-Kafila.org The village of Majure, in Chitradurga district, Karnataka, is once again in the news. It made the national headlines in 1998 when dalits in the village lodged a police complaint against members of the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat castes for an attack on their hamlet. As a consequence, several people were put behind bars. This time round, however, no formal complaint was lodged. Not that things have improved (rather, one could...

-The Hindustan Times The Congress-led government in Kerala has decided to set up an exclusive fast-track court to deal with sexual atrocities against women and children. Announcing this here on Wednesday, chief minister Oommen Chandy said the court would be set up in Kochi immediately. “We have decided to sanction 18 new posts to set up a new additional and district court in Kochi. This court would deal only with cases...

-Economic and Political Weekly The vigorous public discourse following the recent brutal gang rape and mutilation of the 23-year-old in Delhi is a positive sign but hopefully the demand for quick solutions will not ignore the complexities involved in dealing with all forms of violence against women. There are also other connected issues that require urgent attention including the description of a rape as a "state worse than death", making out...

-Open Democracy Were Ram Singh and his cohort simply claiming a notion of masculinity promoted every day by their role models in politics, business and the media? Ruchira Gupta writes of the steady creeping of a rape culture into the fabric of India, and what needs to be done to counter the idea that women are commodities Let us talk about Ram Singh, the chief rapist accused in the case of Damini,...

-The Hindustan Times The tempest of public anger and revulsion against violent attacks on women in the nation's capital must catalyse long-delayed changes in laws and their implementation for a more secure and humane world for girls and women to grow up in. The students and young people who faced water cannons and tear gas shells are right in settling for nothing less. High on the list of reforms demanded - and which...