At the intensive care unit of the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi, a two-year-old battered baby girl is fighting to survive. The doctors attending to her have waged a six-week battle to keep her alive, but they are quickly losing hope that she will ever live a normal life after the torture she endured at such a tender age. When she was first brought to...

The alleged incident of two quarry workers in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district being forced to swallow faeces draws attention to larger issues. NORMALLY the villages and hamlets in and around Thiruvakkarai in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district are woken up by the loud noise and vibrations caused by the blasting of rocks and the pounding of boulders with sledge hammers, apart from the rattling sound of tipper lorries transporting stones from 40-odd...

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Welfare is planning to do away with the age of consent in case of sexual relations with girls aged between 16 and 18. The ministry, which is currently finalising the draft of the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Bill for the consideration of the Cabinet, is of the opinion that the age of consent clause should be removed. This is as per the...

-The Hindustan Times   The Delhi high court on Wednesday directed the newly appointed administrator of Arya Anathalaya to look into the alleged incidents of sexual abuse and harassment of children inside the orphanage at Daryaganj. A bench headed by acting chief justice AK Sikri and justice RS Endlaw also made it clear that it would go into the "larger issue" of registration of orphanages in the capital. Lieutenant Governor had appointed an administrator...

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 Social activists have for long been demanding a ban on the "archaic and outdated" practice.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...