-The Hindu Patna: In a shocking case of attempted ‘honour killing', a family in Bihar brutally assaulted and tried to kill a 16-year-old girl for her adamant refusal to marry a man they had chosen for her. Sugati Kumari, the victim's family member, tried to strangulate her with a rope. They disfigured her face with a blade, poured acid on her face and left her for dead on a road in Muzaffarpur...

-Live Mint Despite being declared unconstitutional by SC, ‘khaps' continue to hold sway in parallel with the state machinery Rohtak/Bhiwani: Ravinder Gehlawat and his wife Shilpa had been married for less than four months when they were marched out of their village-Dharana in Jhajjar district of Haryana-by men of the local community and warned never to return. Their fate was sealed on 24 April 2009 when the local khap panchayat, which translates...

-Tehelka A public issue is not truly public unless Markandey Katju has passed judgement. Rahul Kotiyal and Ajachi Chakrabarti stand downwind "Journalists" writes Markandey Katju, with little sense of irony, "comment on everything under the sun." He goes on to say that when the shoe is on the other foot, when someone comments on journalism, it is misconstrued as an attack on press freedom. That when he announces he is appointing a...

-Reuters India approved on Thursday a tougher new law to punish sex crimes, including death for repeat rape offenders, after the fatal gang rape of a student in December sparked unprecedented protests over the treatment of women in the country. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 or "anti-rape law" puts in place a slew of new provisions and tougher punishments, which include criminalising voyeurism and stalking and making acid attacks and human...

-The Hindu New Delhi examining Rome’s decision which may hit ties Kochi: Italy on Monday refused to return two of its marines being tried in India for killing two fishermen while on duty aboard a merchant ship. The move caught India by surprise as the marines had been let off once before and had returned. The Foreign Office said it was examining the communication received late in the night from Rome but sources...