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Huh. I always thought that fsimon was a man, but he's a woman. How could I have gotten that so wrong?

it tears at the heart to come to terms why an innocent girl had fell victim to wicked heart

All nine Metro stations in Central Delhi were opened for public on Tuesday evening after being shut for three days .

Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana on Monday opened his mouth to put his foot right in, saying women are asking for trouble if they venture out at night. Worse, he described the assault on the physiotherapy student as a "minor incident" for which party president Sonia Gandhi had reached out to agitating people.

Just because India achieved freedom at midnight does not mean that women can venture out after dark. They should ensure that they do not board buses with few passengers," Botsa said to the shock of reporters at a press conference at Congress headquarters here.

In the last few years that the neighbours have known Singh, he had earned for himself the reputation of a muscleman whom people of the area chose to avoid. He would get into frequent drunken brawls, particularly with his immediate neighbours who avoided crossing his path in the evening.
He actually built his reputation a few years back when he eloped with a married woman from his neighbourhood.
"He returned after the woman, a mother of three, died because of some illness, but no one had the courage to say anything to his face. Everyone hated his actions but couldn't muster courage to say anything," Bhola Prasad, a neighbour, said.
Singh lived with his brother Mukesh and parents, who are known in the neighbourhood for their dysfunctional relationship. According to the neighbours, the couple get into heated arguments most evenings.

At least 20 men accused of raping women ran in Indian elections in the last five years, according to a think-tank report published amid growing outrage over the gang-rape of a student on a bus.

A teenage girl was shot dead and her mother injured when they objected to their neighbour urinating in front of their house at Hazrat Nizamuddin in south-east Delhi.

Hundreds of men came to attack the centre with swords, chains and stones. I rushed to meet the so-called leaders of this place. Before I started my meeting I insisted that the women should be there, too, and in the presence of these women, I explained to the leaders the work we were doing.

The leaders then asked whether prostitution occurs in that area, and I replied that I would not answer the question.

To this, the main leader declared loudly that he would kill me and "cut me into pieces". He also threatened to close all my other centres.

Nirbhaya's condition worsened last night when she suffered a cardiac arrest and was revived after administration of CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation). Through Wednesday, doctors at Safdarjung hospital struggled to fight the infection seeping through her body.

especially the Catholic Church, has fallen short

The 23-year-old has already undergone three operations in India. She was airlifted from a hospital in New Delhi to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital overnight.

In a statement, the Mount Elizabeth Hospital described her condition in the intensive care unit as "extremely critical".

The Indian government, which is paying for the woman's treatment, approved the decision to transfer her from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where she had been treated since the December 16 assault on a bus in the centre of the capital.

Visa arrangements were also fast-tracked to enable the victim's relatives to keep watch over her in Singapore.

"The hospital and the family have requested that the privacy of the patient and the family be respected," a statement from the high commission said.

While doctors in Singapore did not give details about the treatment she has received since her early morning arrival, their counterparts at Safdarjung said Mount Elizabeth had been chosen as it has a multi-organ transplant facility.

All these violations against women should be examined in context to the interest of society. The root is the same, the disregard for God, being manifest in these forms. The woman is being commoditised, disrespected and done away with; the girl child is discriminated against in life and also before she is born. This calls for an attitudinal change that goes beyond the law, beyond self-interest, beyond self-preservation in always seeking what is truly good for the wellbeing of others, as indeed of themselves.

In this Year of Faith, as we celebrate Christmas, we pray for our beloved motherland, whose daughters are in anguish and agony and we pray for the peace of Christmas. Peace is what we all yearn for. It is not an empty desire. It is a hope, a hope founded on faith. We will not see the fullness of peace realised until Christ comes again at the end of time. But we cannot wait until then. We need to pray and work for peace now. When we believe, we give birth to Christ in the world by working for peace.

Unfortunately, we are heirs to a history which has conditioned us to a remarkable extent. In every time and place, this conditioning has been an obstacle to the progress of women. Women's dignity has often been unacknowledged and their prerogatives misrepresented; they have often been relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude. This has prevented women from truly being themselves and it has resulted in a spiritual impoverishment of humanity. Certainly it is no easy task to assign the blame for this, considering the many kinds of cultural conditioning which down the centuries have shaped ways of thinking and acting.

When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation and domination, the Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ himself. Transcending the established norms of his own culture, Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance and tenderness. In this way he honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God's plan and in his love.

The time has come to condemn vigorously the types of sexual violence which frequently have women for their object and to pass laws which effectively defend them from such violence. Nor can we fail, in the name of the respect due to the human person, to condemn the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality and corrupts even very young girls into letting their bodies be used for profit.

it is still by and large mission land for the Church.

WHY this particular couple was set upon in a bus.

complaints of rape and molest are often not treated seriously by law enforcers

Maybe this can be a turning point.

She attended the Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar,

India has great potential, but although it is fast rising

After the 2009 Mangalore pub attack, where women were beaten (because, according to the attackers, the women were indulging in anti-cultural acts), Pramod Muthalik said: Citing traditional values of India, "Girls going to pubs is not acceptable."Why are women always the target of these social disciplinarians? They beat them up, abuse them, tell them what to wear or not, be a nice housewife because that's what the 'religious ideal' is, be a mother and an obedient wife, go to places of worship and read the holy scriptures.

There is nothing wrong with that, but do these worthies have a right and a moral authority to tell women all these codes of conduct while they flounder and abuse every bit of simple, civil behaviour in their life?

The God Who Sees
“O my creator, I plead before you, implore you time and time again. In the next incarnation don’t make me a girl child. In hell instead let me wane.” (An Eastern UP Folk song quoted by Quratulain Hyder in Chaar Novalettes)

Simon, thank you for updating us on this incredible suffering.

If we strive to always have Jesus present in our midst, "where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst" ...if He grants it, who knows what helpful blessings for them will come about.

He grants it, who knows what helpful blessings

Fearing for her life, she fled to New Delhi for assistance but she was eventually arrested from there and taken back to Chhatisgarh police station for interrogation. Here, Suri who was not even healthy enough to go to the courtroom to give her statement was brutally tortured. Under the bleak promise of safety and protection she was tortured and sexually harassed. She had deep concussions on her head as if some heavy object had hit her. She was stripped and given electric shocks. She complained of aches, pains and injuries.

This is not the end of the story. She was denied treatment at AIMS hospital Chhatisgarh because the time allotted to admit patients was over and it was after the interference of NHRC that she was admitted in the hospital. Here two main atrocities are brought in limelight- custodial torture and the politically prepared moves of hospitals. Both from the most trusted organizations in India. Custodial injuries and deaths exist from a very long time. Numerous cases get registered. Some get lucky and some get punished.

Asian Center for Human Rights in its report of torture in India 2009 revealed that the highest number of custodial deaths was reported in Maharashtra with 192 cases, then Uttar Pradesh with 128 cases, Gujarat 113 cases, Andhra Pradesh 85 cases, West Bengal 83 cases, Tamil Nadu 76 cases, Assam 74 cases, Karnataka 55 cases, Punjab 41 cases, Madhya Pradesh with 38 cases, Bihar and Rajasthan with 32 cases each, Haryana with 31 cases, Kerala 30 cases, Jharkhand 29 cases, Delhi 25 cases, Orissa 24 cases, Chhatisgarh 23 cases, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya 16 cases each, Arunachal Pradesh with 11 cases, Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura with 9 cases each, Puducherry and Chandigarh with 2 cases each and Goa, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli with one case each. This was what was recorded but according to ACHR, most of the cases are not recorded and kept are kept in eternal darkness.

The prevention of torture bill is also a sham as the definition of torture and the punishment, all is comprised in three paragraphs. The punishments mentioned in convention against torture are much more lenient than the ones mentioned by court for such crimes in general. While men have it bad, women are certainly in for worse. In name of interrogation, women are tortured without any limits or shame. They are raped. Sexually exploited and are subjected to the most menial treatment. Soni Suri’s cases came into public eye by luck and because she is literate, but many Soni Suris never see the light of the day. Certainly the government should take serious steps in improving the living conditions of prison inmates and also the conditions for the citizens who are taken in for interrogation. Supreme court should penalize and punish the officials who indulge in custodial tortures and correct the judiciary and the administrative. Every Indian citizen surely hopes for Soni Suri s truth to be out to the world so that the culprits can be punished. Let her be successful in her endeavors

Need of the hour is to remove malpractices in Indian judicial body as well as police forces because if the ones who are supposed to safeguard the citizens are the ones to blame, then India is surely on the path of doom.

Even if one has an impeccable record police can make life difficult.Recently I had to wait 2 hrs just to get myself checked /interviewed by the police.The interview consisted of shouts and eventually I was asked why I did not use the national langage Hindi.I am very cheeky and told the policeman that his Hindi was so bad that I was forced to use English when speaking to him

Thanks for your responses. I didn't realise it was so dangerous.

Maybe this can be a turning point.

NEW DELHI: The horrific attack on Nirbhaya has led to a spurt in requests for gun licences from women. Since December 18, the day the news of the brutal gang rape appeared in newspapers, the licensing department of Delhi Police has received a total of 274 applications from women. In addition, it has also been flooded with hundreds of queries on how to obtain a licence.

"We have received over 1,200 calls since that day. These include not only the average working woman, but even students who travel long distances to colleges and even their concerned parents. They were eager to find out more on the procedure to acquire arms," said a Delhi police officer.

One is led to ask: Did the situation improve with independence? If not, why not?

One is led to ask: Did the situation improve with independence? If not, why not?

An auto-rickshaw driver in New Delhi stabbed a passenger to death who accused him of trying to extort an additional fare of Rs. 50, police said on Wednesday. The accused is on the run.

"Izahar was stabbed five times in the abdomen and chest by the auto-rickshaw driver in (west Delhi's) Punjabi Bagh on Monday," Additional Commissioner of Police V. Renganathan told IANS.

Izahar, 25, and his friend Subhan Khan, both rubber factory workers, were travelling in the auto-rickshaw when the driver asked them to pay an additional Rs. 50 fare, police said.


"When Izahar refused to give the money, the diver stabbed him," said a police officer.

Is there any link between artificial contraception and increased sexual assaults on women?

The woman is being commoditised, disrespected and done away with

The time has come to condemn vigorously the types of sexual violence which frequently have women for their object and to pass laws which effectively defend them from such violence. Nor can we fail, in the name of the respect due to the human person, to condemn the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality and corrupts even very young girls into letting their bodies be used for profit.

Is there any link between artificial contraception and increased sexual assaults on women?

The boy's family has, meanwhile, quietly returned to hometown Gorakhpur. Acute financial crisis and official apathy saw them leave, the young man's father said.

"Our job is done. My son did his best but was ignored. He, too, is a victim of the brutality which took place in such a brazen manner but the authorities overlooked that. It was because of him that they were able to locate the bus and the accused so quickly," the father, an advocate, said.

The young man has fractures on his right leg and injuries on the skull. "However, not a single official met him. Leave aside financial help or counselling, they did not even pay for his medicines. I had to borrow money from relatives. We are not asking for a favour, only fair treatment," he added.