Woman Tortured and Sexually Assaulted By Her Husband and His Brother

Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, September 05, 2012

25-year old woman Guru Eswari who was periodically tortured by her suspicious soldier-husband has been lying in a hospital bed in Thoothukudi for nearly a month recovering from wounds inflicted on her, by her husband and his brother.

Guru Eswari’s husband and his brother stripped and sexually tortured her, by inserting things like chilli powder and a hot iron rod inside her genitals, and then later stripped and tortured Guru Eshwari’s mother the same way.

So far the police have not arrested her husband and his brother husband, who is a Lance Naik in the Indian Army or his brother.    Read the newspaper report here

Read the full account of Guru Eswari’s story as told via a journalist to (MASES) The Movement Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexism by clicking here.

Chair of India’s National Commission For Women says Clothing Invites Sexual Assault

 

New Delhi, July 18, 2012

In response to a case last week where a teenage girl was attacked and molested by a mob of men in full public view, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma’s statement asking women to dress carefully to avoid crimes (like molestation) against them has sparked outrage and disgust with rights activists questioned the selection process of NCW office-bearers. Sharma’s comments came close on the heels of the removal of Alka Lamba from a fact-finding committee probing the Guwahati molestation case for revealing the victim’s identity.

While speaking about the molestation case on Tuesday, Sharma stopped short of prescribing a dress code. She said, “Be careful about how you dress… Aping the west blindly is eroding our culture and causing such crimes to happen.”

Earlier this year, at a seminar where she address young women, Sharma offered this advice on how to deal with street sexual harassment, “Don’t be offended if someone calls you ‘sexy’, rather take it positively.”

CPM leader Brinda Karat demanded the NCW chairperson withdraw her statement or quit. “Such advice is unwarranted and militates against the mandate of the commission. It only strengthens the forces who blame victims for the crimes against them,” she said.  Full Report Here

 

Mob Attacks and Attempts to Rape a Female Politician

Guwahati, Assam, July 01, 2012

Congress leader, and member of the Legislative Assembly, 33-year-old  Rumi Nath,  who married Jaki Jakir, last month and converted to Islam.

A mob of about a 100 hundred men attacked Rumi and Jaki at their hotel, because she had allegedly not divorced her first husband.

However Rumi Nath says that this has more to do with the fact she married a Muslim man and converted to Islam.  She says, “I got attacked by some boys who were drunk. They even tried to rape me and take my clothes off, so it’s an attempt to murder and rape. Since I got married it has been a political issue; it’s 100 per cent a political conspiracy.”

Her own party has condemned the incident. “There are legal means if they have any grievance. But this is reprehensible and we condemn this incident,” said Haren Das, general secretary, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee.  However there doesn’t seem to have been much action on the part of the police and administration to investigate and arrest the men involved.  Full report here.

Man Keeps Wife’s Genitals Under Lock and Key For Four Years

Indore, Madhya Pradesh, July 18, 2012

Sohanlal Chouhan, 38, a mechanic,  has been arrested in Indore for keeping his wife’s genitals locked for four years. The incident only came to light when the victim tried to commit suicide yesterday and was rushed to hospital. Chouhan had drilled holes on either side of her genitals after drugging her. Before leaving for work, Chouhan would insert a small lock in the holes, keeping the keys under his socks.  Full report here

Woman’s Forced By Her Husband To Have Sex With His Brothers

Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, October 28, 2011

When Munni arrived as a bride in her husband’s village in north India, little did she imagine she would be forced into having sex and bearing children with her husband’s two brothers who had failed to find wives.

“My husband and his parents said I had to share myself with his brothers,” said the woman in her mid-40s, dressed in a yellow sari, sitting in a village community centre in Baghpat district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

“They took me whenever they wanted — day or night. When I resisted, they beat me with anything at hand,” said Munni, who had managed to leave her home after three months only on the pretext of visiting a doctor. Read the report