-BBC A young woman has had her child "Marriage" legally annulled in northern Rajasthan state, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in India. Laxmi Sargara, 18, wed Rakesh when she was just one and he was three. She grew up with her own family, only finding out she was married when her in-laws came to claim her this month. Child Marriages are illegal in India but are still...

On Thursday, the Union Cabinet is likely to discuss a bill that will make sexual intercourse or 'contact with sexual intent' with a child - which is any one below 18 years - illegal. The 'sexual offences against children bill' proposes tough penal provisions ranging from three years' imprisonment to life termfor a person who commits sexual harassment, sexual assault, penetrative sexual assault or aggravated penetrative sexual assault. This is...

-The Hindu In a case of honour killing in the city, a man killed his teenage daughter after she refused to marry a boy he had chosen. The 19-year-old girl wanted to marry another boy she was in love with. Police said Mohammad Kitabuddin Abdul Gafur Shah smashed Tabassum Khatun's head against the wall in a fit of rage. He has been arrested and booked for murder and tampering with the evidence. “He...

It's a shocking revelation in this day and age. Not just Indian men, but even adolescents - in the 15-19 age group - feel that wife beating is justified. Unicef's " Global Report Card on Adolescents 2012", says that 57% of adolescent boys in India think a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife. Over half of the Indian adolescent girls, or around 53% think that a husband is justified...

-PTI A 13-year-old gangrape victim allegedly committed suicide after she was not allowed to file a police complaint allegedly by the local panchayat, who reportedly let off the rapists with a mere warning. The girl allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself with a dupatta in her house in the Garhmukteshwar town under Panchsheel Nagar district, 70 km from here, on Saturday evening, the police said. The victim was allegedly gangraped by three youths...