In a country where 52% of women say it’s ok to be beaten by a husband and one in three experience violence at the hands of a partner, the views of Kabir Singh director, Sandeep Reddy Vanga that physical violence is a sign of true love are dangerous, I write in my Hindustan Times column.  In a country where 52% of women believe it is okay to be beaten by their husbands, the views of Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director Kabir Singh, apparently endorsing physical violence as a sign of love, are deeply disturbing. “When you are deeply in love … if…

In a country where 52% of women believe it is okay to be beaten by their husbands, the views of Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director Kabir Singh, apparently endorsing physical violence as a sign of love, are deeply disturbing. In the first 10 years since the Domestic Violence Act came into force in 2006, over 10 lakh cases of domestic violence have been registered. And, yet, domestic violence remains vastly underreported primarily because of the victim’s relationship with a husband or a partner.(SHUTTERSTOCK) In a country where 52% of women believe it is okay to be beaten by their husbands, the…

There are many words — cheat, lowlife, scoundrel — that describe men who lie to women and promise them marriage just in order to have sex with them. Rapist is not one of them. My Hindustan Times column: He was a doctor, she was studying pharmacy. They met in 2009 and fell in love, or so she thought. They lived in different cities. He said he wanted to marry her. In April 2013, she boarded a train to come and meet him. They had sex. He dilly-dallied about marriage. In June, she learned that he had married someone else. She…

Nearly 30% of engineers who graduate from India every year are women. So, why do their numbers plummet when it comes to the prestigious IITs? Among the earnest faces, you’d be hard pressed to spot the girls. The snapshots in the advertisements by coaching classes, of students who recently cleared the advanced Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) to get into the country’s most prestigious engineering institutes, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), are nearly all male. Of the 38,705 candidates, who have qualified for admission into the 23 IITs, 5,356 (13.8%) are girls. Shabnam Sahay, the girls’ topper has an overall…

When the religion of the perpetrators becomes more important than the crime, you are witnessing a civilisational breakdown These are a fraction of the horror stories in a country where, according to National Crime Records Bureau data for 2016, not updated since, 19,764 rape cases were registered — an 82% jump in rape cases from the preceding year, with the worst rise in UP where figures have trebled(REUTERS) To find evidence of the epidemic of violence against young girls and women gripping India, you have only to flick through your newspaper. In the recent past: Two minor sisters, 13 and…

When the religion of the perpetrators becomes more important than the crime of rape itself, then you know you are witnessing a civilisational breakdown.  To find evidence of the epidemic of violence against young girls and women gripping India, you have only to flick through your newspaper. In the recent past: Two minor sisters, 13 and 15, gang-raped at gunpoint in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh (UP). In Singrauli district, Madhya Pradesh, an eight-year-old gang-raped by two boys aged 15 and 16. Also in Madhya Pradesh, near Bhopal, a 10-year-old girl first murdered, then raped and sodomised. These are a fraction of…

Girls are keen to study engineering. So why do their numbers fall when it comes to the country’s most prestigious institute? Students who have cleared the IIT- JEE test celebrates their result, Ranchi, June 10, 2018. Of the 15 lakh engineers who graduate every year from 3,000 institutes in the country, 30% are girls. So why do their numbers fall when it comes to the IITs?(Diwakar Prasad/ Hindustan Times) Among the earnest faces, you’d be hard pressed to spot the girls. The snapshots in the advertisements by coaching classes, of students who recently cleared the advanced Joint Entrance Exams (JEE)…

Why this daughter of impoverished parents is a global role model Dutee Chand at the 55th National Open Athletics Championships (200 m Run Women) at SAI Complex Kolkata, September 19, 2015(Subhankar Chakraborty/ Hindustan Times) Dutee Chand is not known to shy away from a challenge. One of seven children born to impoverished weavers in Jajpur, Odisha, the sprinter was barely 20 years old when she challenged the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) on its rule on hyperandrogenism, a condition she is born with and one that causes naturally high levels of testosterone in women. The IAAF suggested she opt…

The daughter of impoverished parents is India’s first openly gay athlete. But what we will remember and judge her for is being a first-rate athlete. Dutee Chand is not known to shy away from a challenge. One of seven children born to impoverished weavers in Jajpur, Odisha, the sprinter was barely 20 years old when she challenged the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) on its rule on hyperandrogenism, a condition she is born with and one that causes naturally high levels of testosterone in women. The IAAF suggested she opt for corrective surgery or hormone treatment. She went to…

In the concluding part of my three-part series for IndiaSpend, I analyse the results. How little has changed. BJP’s winning candidate Hema Malini, one of 78 new women MPs elected to the 17th Lok Sabha A beauty queen, an award-winning writer and four giant-killers; one who contested because she received a “signal from God” and another who once famously showed her middle finger to a hectoring news anchor, it is safe to say that the women contestants to the 2019 general elections reflect the diversity and vibrancy of India. Of the 724 women who contested the 2019 general elections, 78…

Personal attacks targeting women candidates diminish women’s opportunities in participating fully in public life The effect of personal attacks is not merely to defeat a political opponent, but to diminish the opportunities of independent, capable women and deter them from entering public life(PTI) Political pundits have been debating on whether 2019 is the most ugly, personal, below-the-belt election campaign. Comments, including by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Pragya Thakur who called Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin a deshbhakt, have plumbed new depths. Her belated, so-called apology notwithstanding, we now at least know that certain women can be as foul-mouthed as some men. What…

“I was not likely to get justice,” reads the press statement by the Supreme Court employee who has alleged sexual harassment by the chief justice. The Supreme Court remains every citizen’s last hope. For now, India’s women are watching developments there very closely Their lordships have sworn to uphold Constitutional values of equality and dignity. Their courtrooms have delivered landmark judgments, like Vishaka, which affirmed women’s right to a safe workplace and preceded the law on sexual harassment by 16 years. Now, one of its own, a first among equals, stands accused of sexual harassment. A signed affidavit by a…