, Mark, Mistrust between states, Oxford University Press, London 1996. No record at WorldCat. No mention at the OUP site. No used listings at Alibris or ABE. I can find no evidence anywhere that this book exists. Not being able to find any trace of an OUP book published within, say, the past 40 years? Ridiculous. If this book exists, then the original author of this WP article owns the only copy. I was similarly unsuccessful in tracking down Srinivasan Vasantakulan’s Bharatiya Struggles (1000 AD – 1700 AD) (shown with an ISBN for a Swedish children’s book) or David D’Souza’s Roots of conflict in Portuguese Goa (also with an erroneous and unlikely ISBN). In addition, consider the comment by another editor on the article’s talk page concerning the problems with the dates in the article. If I’m wrong about this, I’ll look like a right idiot, but there are too many troubling things about this article to ignore.
The Daily Dot’s Kevin Morris has a great breakdown of the Bicholim Conflict’s downfall.
Delhi gang-rape victim dies in hospital in Singapore
BBC News: The 23-year-old woman gang-raped on a bus in India’s capital Delhi has died at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.
“The patient passed away peacefully at 4:45am on 29 Dec 2012,” a statement from the hospital said. The patient’s family had been by her side, it added.
The 23-year-old had arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.
Follow updates on the story at Breaking News.
Photo: A young woman, one hand covered in fake blood, takes part in a protest earlier Friday in Calcutta against the gang rape of a student. (Piyal Adhikary / EPA via NBC News)
As we pointed out last week, the incident, which was widely-reported, led to mass protests in New Delhi, leading to calls for calm by the Indian government. This latest development is quite sad and worth keeping a close eye on.
Anti-rape protests put pressure on Indian government: On December 16, a 23-year-old medical student was brutally gang-raped on a bus in the country’s capital, New Delhi. This weekend, strong protests have risen up in reaction, with thousands filling the streets in response. In response to the protests, which have faced police retaliation (see water cannons used in video above), Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised tough action. ”We will make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety to all women in this country,” he said. “I appeal to all concerned citizens to maintain peace and calm.”
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» A big country that’s hard to keep wired: Even before the power outage that turned off the lights off in half of India, the country had power and capacity problems, leading Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to push for $400 billion in capacity improvements over the next five years. Another issue at play? High demand. The way that states pay for electricity in India is that they buy energy a day before, and are penalized if they use more than allotted — and some of the states affected by the power outages had excessive draw downs, which led to the power outages.
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» That’s half the country: Another huge chunk of India’s 1.2 billion people are working without power today after grids in more than a dozen states broke down. ”This is the second day that something like this has happened. I’ve given instructions that whoever overdraws power will be punished,” said Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is trying to restore essential services such as mass transit.
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» Bigger than the entire U.S. and Canada population, combined: Northern India’s power grid apparently couldn’t handle all the people on it, so down it went early Monday morning. While roughly 60 percent of power has been restored, fans and air conditioners stopped working in 90-degree heat, and the city of New Delhi basically went dark. On the other hand, the annoyance wasn’t one that Indian residents had never experienced before — the country has fairly regular power outages, and backup generators are a way of life for hospitals and businesses.
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Internet content blocking travels downstream, affects unwary users
A team of Canadian researchers have uncovered an unusual new example of “upstream filtering,” where online content in one country is blocked in another country due to filtering that happens in transit.
Researchers at the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, revealed that some Oman Internet users using the Omantel ISP are also being subjected to Indian content restrictions because of traffic flowing through India.
Think having your internet blocked is bad? Try having it blocked indirectly.
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