Rape order on child brings scrutiny on India's village councils

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http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/15/world/asia/india-rape-village-rules/index.html

New Delhi, India (CNN) -- When a 14-year-old girl was pulled from her
home, dragged to a nearby forest and raped, police revealed the assault
was ordered by the head of her village in India.

The horrific case, which took place last week, has once again shed
light on local councils, called panchayats, which wield significant
power in rural villages throughout India and can dole out punishment
with impunity.

The incident occurred after the girl's brother was accused of
attempting to rape a married woman, according to police. The village
council met and directed the aggrieved woman's husband, identified as
Nakabandi Passi, to rape the accused assailant's young sister in
retaliation, police said.

That girl told reporters the attacker and his wife came to her house.
His wife "dragged me out of my house. She handed me over to her husband
and told him to take me away to a nearby forest and rape me," she said.

Passi, the village head, Ghosala Passi, and the rape victim's brother
have been sent to jail to await trial, police said. The three suspects
have pleaded not guilty, said the city of Bokaro police chief, Jitendra
Kumar Singh.

Panchayats and Indian society
Like real courts, we make all the decisions. And we never make
mistakes.
Sukhbir Singh, former village head

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-28340617#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

A six-year-old schoolgirl has allegedly been raped by two staff members
at a prominent school in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, police
say.

The alleged assault happened on 2 July but her parents discovered it
only a few days ago after she complained of stomach ache and was taken
to hospital.

Meanwhile, hundreds of parents have protested outside the school,
pulling down its gates and shouting slogans.

Police have registered a case, but they are yet to make any arrests.

The BBC's Andrew North in Delhi says it's the latest in a series of
sexual assault cases that have made headlines in India.

Figures show more rapes are being reported in general, which is a sign
that the crime is being taken more seriously, our correspondent
reports. But India's sluggish judicial system means it can take years
for victims to get justice.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/19/angry-protesters-rally-over-police-inaction-after-6-year-old-raped-at-school-in/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fworld+%28Internal+-+World+Latest+-+Text%29

NEW DELHI - Thousands of people have marched to protest alleged police
inaction after a 6-year-old girl was raped at a school in Bangalore,
India's technology hub.

More than 4,000 parents and relatives of children who attend the school
shouted slogans against the school's administration Saturday and
demanded that police arrest those involved in the July 2 incident,
which was reported only this past week.

The rape has raised questions about the safety of India's
schoolchildren and sparked nationwide outrage over rampant sexual
violence against girls and women. The school has refused to take
responsibility for the crime.

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http://www.dw.de/india-proposes-new-law-for-juvenile-rape-offenders/a-17791929?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Badrinath Singh, father of the deceased 23-year-old medical student,
Nirbhaya, who was gang raped and tortured on a moving bus in December
2012, has welcomed the government's decision to try juveniles as adults
in crimes like rape and murder.

"There should be no distinction between adults and young criminals when
it comes to rape. Both deserve the strictest punishment," Singh, who is
a porter at Delhi airport, told DW.
The Nirbhaya case received nation-wide condemnation and forced the
Indian government to amend rape laws.

While the four adult rapists received death penalty, the young convict
- who was six months short of coming of age - was sentenced to only
three years in a correctional facility - the maximum penalty allowed
for a juvenile offender under Indian law.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/world/asia/in-remote-corners-of-india-immunity-for-soldiers-who-kill-and-rape-civilians.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

MAYAI LEIKAI, India -- A dozen soldiers burst through the front and
back doors of a small home here in the middle of a July night, dragged
Thangjam Manorama into a room and began to torture her. Her older
brother tried to stop them and was badly beaten. Her mother rose to
defend her and was knocked unconscious.

After about an hour, Ms. Thangjam was taken out of the house. The next
morning, the family found her bullet-ridden body by the side of the
road three miles away. Soldiers later claimed that Ms. Thangjam was an
insurgent who was shot while she was trying to escape. A medical
examiner determined that she had been shot from close range while lying
down, that stains on her dress were semen but that multiple gunshots to
her vagina made any determination of rape impossible. There was little
doubt who was responsible: the soldiers made little effort to hide
their faces.

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After huge public protest to prod police to action facing a school cover
up.

http://news.sky.com/story/1304713/india-school-rape-skating-instructor-arrested

A roller-skating instructor is due in court later accused of raping a
six-year-old girl at a school in India.

The married father of one was arrested on Sunday over the alleged
attack at the top private school in Bangalore.

Police also seized the 30-year-old's laptop, which allegedly contained
child abuse videos downloaded from the internet.