Punitive measures against girls forced into child Marriages should not find a place in government policies, programmes and practices Child brides are not criminals. They cannot be compared to children accused of committing crimes. Anyone who hears a story of a girl forced into Marriage before she turned 18 will tell you that she had little choice in the matter. In fact, under Indian law, children convicted as juveniles cannot be...

-The Times of India Under pressure from political parties and women's organizations, the government on Monday deferred passage of the bill that seeks to include "irretrievable breakdown of Marriage'' among the reasons for divorce, along with other provisions, which the BJP has opposed on the ground that it could prove detrimental to women in the Indian social context. Law minister Salman Khurshid told Rajya Sabha said most of the concerns raised on...

-PTI A Karnataka civil servant who had exposed controversial land allotments by cooperative societies died in hospital today, five days after being attacked and left unconscious on a Bangalore street. The murder of state administrative service officer S.P. Mahantesh, 48, prompted Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy to urge the government to protect honest officials as its first priority. Mahantesh, known for his integrity, was deputy director of the audit wing of the state...

Bowing to pressure from women's activists, the government has made some crucial amendments to divorce laws, giving women half a share in the husband's residential property irrespective of whether it was acquired before or during the Marriage. The amendment was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. The wife's share in other assets owned by her husband - movable and immoveable property - has been left to the discretion of the...

-Express News Service Bowing to pressure from opposition parties and women’s rights organisations, the union cabinet today cleared some more amendments to the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill to give women a clearly-defined share in their husband’s “immovable residential property” — including that acquired before Marriage — in divorce cases. If passed, the amended Bill would allow “equal share of residential property” to the wife and children. The wife’s share will be decided...