"A Shia woman solemnizing marriage of a Sunni couple. If that was not enough, the nikah that made Lucknow sit up in disbelief, was to have only women as witnesses."
On March 28, the very first doctor in India was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act. In the 11 years since the Act was enacted, why have lawbreakers got away?
"India is a country where marriage is considered sacred, so it is hardly a surprise that there is no word in Hindi for divorce. But increasing numbers of women trapped in unhappy relationships are finding a way out."
"A day in February 2006 is imprinted as vividly on Renu's mind as her body. In the quiet, narrow lane outside her east Delhi home, she had been bathing the family buffaloes when her father's tenant, a mug in hand, came towards her.
"Madhya Pradesh has perhaps the highest number of gang rapes in the India. Shockingly, in the last 1,300 days — from Dec 7, 2003 to June 30, 2007 – 1,217 gang rapes were reported in the state as per the Madhya Pradesh State Assembly records."
Despite a ban imposed by the BJP Madhya Pradesh against teaching sex education in schools since March 2006, a survey shows 73 per cent of teachers in that state do not think sex lessons in school promote "indecency in the name of education".
Background, resources and actions to address the violence and vandalism carried out by Hindu fundamentalists in Orissa state, India. ACPP-Hotline Asia summarizes:
"L’écrivain bangladaise Taslima Nasreen, qui vit en exil en Inde, est chassée de ville en ville sous la pression de groupes islamistes qui veulent la faire expulser de ce pays, voire l’assassiner, pour ses blasphèmes supposés envers l’islam."
