-The Hindu The old Penal Code exempts it as an offence if a wife is not under 16 Opposing the death penalty for those guilty of rape, women’s groups have demanded that marital rape, stalking and stripping be regarded as serious offences. The old Penal Code and the proposed amendments exempt marital rape as an offence if a wife is not under 16 years of age. This exemption, totally and unreasonably, ignores the...

-The Times of India After asking the Delhi Police to make women cops available at all the 180 police stations in the national capital, the Centre on Friday moved to recruit an additional 2,508 women police personnel for the city and asked all the states to replicate this model by increasing the number of women in police forces to 33% of their total strength. The Centre also asked all the states and...

-The Guardian The coverage of Damini's death strikes a particularly ironic note following recent media controversy over a rape in Ohio There's something uncomfortably neocolonial about the way the Delhi gang-rape and subsequent death of the woman now known as Damini is being handled in the UK and US media. While India's civil and political spheres are alight with protest and demands for changes to the country's culture of sexual violence, commentators...

-The Indian Express Our reactions to the current protests triggered by the gangrape in the capital reveal a paradoxical state of mind. We welcome the spontaneous nature of these protests, underline the fact that most of the ordinary women and men who joined these protests were not mobilised by any organisation and caution against the entry of “political elements”. At the same time, we criticise the protesters for the lack of...

-The Times of India Rape is a notoriously under-reported crime, thanks to its social stigma and because the culprits in most of the cases are known to the victim. Yet, of all the major crimes, the incidence of rape has registered the highest growth in the country in the last four decades. If there's one big issue raised by Nirbhaya's tragedy it is the high incidence of rape and a low conviction...