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Umh!, Whats this?

Gender  / February  2001                                                                                                                   <<< Go to index page

Minor dies of hunger
Barely 15 days after the death of Maharani Suna, a 60–year– old widow at Kalangapali village in Sohela block of Padampur sub–division in Bargarh district, hunger is reported to have claimed the life of a girl of Rajendrapur in Jharband block in the same sub–division, in mid January 2001.  According to Pradip Kumar Purohit, president of the Gandhamardan Surakhya Yuba Parisad  Nalita Mahananda (16) died due to starvation. They said she was left behind in the village by her parents and two brothers who migrated to Ayodhya two months ago, working at a brick kiln. They could not find work in the village and nearby area and crop was damaged in their one–and–half–acre land. Nalita, who was to look after the house, was left to beg in nearby villages. But few could give alms in this famine. She was starving and became sick and bedridden. Her uncle Prem Gual (400, also forced to begging for alms, could not share food with her. Maharani Suna (60), who was the only surviving member of her family, had died on December 27 after going without food and bedridden for six days. She had not been getting old–age pension, BPL rice and other government aid.

Woman baiters to ride donkeys 
Local mahila panchayats in Delhi (Jahangirpuri, Nand Nagri etc) have used unconventional methods to make men in their bastis toe the line. Any man who harasses women are made to ride donkeys. Others may have their faces sullied or a garland of shoes strung around their necks. Ask for a dowry and a band of women shouting slogans outside your home should shame you into re-evaluating your ethics! The representatives of the mahila panchayat claim that public censure is the most effective weapon. A representative of the panchayat, Durga from Jahangirpuri, told the local media about a man who sexually harassed an innocent woman in the locality. “We exposed him. We told the entire mohalla about his activities. The public outcry brought the man to his senses. And, he apologised publicly. The police and court action takes years. It also acts as a deterrent.”  

Mob batter woman,cops absent 
In a bizarre incident, the residents of Dusadh Toli off Bataganj under Digha police station branded a middle-aged widow, Govinda Devi, as a witch and beat her up. They also tried to outrage her molest her. The incident, which occurred in the last week of January, occurred when she was going to catch a train to participate in the ongoing Kumbh Mela at Allahabad. The youths of the locality caught her up and tried to strip her in full view of  passersby. They kept alleging that she practised witchcraft which had angered the locals. The youths also severely thrashed her. Injured, the woman was later rushed to a hospital for treatment. The police was visible by their absence and took the victim’s statement after an hour of the incident. 

Of revenge and activism
When Yashodamma (45) took charge of the Gramma Pengal Munnani (village women front) in 1997 in Bheemanthoppu (Tiruvallur district) to continue the struggle against illicit liquor, little did she realise that she was to loose her only child for this struggle. Her daughter Indira (21) and her co–sister Rathnammal (55) were murdered on December 6. Yashodamma, too, was beaten up severely and six other villagers were seriously injured. 
She was then allegedly forced by the police to put a thumb impression on an FIR prepared by them. “They (police) told me that the bodies could be taken and buried only if the complaint and FIR is filed.” Police inspector Devadas came without women constables and threatened that if I did not come, then the bodies will not be buried for four-five days,” a distraught Yashodamma said at a press conference, organised to present a report on the incident by a Chennai–based fact–finding team. Releasing the findings, the team demanded action against policemen and revenue officials in charge of the prohibition enforcement for their failure to take action against persons involved in the illicit distilling of arrack. Besides, alleging police nexus in the illicit liquor sale, she alleged that the two accused - Nagraj and Babu — had strong political connections.

Legal aid for Muslim women
Muslim women all over the country will soon have their own little book of law to guide them in difficult situations. The book is a legal literacy module drafted by the newly formed Muslim women’s forum as part of a legal literacy drive that is being launched by it. The legal literacy module prepared by the forum along with the Sunanda Bhandare Foundation is based on public hearings conducted among Muslim women from seven states including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. The law guide of about 20 pages written in bold letters in Hindustani offers practical advice, step by step, on where a woman should turn when faced with difficulties with personal law.

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