Vol.12 Issue 6
Bangalore’s first solarpowered bicycle? - Page 2
Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore
Bangalore police short on work force - Page 2
Petrol sold in plastic bottles endangers lives - Page 3
Residents at risk from high tension wires - Page 4
26 September 2012
Left in limbo: Students await final exams - Page 4
Rape and abuse cases spike in city By Amrita Ray
T
ported to have either been killed or have committed suicide because of dowry harassment.
he number of rape cases in Bangalore has increased by 24 percent since 2010 according to Banglore police.
There has also been an increase in the number of cases of molestation.
In 2010, there were 38 cases of rape registered across the city, while the figures went up to 50 in 2011 and as of July this year, another 38 women were reported to have been raped.
“I was molested by one of my colleagues. Though I registered a complaint against him, I had to quit that job due to family pressure. I do not want to recall it ever again as it fills me with disgust.” said one of the victims.
According to statistics in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Bangalore was ranked third most unsafe city for women in India till 2010, but now it ranks second on the list. The number of cases of dowry harassment have also shot up from 557 in 2010 to 605 in 2011, showing an increase of 9.14 percent. The figure had already reached 357 reported cases by July of this year. The number of deaths related to harassment for dowry remained almost constant in the two preceding years with 49 and 52 deaths of women reported. By the middle of this year, 40 other women are re-
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Anand Sharma said: “Every day we get around two to three complaints of women getting sexually harassed on the streets via our helpline and these are just one-fourth of the number of women who get molested.” Also the numbers of female suicides has increased from 76 in 2010 to 101 in 2011. This year has witnessed 61 women taking their own live.“Some of these women are victims of assault or molestation”, added ACP Anand Sharma. Dr. Chandrasekhar, a psychiatrist, said: “the most common problem with such women is the fear of
“More women being attacked in Bangalore,” say Police society. Many victims are not able to address their issues openly. Their helplessness keeps piling up, resulting in acute depression. The most common outcome of this is suicide.” The numbers of domestic violence cases have also shown a marked increase, going up from
308 in 2010 to 1054 in 2011 and stands at 832 as of July this year. “Everyday at least three cases of female assault victims come to the hospital and some of the victims brought here are in terrible conditions” said Dr.Veena of KC hospital.Shakun Mohini, a member of Vimochana, a women’s rights
group said that Bangalore immediately needs a helpline to quickly help women who are abused and harassed on the roads. Though there are various helplines for women, they mostly deal with cases of marital discord.
Fungal disease may spell doom for India’s amphibians By Rohan D Premkumar
IISER Pune and another from the Zoo Outreach Organisation which are currently studying the effects of Chytrid fungus on amphibians. But it will take a minimum of 5-6 years to completely understand the disease,” he said. Chytridiomycosis, caused by the Chytrid fungus, is a disease which affects the immune system of amphibians, leading to the death of the infected animal in most cases. The fungus has been blamed for steep declines in the population of amphibians in numerous continents, including the Americas and Australia.
Malabar Tree Toad A fungal infection wiping out amphibian populations across the globe may have been found for the first time in the Western Ghats last year. A leading expert who docu-
K V Gururaja mented the disease last year, lieved to be Chytridiomycosis, says he believes that a full-blown outbreak could lead to mass extinctions of amphibian populations across India. K V Gururaja, a research scientist at the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, and one of the premier authorities on amphibian life in the Western Ghats, says that in order to tackle an outbreak of the infection, a systematic study of the disease in amphibian populations needs to be undertaken urgently. “There are two groups, one from
“We believe that the fungus we found last year is that of the Chytrid strain. We have not been able to confirm it as the samples we had taken had become contaminated. But there is reason to believe that the fungus is Chytrid,” said Gururaja. Speaking about the vital role frogs play in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem, Gururaja said that frogs are a “link in the natural food chain”, and that a reduction in their numbers could have
severe repercussions for the animals which prey upon them. Gururaja also said that as there was a lack of research on the disease, the causes which precipitate the amphibians contracting it could not be ascertained. “As of now, it could be anything,” he said. “It could be (climate change), or pesticides in the soil. But until further research is done, we cannot be sure,” he added. Sushil K Dutta, a visiting professor at the Center for Ecological Studies, IISc, said that the Western Ghats were an extremely sensitive ecological area and that there were a number of variables which affect the animal populations which inhabit them. “Though there are reports of Chytrid fungus in the Western Ghats, we cannot pinpoint that as the single factor for falling number of amphibians in the region,” he said. Dutta believes that habitat loss and “habitat modification” is severely affecting the region, and believes that human activity is the region’s biggest threat.