WOMEN – 2011 - Indian Social Institute

Schoolgirl gang-raped after R-Day function
A fifth standard student was allegedly gang-raped by her seniors when she was returning home after
participating in the Republic Day parade in Ferozabad district, about 320 km from here on Wednesday.
Feeling humiliated after being molested, the girl set herself afire at her home in the wee hours and
suffered serious burn injuries. She is battling for her life in a hospital, police said on Thursday. The girl
who was returning home after attending the Republic Day function at her school was waylaid by the
alleged culprits who are students of ninth standard in the same school. They dragged her to nearby fields
and molested her, police said. According to the shocked family members, the girl did not say anything to
them about the incident until they were woken up by her screams in the wee house after she set herself
afire in her room. They broke open the gate and took her to the hospital, where her condition was stated
to be critical. She told them that she had taken the extreme step as she was humiliated. A case has been
registered against the two boys who are absconding since the incident. (Deccan Herald, 28/01/2011)
Abandoned by children, old woman seeks to be buried alive
In a shocking incident, an old woman who was abandoned by her daughters after taking away her
property, approached authorities in Andhra Pradesh pleading that she be buried alive. Devudamma, who
claims to be a freedom fighter, moved a petition before Visakhapatnam district collector, urging him to
bury her alive. The 110-year-old woman, a resident of PS Pet in Chodavaram mandal of Visakhapatnam
district in coastal Andhra, told the collector that she wanted to die as her own children have abandoned
her and that there was nobody to take care of her.he alleged that her two daughters took whatever
property she had in her name, physically tortured her and stopped looking after her.Moved by her plight,
Good Samaritans in Visakhapatnam have come forward to help her. Neelam Sharada Devi, a physician,
Thursday conducted some medical tests on the ailing woman and started treatment. The doctor told
reporters that she would take care of her and provide medical and other required assistance with the help
of some other citizens. (Deccan Herald, 28/01/2011)
Zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, Rao tells diplomats
NEW DELHI: Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao has written to all heads of missions stating government's
position of "zero tolerance" for incidents of sexual misconduct and domestic violence. The statement
comes in the wake of the recent incidents of two Indian diplomats, Anil Verma and Alok Ranjan Jha, who
were called from the UK and UN respectively, following their alleged involvement in domestic violence
and sexual misconduct incidents. Sources said Rao has written to all the heads of Indian missions, where
she has talked about the position of the ministry, which she said will deal with incidents of sexual
misconduct and domestic violence with zero tolerance and will take punitive measures against offending
officials. Any incidents of this kind involving any official will necessitate immediate recall of the officer and
his dependents, Rao said in her message. While Verma, serving at the Indian mission at London was
recalled after being accused of assaulting his wife, Jha posted at the permanent mission of India at UN,
was called back to headquarters for allegedly misbehaving with a female co-passenger on a New Yorkbound
Air India flight. (TOI, 31/01/2011)
ASHAs to be trained for safe delivery in remote areas
Acknowledging that institutional deliveries are yet to become a reality in the country’s inaccessible remote
areas, the Government has decided to train Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to undertake
home-based deliveries in villages. “We have found that despite all our efforts, institutional deliveries are
not happening in the rural areas particularly those which are inaccessible due to lack of infrastructure or
inadequate transport facility. Till then, the deliveries at home will remain in existence,” Union Health
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said. “Hence, we have decided to send ASHAs in such areas to ensure that
deliveries happen under their safe hands,” he told a group of reporters here. In this context, ASHAs are
being trained to provide care to the newborn besides looking after pre and post-natal care for women.
There are over 7.50 lakh ASHAs in the villages encouraging deliveries in institutions under Janani
Suraksha Yojna (JSY). The premier British medical journal The Lancet in its latest issue on Indian series
too has stressed that the ASHAs need to be deployed in other key activities of reproductive and child
health in households and communities. It has also observed that in 2007-08 only 46 per cent of subcentres
had labour rooms, 27.9 per cent of primary health centres had neonatal equipment and only 18.7