WOMEN – 2011 - Indian Social Institute

constituted a dozen teams to carry out rescue operations. “One team has been created in each district
and a nodal team of the Crime Branch has been set up under the supervision of Additional Deputy
Commissioner of Police P.S. Kushwah,” said a police officer. (Hindu, 20/05/2011)
Priest arrested on rape charge
A 47-year-old temple priest has been arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old in her house in
Seemapuri here earlier this month. The incident comes close on the heels of the arrest of a priest in
Timarpur earlier this month on a similar charge. Sarva Narayan Jha, who was arrested at Darbhanga in
Bihar on Monday, is a priest in Tahirpur. He was known to the victim's family for the past 15 years, the
police said. He recently told the girl's father that a “pooja” needed to be performed for her better future.
The girl's parents went away on May 2, leaving her alone at home for the “pooja”. Taking advantage of
the situation, the priest allegedly raped her. (Hindu, 20/05/2011)
Woman gangraped, murdered by chairman of civic body
Close on the wheels of alleged rape of a minor by two constables, the chairman of a civic body and the
son of a senior BJP leader allegedly killed a woman after outraging her modesty in Sawaimadhopur
district, police said today. The four accused, including the Chairman of Sawaimadhopur Nagar Palika, the
son of BJP leader Rampal Jaat and the son of PA to Collector, besides a person named Rajkumar Sahu,
were today booked for allegedly raping and poisoning to death the 22-year old woman yesterday, they
said. "When we received information by locals, we took the body in our possession last night and a
postmortem was conducted today. Prima facie, she died due to poison," an investigating officer said,
adding the woman's family members were hesitant to inform police and she died on way to SMS Hospital
here. "Family members of the girl lodged an FIR today against four persons-- Kamlesh Jaliea (local Nagar
Palika Chairman), Manoj Parashar (the son of PA to Collector), Ballu (BJP leader Rampal Jaat's son) and
Sahu," he said. Pooranmal, father of the victim, alleged in the FIR that the accused took the girl in a
vehicle yesterday from his house on the pretext of some work in Nagarpalika and later they found her in
unconscious state in the house of Kamlesh, the officer said. No one has been arrested in this connection
so far and the matter is being investigated. Jaliea was not available for comments while Rampal Jaat,
former BJP state general secretary and currently a working committee member, said the case was
politically motivated and his son was not involved in the matter, police said. (IE, 19/05/2011)
Hyderabad father rapes daughter, DNA says child belongs to her brother
A father who allegedly raped his 14-year-old daughter and the victim's elder brother, who joined him in
the crime, have moved the Supreme Court challenging the life imprisonment awarded to them for the
offence. Syed Issaq and his son Syed Shahabuddin, both residents of Hafeez Baba Nagar in
Hyderabad's Old City, claimed that they have been falsely implicated by the victim's mother Safia Banu.
Counsel G Madhavi, appearing for the duo, claimed that the conviction recorded by the sessions court
and upheld by Andhra Pradesh High Court was erroneous as they were convicted on the basis of a DNA
report which established that the foetus in the victim's womb was that of Shahabuddin. Madhavi said that
the DNA test could not have been the basis for the duo's conviction as the victim, after making a
statement to police that the brother too had raped her, subsequently turned hostile during the trial. During
the trial she merely testified against her father for repeatedly raping her. The petitioner submitted that the
DNA test was not a reliable piece of evidence. According to the petition, despite the fact that the victim
had turned hostile and refused to name her brother Shahabuddin, the trial court awarded the maximum
sentence of life imprisonment permissible under Section 376 IPC (rape) for the father and son. It was the
prosecution's case that the victim was repeatedly raped by the father when his wife went out for work as a
maid servant. The brother too on certain occasions is said to have committed the heinous offence. The
girl was threatened with dire consequences if she revealed the matter to anybody. Though the victim had
initially brought the matter to the notice of her paternal grandmother, the latter is said to have silenced her
saying "such things keep happening in every home and there was nothing unusual". However, the girl
complained about stomach pain to her mother and sister-in-law who took her to a hospital where she was
declared pregnant. On the basis of the complaint lodged by the trio, police arrested the father and son on
April 20, 2005. (DNA, 22/05/2011)
Man slit's wife's throat for giving birth to daughters
A deputy commercial tax officer allegedly slit the throat of his wife for giving birth to two daughters in