-The Hindu   The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Bihar government to pay an interim relief of Rs.5 lakh to a woman, who was Raped by a Home Guard at a police outpost in Bagah village of Champaran West. The Chief Secretary should send to the NHRC the proof of payment within four weeks and the district authorities should inform it whether the victim belonged to SC/ST community. The incident occurred...

Let down by governments that curb free speech, we have become our own hecklers In free speech jurisprudence, there is a concept called a “heckler’s veto”. It means the ability — but not the right — of a private actor, the heckler, to be loud and obnoxious enough to obscure the free speech of others. By pattern, a heckler is someone who is unable to defend his argument by legitimate use...

In a move aimed to protect victims of sexual abuse from further mental trauma, a high powered government committee has recommended abolishing the "two finger test" for determining Rape or sexual assault. Rape survivors are routinely subjected to forensic examination that include the "finger" test. Social activists have for long been demanding a ban on the "archaic and outdated" practice. They termed the test "unscientific and degrading". In a bid to protect...

-PTI India's human rights record in 2011 got a thumbs down from a leading global rights group for its "failure" to protect vulnerable communities and rapped the government for custodial killings, police abuses, including torture. Human Rights Watch also criticised the Indian government for its inaction in repealing the controversial armed forces act and for remaining silent on the "gravest abuses" in countries like Syria. In its World Report 2012, Human Rights Watch...

A school teacher in the tribal Betul district of Madhya Pradesh asked students to fetch liquor for him and then caned the girls, forcing them to dance in a closed classroom on Republic Day. The teacher, Mahesh Malviya, has been suspended and an inquiry ordered against him. This shocking incident came to light when 30 school children from Deochowki village in Betul and their parents reached the district collector's office on...