The Weekly
Observer Volume 14 | Issue 11
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Freed 6 years early to terrorize wife EXCLUSIVE Kimaya Varude An acid attack victim’s husband threatened to kill her after he was released early from jail. On June 25, 2003 at 9.30 p.m, Hanumantharaju poured a mug full of sulphuric acid on his wife, Jayalakshmi, when she was watching television at her rented house in Huliyaru, Tumkur. At that time, Jayalakshmi, 34, was with her two children, Sheela, 16, and Yashwanth, 14. The neighbors rushed her to Kumar Hospital initially but they did not admit her as it was a police case. She was then taken to General Hospital, where she was admitted and the doctors filed a police complaint on her behalf. She said, “I had suffered 90% burns with very low chances of living. The acid burnt my face, both my hands and half body. I was hospitalized for a year.” She has undergone 14 surgeries of which five alone were for her face. Hanumantharaju was arrested seven days after the complaint was registered by Tiptur Police Station. The case started in 2004 and in 2005 he was sentenced to 14 years in jail and fined Rs. 10,000. Six months ago he was released by the jail authorities and he has started
Jayalakshmi, acid attack victim after the 2003 incident threatening Jayalakshmi again. She said, “One month before the incident, he had warned me that he would throw acid and kill me. When I went to register a complaint at Tiptur Police Station, they turned me away saying that they will register one only when he throws acid at me.” Advocate Ramananda of Karnataka High Court said, “There is no minimal term that a prisoner has to fulfil before being released.” “Corruption and politics are the reason for such behavior of the police. If they had registered a complaint and caught hold of him, I would not have been like this. Since April 2014, he has been threatening to kill me by saying things like he will try something new to finish me. Last month he barged into my house at 12 a.m. ‘How did you dare to live a normal life even after I did such a cruel thing to you?’ were his words,” she added. Draped in a golden-
brown sari and sipping a cup of milk, Jayalakshmi was teary-eyed as she recalled old days. Her relative told The Weekly Observer, “He always suspected her of infidelity and used to come home drunk. He used to hit her every night and once he attacked her with a blade. He also tried to burn her by pouring petrol on her. It was only then that she decided to move out with her children.” “Acid had completely disfigured my face. If you would have come to take my interview five years ago, you would have run away,”
said Jayalakshmi, wiping her tears. Jayalakshmi got Rs. 1,80,000 as compensation from the state government only when she approached through Karnataka Rajya Mahila Ayog, a NGO that works for women welfare. She said that she was promised Rs. 2,00,000 but she received Rs. 20,000 less. “I did not get any compensation from the government while I was fighting the case as the new rule to provide victims with compensation came only last year. I never got a government job, though I tried through various organizations,” she
Long trials Haseena Hussain, an acid attack victim who survived the attack on her in 1999, had to wait for nine years for justice. “I have undergone 35 surgeries till now. My battle began when I got justice.” Sushma Varma, trustee of the Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women, said, “The acid attack cases till date from 1999 in Karnataka range between 85 to 90 cases. Like any other court case, these cases also have their long trials, and delays. If we ask for speed up of these trials, there is a possibility of compromise in the quality of the trials and the judgments as they come under fast track courts. We have to find out
Sushma Varma, trustee of CSAAW some other way to fasten up these processes.” According to Law Commission report to Supreme Court in 2009, Karntaka reported 35 cases between 1999 and 2004; by the end of 2007 these attacks had increased to 60 cases. In the past three years this number has gradually reduced to six cases in 2010, three cases in 2011, two cases in 2012 and one
said. Jayalakshmi now lives in Huliyaru, Tumkur district and is a social worker with Yojana Abhivrudhi Sansthe, an NGO in Tumkur. Hanumanthraju now lives with his son in Kudur, in Magadi taluk after he was released from jail which is right next to Jayalakshmi’s village. “I used to wear veil every day because I was afraid my children would get scared. Every morning when I see myself in the mirror I could see it happening again. For the past eight years, my husband was having timely food and I had to struggle to get food for my children,” she said. case since January 2014. The report also stated that these figures do not include victims that do not report their case because they fear further violence or being socially stigmatized. In most of these cases Hydrochloric and sulphuric acid were used and all the victims were women. The victims in Karnataka were very young women between 16 and 25 years of age, and were attacked by men known to them. The Campaign and Struggle Against Acid Attacks on Women (CSAAAW) reported that the number of cases added up to 53 by 2006 in Karnataka and verdicts were given in only 9 of these 53 cases.
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The Weekly Observer
‘We are assaulted for reporting attacks’ claim sex workers Project kind of training to deal with give me this good money to proposed for Divya Kishore the sex workers but the fulfill the needs of my famSex workers claim that government says that the ily,” she added. mentally ill
they are beaten up by police when they report attacks against them. Sujatha, 20 (name changed), a sex worker said, “I was molested last month by a customer in a lodge in Majestic. I complained to the local police here but they beat me up and didn’t even listen to my problem.” “I have to work like this because of my fate, this is my destiny. “My father has kidney problem and the medical expenses are not affordable. I cannot pay everything by doing household chores,” she added. “Police don’t understand our problems, even if anyone molests us or teases us, they beat us up. Police is only there to assault us,”
A sex worker at Majestic Courtesy- Punita said another sex worker. But according to the police, they do not assault them. They scold or yell at them as they don’t want to see the place ‘dirty’ because of them. “We are not here to assault or molest them, but we are instructed to remove them from here,” said Rajgopala, a constable at Majestic. Mahesh N, Inspector of Police, Yelahanka New Town said, “The police department does not get any
NGO does.” The incharge of Vanitha Sahayavani, a Bangalore based NGO, said, “There are no training programs for the police personnel to deal with the sex workers.” Mamatha, 35, another sex worker said, “I’m working as sex-worker for the last 10 years. Once an NGO worker came here and offered me a six-month rehabilitation program.But the problem is I’m the only bread-winner of my family and if I go for the program, then there will be nobody to take care of my children. “My husband left me when I got pregnant and I’m not literate. I have no option other than this, as other profession does not
According to Rajikala R.V., Program Manager, Vidyaranya, an NGO, “We work mainly for trafficked girls and women but if we get any information about regular sex-workers, we also get in touch with them and counsel them.” “But most of them run away in the middle of the course. They think that the program is about getting a large amount of money but that is not practically possible. “We are here to train them, not to give them money,” she added. “We try to get them placed in KFC, Mc Donald’s and also companies like Infosys where they can work as group C or D employees,” she added.
State has third highest child marriages in country Asmita Kundu 22% of girls in Karnataka get married before 18 years of age, according to a survey The District Level and Household and Facility Survey found that 22% women got married below 18 years of age in Karnataka. The survey was conducted among 22,988 women between the ages of 15-44 years. 26% and 14% of women got married respectively in rural and urban Karnataka. The survey of 2013-14 in India found that 8.7% of child marriages were reported in Karnataka. After Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka ranked third in the country. A spokeswoman for the
A child marriage ceremony in Karnataka Courtesy- KCRO Department of Child Welfare, who declined to be named, said: “Child marriages are common in Koppal, Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary districts of Karnataka.” There are 11.1% of boys who get married under 21 years of age, according to DLHS survey. Arpita , co-ordinator at Concerned for Working Children, an NGO that
works for child development in Karnataka, said, “ Child marriages take place the most in the Bellary district of Karnataka. “Many are taken out of school by their families while others are tortured by their husbands and in-laws after marriage and many children get pregnant at a premature age,” she added. Thanu, 8, got married two years ago to Arun who
is 17 now. She said, “I wanted to study and not get married but my parents forced me into marrying him. I had no idea what marriage meant at that time.” Arun, her husband, said, “She is eight years old now. When she turns 15, we will take her to our home.”In India, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 defines marriage of a male or a female before attaining 21 years and 18 years respectively as child marriage. “Basically illiteracy, lack of awareness, poverty, the caste-system and pressure from community force the girls to get married early,” said an official of Dept of Child Welfare, who declined to be named.
Nikunj Ohri A new project to aid mentally ill children and adolescents has been proposed by the department of Women and Child Development, Karnataka. A service model proposed by WCD department and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), includes training the staff of various governmental and non-governmental organizations.The proposal was introduced in September. The estimated cost of the project is 64 lakhs for three years. The process will depend on the number of children reached through preventive mental health services and its outcome will be judged by increase in the access to preventive mental health services in the community. Shashikala Shetty, Project Manager, Integrated Child Protection Scheme, said: “The project is in its initial stages. the government will employ officers and teams for the project.” Bhaskar, Chief executive officer, Vidyaranga, an NGO said: We are dealing with such children for many years now and we welcome the project whole-heartedly. I hope this project is helpful for them.” Rupa Padaki, Secretary, Association of Mentally Challenged, said,” I appreciate the efforts made by the government and I hope that the project works for the children.”
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The Weekly Observer
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‘Unsafe’ building collapse claims 2 lives Elizabeth Mani Apoorva Choubey Pulaha Ray A 10-year-old boy and his father died after a building collapsed in Ulsoor in the early hours of this morning. Residents who rushed to the scene to help claim they told local authorities the 80year-old building was unsafe but no action was taken. Another two people, an eight-year-old boy and his mother, were rushed to hospital after the collapse. Police at the scene believe the building collapsed onto the apartment block next to it.
Mari Raju, Sub-Inspector of Ulsoor police station said, “Building number 9/2 fell on building number 8/2, killing inhabitants of 9/2, Subramani and his son Karan Sai Sadhan, who was a 3rd standard student. His wife, Bharthi, survived the incident. “The residents of the other building, Ms. Komathi and her son, who is eight, were rushed to Bowring hospital at 1:30am. They are in emergency ward now.” Manoj, Subramani’s relative, said. ““The building collapsed due to heavy rain and poor foundations.” Kumar, Subramani’s neighbor, said, “The build-
Ruins of the collapsed building in Ulsoor ing was constructed 80 years back and did not have any pillars. We had already asked the BBMP to demolish it long back but no action was taken.” Bharathi, Subramani’s wife, said, “I have lost my husband and son. MLA Harish has promised Rs. 2 lakhs for each person who died. What is the use of
money when my family is dead?” Sundar, another neighbor, said: “We want the old houses to go under Lokayukta and the city corporation should take care of the poor people living in them. There are a lot of old buildings in Bangalore and such incidents keep happening.
“If the corporation takes necessary steps, many lives can be saved,” he added. Dr. Shivsharnappa Khandre, PRO, BBMP, said, “It is a private property so the BBMP has no jurisdiction over it. If it was old then the owner should have brought it down. The website of Karnataka Government under section 16.1 states: “The provisions of Section 213 of the Act shall apply for all unsafe buildings which shall be considered to constitute danger to public safety and for restoration by repairs of demolition or other actions as directed by the Authority.”
Bank accounts exploited by cyber crooks Aparna Singh Cyber crooks empty a Bangalore bank account every five days, according to the senior cop tasked with catching them. And one senior manager of a bank in the city blames customers who do not take security seriously. Dr D.C. Rajappa, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime Police Station, has had years of training and heads a department of 70 staff dedicated to protecting Bangaloreans when they go online. But he says the one thing they cannot protect against - stupidity - is the prime reason for online thefts. His views were echoed by Captain S. Raveendranath, the Chief Manager of Canara Bank in the city. He revealed: “The population using debit and credit
Dr D.C. Rajappa, Superintendent of Police cards in India is still very low and the people who are using it are quite ignorant towards the security of their cards and transactions. "I could not disclose the name of this person, who is a government official at a high post, who wrote his number on his Visa Debit Card so that he did not forget it. Then he lost his card and all the money was gone within two hours of him losing it.” Dr Rajappa at the Cyber Crime Unit said 42 new
cases have been registered this year, resulting in losses totalling lakhs. in 2011 35 cases were logged. That figure rose to 39 in 2012 and last year 49 victims came forward to say they had been cheated online. The top cop said a new complaint against phishing and hacking is filed every five days, obscene e-mails every four days and theft of computer sources every seven days. 37 of these are under investigation, two are charge sheeted and two others have been rejected. He said: “The convictions in such cases are very poor. Sometimes the report itself is faulty, for some there is not enough evidence to proceed and when we have evidence and the accused then it is up to the court whether to convict or not. You should ask the court why they do not con-
vict, “he added. Captain S. Raveendranath of Canara Bank added that they recently paid one of its customers Rs 500,000 after a hacker infiltrated his bank account from San Francisco, United States, and stole his money He said that besides phishing, hacking and obscene e-mails there is a major issue called ‘skimming’ and this is creating a problem for all the financial institutions to tackle. Skimming occurs from a small instrument that is attached to the system in the shops, restaurants and booking counters. “You might have noticed that they swipe your card on the transaction machine and then they swipe it again on the skimmer at the system. This is not allowed and most of the people do not know this fact. Skim-
ming is the new kind of theft where all your data is recorded and as soon as you enter your password without hiding it from them. They can then make transactions with your card anytime from anywhere,” he added. R. Ramaswamy, a regular customer of the bank, was also there in the office with a written complaint of cyber theft. His son Raman Ramaswamy got a text message from the bank telling him about a transaction of Rs. 9000 from his card he knew nothing about. “I have just lodged a complained in the police station about the theft and now I am here to block the card. It was this morning that he got a transaction message from the bank and I immediately went to file the complaint about the same.”
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The Weekly Observer
Towering silence over compensation cash Punita Maheshwari The Parsi community is yet to receive a huge chunk of compensation after a parcel of their land was taken to build the new airport road in 2008. The National Highways Authority of India took 31,000 sq. ft of land from the Parsi Tower of Silence in Hebbal for a road widening project which joins the Kempegowda International Airport to the city. The community in return was promised compensation of Rs. 1 crore but has received only Rs. 12 lakhs after six years of regular appeals. The Tower of Silence land before acquisition covered 6, 31,620 sq. ft of land. Benaifer, caretaker of the Tower of Silence who is also part of the family taking care of the
Left- Symbol of the Parsi community. Courtesy - Paul Oommen Right- Dinshaw Casawji, president, Parsi community, Bangalore land for three decades now, said: “The land was taken under a government project, so we did not resist it in spite of having emotional bonds with the area. But now when the compensation is denied, it is deplorable to trust the authorities.” Dinshaw Casawji, president, Bangalore Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman, expressed his anger over the delayed compensation. “The land was taken in 2008 and case was filed
in 2010; after six years we stand at the same position with no compensation money in hand.” The Residential Court decision directed compensation to be paid by Deputy Commissioner Bangalore Urban. “In these four years, we haven’t got a single appointment from the DC’s office,” he added in an angry tone. Badappa, Manager, The Bangalore Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman,
said, “We had filed a case in the Residential Court, as the decision was not followed, we plan to appeal again very soon.” “There are about 1,000 Parsis in Bangalore and being a minority community, we need strong funds for our progress,” he added. Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore Urban, V. Shankara, said, “We will look into the matter again. There is a procedure to be followed.” R. Venkatachalapathy, Public Relation Officer, Deputy Commissioner ‘s Office, Urban, R. Venkatachalapathy, said, “We give appointments according to our schedule as we are occupied with a lot of cases, this sometimes takes a lot of time but people easily get appointments during the working days.”
State tour deals losing out to private firms Aadhira Anandh Tourists claim that the facilities provided by the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation are not worth the money. The tour packages KSTDC offers vary from Rs.300 for half a day to Rs.9, 480 for nine days. The package provides a guide but does not cover food and entry fees. Mr. Gopalan, who enquired about the travel packages, said, “The packages are heavily charged. If I hire a car of my own or go to a private operator, then I will be able to spend more productively.” “I don’t want to wait all day for lots of people ac-
companying us and then coming back home without knowing anything from the trip. They promise good hospitality and guides, but none of them are properly provided. Apart from that I will also have to pay for other facilities,” he added. Mr. Saran, a Management Trainee with the KSTDC, said, “The main problem which the Karnataka state tourism faces is that they are not dynamic. There are many private firms which offer good facilities to the tourists so they prefer them.” “We do not offer customized packages. Our packages are normally in groups and the people do not prefer group packages,”
Andrew Salov, a tourist from Russia he added. The number of tourists visiting Karnataka last year was 98,646,518, while by July 2014, it was 96,781,701. If the trend continues, then a 50% rise is expected this year. Mr. Andrew Salov, a tourist from Russia said, “They are not organized
properly and there are no proper guides. I went to the national park once and was left to roam around alone. I had no idea what I was looking for and had to come back disappointed.” “I have been travelling all around the world for a while now. But nowhere in the world do we have these issues. They are much more organized and hospitable. They do not provide me with proper information and they concentrate more on commercialization rather than service,” he added. Mr. Srikrishna, District Consultant of Tourism Department said, “To bring a
positive impact in the tourism industry has become next to impossible. The tourism industry is not properly implemented. The mandates for the industry are very good but streamlining them has failed.” “There are hardly any licensed guides. It has been six to eight years easily that the guides are recruited by the government through proper training. The only way to bring about a strong impact in the industry is through recruiting a lot of people and to monitor and materialize the funds effectively.”
OBSERVER Team: Editor - Nikunj Ohri, Chief Sub-Editor - Kimaya Varude, News Editor - Apoorva Choubey, News Desk - Pulaha Roy, Natasha Singh, Sub-Editors - Asmita Kundu, Devdatta Sukhdev, Punita Maheshwari, Designer - Nikhil Babu, Layout Desk - Darshan D Rane, Agnivesh Harshan, Photo Editor - Elizabeth Mani, Proof Reader - Aadhira Anandh, Reporters - Divya Kishore, Aparna Singh