The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act is in place in Manipur for the last 55 years. While the forces claim it is impossible to improve the security situation without it, its frequent abuse has led to the death and disappearance of many youths, it has led to rape of women by security force personnel. While Irom Sharmila's marathon fast has kept the focus on the issue, 55 years is enough time to take stock of what the imposition of AFSPA has yielded. Senior journalist and author of 'Highway 39' Sudeep Chakravarti joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue.
Q. Hi Sudeep. two questions. First a hypothetical question. AFSPA has to go. But is there a plan how it should go? Gradual phasing out? Absence of AFSPA is essential for peace in Manipur but do you fear some kind of a vacuum once it goes? Second question: Example of any specific counterinsurgency operation that AFSPA has helped? Asked by: Arijit Sen
...
more
05:57 PM, May 23, 2013
Lucknow: A new variety of mango, harvested at Uttar Pradesh's famous mango centre Malihabad, has been named Nirbhaya after the 23-year-old Delhi girl who was brutally gangraped on December 16, 2012 and died of her injuries two weeks later. The new variety, its grower Kaleemullah Khan said, was his way of honouring the bravery and spirit of the young physiotherapist, whose rape and death galvanised the entire nation. Kaleemullah Khan,...
09:33 AM, May 23, 2013
Imphal: It has been 55 years since the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was first introduced. The longest demonstration against it has been on in Manipur with Irom Sharmila on a fast for over 12 years now. This April, Rashida Manjoo, the United Nations envoy on Violence Against Women listened to a group of 40 women, including the mother of Manorama Devi. In 2004, Manorama, a 32-year-old was...
08:41 AM, May 23, 2013
Jabalpur: A software engineer from Hyderabad, who had come to Jabalpur, to attend a hearing in the family court was allegedly abducted and gangraped, police said on Wednesday. According to the woman's complaint, on Tuesday night when she was coming from Katni accompanied by a friend, who went ahead of her while talking on his mobile, two youths on motorcycle took her to a deserted place and gangraped her until...
11:56 PM, May 22, 2013
Bareilly: A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a farmhouse owner and his domestic help in Bhojipura area, police sources said on Wednesday. The minor was raped by Pappu and his domestic help Prem Shanker on Tuesday while she was grazing cattle along with her mother, they said. Shanker was nabbed by local residents when the girl's mother raised an alarm and was thrashed before being handed over to the...
11:25 AM, May 22, 2013
Lucknow: A 17-year-old minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit is battling for her life after three young men allegedly set her on fire for resisting an attempt to molest her on Monday evening. The girl has been admitted in the hospital in a very serious condition and is undergoing treatment. The heinous crime took place on Monday night when three youths tried to sexually harass the girl. When the girl...
11:09 AM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: Delhi Police on Tuesday refuted the allegations of the four accused in the December 16 gangrape case in a special court that the victim was not assaulted by iron rods and she died before being taken to Singapore. "It is wrong to suggest that I had not taken the opinion of the doctors during the lifetime of the victim, despite various opportunities, as the said weapons were allegedly...
10:14 PM, May 21, 2013
Bundi: Organisations across the country running shelter homes for girls will soon be subjected to tight monitoring to ensure that no crime or abuse is committed at such facilities, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has said. NCW chairperson Mamta Sharma told reporters that she will write to the directors general of police of all states and other officials concerned to "initiate an inquiry into the functioning of shelter homes...
07:42 PM, May 21, 2013
Melbourne: Four Indian-origin men accused of gangraping a young girl today appeared in a court in New Zealand. The men - Amir Chand, 25, Harvinder Singh, 22, Kamaljeet Singh, 27, and Sumit Vermani, 26 - are defending the charges of raping the girl in April 2011, Fairfax NZ News reported. The woman, then aged 19, was raped on the day of the famous racing event in Hamilton, she said during...
07:18 PM, May 21, 2013
Shillong: A 13-year-old mentally unstable girl was repeatedly raped by her maternal uncle for several months at a remote village in Meghalaya's West Khasi Hills district resulting in her pregnancy, police said on Tuesday. Bratstar Pariong (30) of Mawlaisyiem village committed the crime taking advantage of the mental condition of the girl, they said. While the minor girl lives with her family at the village, she would visit her uncle's...
01:06 PM, May 21, 2013
New Delhi: A fast track Delhi court hearing the December 16, 2012, gang-rape case on Monday dismissed the pleas of two accused seeking permission to undergo lie detector tests and also to subject the victim's male friend to a similar test. Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna dismissed the applications of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur for their lie detector test and also their application to conduct polygraph test on the...
03:50 AM, May 21, 2013
New Delhi: A 17-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped in Delhi by three people, including two neighbours, after giving her sedatives, police said on Monday. The incident took place May 17, 2013 in east Delhi's New Usmanpur area, police said. "Two of the three accused are minors. The third accused has been identified as Ajay who has been arrested. Ajay's younger brother has been sent to a juvenile home while...
03:15 AM, May 21, 2013
New Delhi: Rape is morally and physically the most reprehensible crime in the society which degrades and defiles the soul of a helpless female, the Supreme Court on Monday said. "Rape is the most morally and physically reprehensible crime in a society, as it is an assault on the body, mind and privacy of the victim. While a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and...
06:59 PM, May 20, 2013
Gurgaon: Supreme Court's Justice P Sathasivam, who is also the executive chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), on Sunday said that cases related to women are being given priority by courts after the Delhi gang-rape. "After the unfortunate incident in Delhi, we (Judiciary) are identifying the cases related to women and children and giving priority to those cases," said Justice Sathasivam at a function in Gurgaon. He was...
05:06 AM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that the two-finger test on a rape survivor violates her right to privacy, and asked the government to provide better medical procedures to confirm sexual assault. A bench of Justices BS Chauhan and FMI Kalifulla said even if the report of the two-finger test is affirmative, it cannot give rise to presumption of consent on part of a rape victim. "Undoubtedly, the two-finger...
12:06 PM, May 19, 2013
Chennai: A drunk truck-driver who lured away and raped a five-year-old girl in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore town has been arrested, police said on Saturday. According to police, the incident took place May 12, 2013, when 25-year-old K Saravanan was cleaning the vehicle near house of the girl, whose parents had gone out on work. He took the girl playing outside her home to his house nearby and sexually assaulted her,...
05:30 AM, May 19, 2013
Jalna: Two persons have been arrested for sexually exploiting a 32-year-old woman, while two others, including a village sarpanch, are absconding. According to police, the woman, resident of Sattephal village in Jafrabad tehsil of the district, filed the complaint on Saturday. She has alleged that her late husband's uncle Bhausaheb Sonone, sarpanch Shivaji Uttam Bankar, Prabhakar Rangnath Bankar and Ramdas Punjaram Bankar had been sexually exploiting her for the last...
11:13 PM, May 18, 2013
Bhubaneswar: A man has been arrested for raping a nine-year-old girl in an Odisha village, police said on Saturday. Santosh Rout, 45, was arrested after the girl's father lodged a complaint on Friday. The victim, a Class five student, had suffered injury marks on her body, a police officer said. Rout allegedly dragged the girl to a secluded place and raped her on Thursday evening when she had gone to...
10:32 AM, May 18, 2013
Moradabad: A 35-year-old woman has been allegedly gangraped and beaten up by four men in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The suspects allegedly assaulted the woman while she was working alone in a farm. She has been admitted to a local hospital, where her condition is critical. "They gangraped me and pushed a stick into my body. They also beat me up with the stick. I fell unconscious. I reached...
08:46 AM, May 18, 2013
Moradabad: A 35-year-old woman has been allegedly gangraped and beaten up by four men in Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The suspects allegedly assaulted the woman while she was working alone in a farm. She has been admitted to a local hospital, where her condition is critical. "They gangraped me and pushed a stick into my body. They also beat me up with the stick. I fell unconscious. I reached...
08:37 AM, May 18, 2013
