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Ministry of Home Affairs of the Central Government of India #sexist indianexpress.com

“It is submitted that a husband certainly does not have any fundamental right to violate the consent of the wife, however, attracting the crime in the nature “rape” as recognised in India to the institution of marriage can be arguably considered to be excessively harsh and therefore, disproportionate. This Hon’ble Court has further adopted a balancing approach in order to reconcile in the perceivable engagement between fundamental rights,” the affidavit stated

This is the first time that the government has on record opposed the striking down the marital rape exception. In 2022, before the Delhi High Court, the union government had said that the “issue needs wider consultations”[…]
“Insofar as UOI is concerned, Mr Tushar Mehta, learned Solicitor General stated before us in no uncertain terms that UOI does not wish to take a stand in the matter. In fact, affidavit(s) were filed to the effect that UOI would like to engage in consultation before moving further in the matter.” The two-judge bench of the HC had noted while delivering a split verdict[…]
In a 49-page affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Centre acknowledged marital rape as an act “ought to be illegal and criminalised.” However, its prescription for the crime was a refrain since the “consequences of such violations within marriage differ from those outside it”

“It is submitted that the act colloquially referred to as ‘marital rape’ ought to be illegal and criminalised. The Central Government asserts that a woman’s consent is not obliterated by marriage, and its violation should result in penal consequences. However, the consequences of such violations within marriage differ from those outside it. Parliament has provided different remedies, including criminal law provisions, to protect consent within marriage. Sections 354, 354A, 354B, 498A IPC, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, ensure serious penal consequences for such violations”

Ritanjali Bagh, Soumyaranjan, Dibyaranjan and Jyotiranjan #fundie #psycho indianexpress.com

The Angul police in Odisha Sunday arrested a woman priest and her three sons in a suspected human sacrifice of a 14-year-old boy, whose limbless body was found hanging from a tree on Friday in a local forest

The police identified the accused as Ritanjali Bagh of Tusur village under Kiakata police limit and her three sons —Soumyaranjan, Dibyaranjan and Jyotiranjan

The victim, Sanchit Biswal of Subarnapur village, had been ailing for the past few months, the police said. When his health had not improved even after consulting several doctors, his mother took him to Ritanjali, known locally for performing certain rituals, on July 22

According to the police, Ritanjali asked the boy and his mother to stay in separate rooms in her place of worship at night. Basanti could not find her son when she woke up the next day, and Ritanjali was also missing from the place, the police said

Basanti then lodged a missing complaint at the Kiakata police station on July 24. The villagers spotted the victim’s mutilated body hanging from a tree in the Baruni jungle on the morning of July 28

Pradeep Pathak, Mataprasad Pandey, Suresh Paswan, Kanu Acharjee and Raju Baba #fundie #psycho indianexpress.com

FOUR YEARS after the headless body of a woman was found close to Guwahati’s Kamakhya Temple, the Assam police have arrested five men in what they state was a case of human sacrifice

The body was found wrapped in a blanket on the steps of Jai Durga Temple, about a kilometre from the Kamakhya Temple. Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, Diganta Borah said the prime accused is Pradeep Pathak (52), a government employee from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district, who planned the killing as an “offering” to Goddess Kamakhya

The other accused are Mataprasad Pandey (50), who was arrested from a temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, Suresh Paswan (56) from Guwahati, Kanu Acharjee alias Kanu Tantrik (62), who performs puja at Bhootnath cremation ground in Guwahati, and Raju Baba alias Bhaiyaram Maoreya (60), who also frequents Bhootnath[…]
The body was identified as 64-year-old Santi Shaw from Hoohgly district of West Bengal who had travelled to Guwahati for the Ambubachi festival. Santi’s son Suresh Shaw identified her after he saw the news of recovery of a headless body near the temple

The case was revisited this year as part of the Assam police’s ongoing drive to resolve cold cases. “During investigation, we found this was a case of human sacrifice to please Maa Kamakhya. Pradeep Pathak had some tantric beliefs. His brother, a naga sadhu, had died 11 years ago on June 18 and Pradeep wanted to perform a kapali puja on same day in memory of his brother,” said Borah

Suresh Tiwari #fundie #conspiracy indianexpress.com

BJP MLA Suresh Tiwari has reportedly asked people in Deoria district not to purchase vegetables from Muslim vendors.

The legislator from the district’s Barhaj constituency was heard making the remarks in a video doing the rounds on social media. “Keep one thing in mind, I am telling everyone openly, no one should purchase vegetables from Muslims,” he told some people, including government officials.

When contacted, Tiwari said he had made the statement last week during his visit to the office of the Barhaj Nagar Palika, where several government officials were present.

“After hearing complaints that people of a community were selling vegetables after contaminating them with saliva in an attempt to spread coronavirus disease, I advised them not to purchase vegetables from them… After the situation gets normal, then decide what they want,” said the MLA.

The legislator claimed he had only given his opinion, and it was up to people to decide if they wanted to follow it. “Everyone can see what Jamaat members have done in the country,” Tiwari said, referring to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month.

Rathod and Nawal #fundie #psycho indianexpress.com

Police said that Rathod, a native of Aravalli, abducted the girls on May 1 night and was preparing to kill them to please a deity, on the instructions of a tantrik.

Bharuch and Vadodara police are on the lookout for a Rajasthan-based ‘tantrik’, who allegedly influenced a man to abduct his relative’s daughters to offer them in human sacrifice, in Bharuch.

In a joint operation, four teams — Bharuch Police, Crime Branch Bharuch, RR Cell Vadodara and Crime Branch Vadodara — arrested the accused, Kanti Rathod (44) from Vadodara railway station on May 5 night. The girls, aged 16 and 4 are safe.

Police said that Rathod, a native of Aravalli, abducted the girls on May 1 night and was preparing to kill them to please a deity, on the instructions of a tantrik. The police have learned that the tantrik’s first name is ‘Nawal’, and have found out his phone number.

“The tantrik was in touch with the accused by phone, instructing him about performing the ritual, telling him to make the victims drink water at a specific time, apply an ayurvedic paste on their bodies and perform ‘vashikaran’ (‘magic spell’) on the kids,” Rajendra Chudasama, Superintendent of Police (Bharuch), said. “We also learned that the tantrik comes to Gujarat every now and then to sell dubious medicines. Teams have been formed to arrest him as soon as possible.”

Police said Rathod, a labour contractor, wanted to remarry, after his wife left him 10 years ago. “The tantrik asked him to sacrifice the two girls at Pavagadh if he wanted a beautiful wife to marry. His former wife had left him 10 years ago,” said Vikram Kothia, senior police inspector, Bharuch C division police station.

Police said Rathod lured his former wife’s sister and family to Bharuch from Vadodara, promising to find them jobs. They arrived on May 1 morning, accompanied by Rathod. He dropped the parents at a construction site and abducted the girls and took them to Vadodara bus stand.“From there, he took a bus to Bhavnagar on May 1 night and booked a hotel. The elder girl got suspicious and, taking the help of strangers, caught a bus to Bharuch. She then approached the police and lodged a complaint,” said Kothia.

Council of Islamic Ideology #sexist indianexpress.com

Pakistan: Council of Islamic Ideology proposes ‘light beating’ of wife for defying husband

In a bizarre move, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has proposed its own Women Protection Bill, recommending ‘a light beating’ for the wife if she defies her husband.

The council has proposed that a husband should be allowed to ‘lightly’ beat his wife if she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires, turns down the demand of intercourse without any religious excuse or does not take bath after intercourse or menstrual periods.

It further suggests that beating is also permissible if a woman does not observe Hijab, interacts with strangers, speaks loud enough that she can easily be heard by strangers and provides monetary support to the people without taking consent of her spouse.

It says that there should be a ban on co-education after primary education, ban on women from taking part in military combat, ban on welcoming foreign delegations, interacting with males and making recreational visits with ‘Na-Mehram’.

It further states that female nurses should not be allowed to take care of male patients and recommends that women should be banned from working in advertisements. The council recommends that an abortion after 120 days of conceiving should be declared ‘murder’.

However, it says a woman can join politics and contract a ‘Nikah’ without the permission of parents. The bill suggests that anyone, who tries to force women to marry with the Holy Quran or facilitate this, should be awarded 10-year imprisonment.

Similarly, the proposed bill says if any non-Muslim woman is forced to convert then the oppressor will be awarded three-year imprisonment while the woman will not be murdered if she reverts to her previous faith.

The Express Tribune quoted sources as saying that this proposed bill is under consideration by the body and further deliberation will continue today when CII chairman Muhammad Khan Sheerani will give final recommendations with the consent of other members.

The three-member delegation of Justice (Retd.) Manzoor Hussain Gilani, Noor Ahmed Shahtaz and Muhammad Abdullah yesterday raised objections on many clauses of the proposed bill and urged the chairman to moderate the same.

They said the bill was drafted by Mufti Imdadullah, a member who belongs to JUI-F, adding that the above three members have insisted the chairman and Imdad follow the current circumstances while drafting the law. They said the bill was discussed by a panel comprising men as the only female CII member, Sameeha Raheel Qazi, was not present yesterday.

The bill was drafted after the CII rejected Punjab’s controversial Protection of Women against Violence Act (PPWA) 2015, terming it un-Islamic. The CII will now forward its proposed bill to the Punjab Assembly.

Ganesha Joshi #fundie indianexpress.com

(A BJP fundie disrupted a peaceful protest he didn't like by attacking an innocent police horse)

A police horse was allegedly attacked by the BJP’s Mussoorie MLA, Ganesh Joshi, during a protest in Dehradun Monday afternoon. The animal suffered multiple fractures during the incident near the Vidhan Sabha which occurred during a protest called by the BJP against the state government. The injured horse was immediately rushed to the district veterinary officer for treatment.

According to sources, doctors have told the police that the horse’s leg may have to be amputated. Police have also sought opinion from doctors at the Indian Military Academy’s Veterinary Hospital.

Dehradun SSP SR Date said doctors had ruled out early recovery due to multiple fractures in the animal’s rear leg. In the evening, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat visited the city’s reserve police lines to check on the horse’s condition.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been lodged at Nehru Colony police station against the BJP MLA and his unidentified associates. Apart from invoking the Prevention of Animal Cruelty Act, the case was lodged under Section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle, etc., of any value or any animal of the value of fifty rupees) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC. No arrests have been made so far.

When contacted, MLA Ganesh Joshi denied the charge and said the state government was trying to shift focus from real issues by falsely implicating him in the case.

“It was a quiet protest, but still mounted police was deployed to create terror. During the protest, a horse hit our party worker, 28-year-old Munni, who suffered an injury on the chest. I snatched a stick from the policeman and tried to stop the animal from attacking others.

Later, I along with other party workers sat on a dharna—.While we were sitting on the dharna—we came to know that the rear leg of one of the horse got trapped in the iron-angle on the roadside. While trying to pulled it out, the horse suffered injuries. I did not beat up the horse,” said Joshi.

According to Vinod Singh, the Station Officer of Nehru Colony police station, Joshi and his supporters were seen beating the animal with sticks.
SP (City) Ajay Singh said they had video footage of the incident and action would be taken accordingly. He denied the police had used lathis or horses to disperse the crowd.

Anonymous arsonists #fundie indianexpress.com

A video production studio owned by a Muslim man in Kerala’s Kannur district was allegedly burnt down on Saturday, a few weeks after he made a ‘provocative’ comment in a WhatsApp group on the use of purdah, police said.

P Rafeeque, who owns the studio Obcura in Taliparamba in Kannur, was the admin of a WhatsApp group called ‘What is Islam’, said the police. A Left sympathiser, Rafeeque had allegedly said on the group that covering faces in public should be avoided and many people use purdah as cover for immoral activities.

Rafeeque said soon after, he began to feel the heat from orthodox elements in the community. He said his comments were widely shared in the Muslim community in Kerala and the Gulf countries. “Many advocated boycotting my studio and asked community members not to give me any work. A few days ago, I received threatening calls over the internet,” said Rafeeque.

He said he does not suspect any particular organisation as every Muslim outfit has conservative believers who can carry out such attacks. “My intention was only to expose the misuse of the type of purdah covering the face,” he said.

Rafeeque said he had incurred a loss of Rs 10 lakh in the fire and has little option but to give up the studio. In his complaint to the police, he said that before setting the recently-renovated studio on fire, the assailants had damaged the equipment and furniture.