Responding to allegations that Border Security Force personnel tortured Adivasis in Kanker, Chhattisgarh, into confessing that they were Maoist cadres, the Chhattisgarh Commission for Scheduled Tribes has initiated an inquiry into the incident. The allegations were published by The Hindu on September 11 and September 13 as part of an investigation into the arrest of 17 alleged Maoists at Kanker last week. Adivasis of Pachangi and Aloor villages in Kanker told...

Claims that Indian paramilitary forces pursuing Maoist rebels in the central state of Chhattisgarh tortured villagers are under investigation. Troops from the Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly beat and gave electric shocks to tribal people, including women, during interrogation. BSF director general Raman Srivastava said an internal inquiry was underway. A large number of Indian police and paramilitary are based in Chhattisgarh, a stronghold of Maoist insurgents. The rebels, who say they are fighting...

The Border Security Force has ordered an internal inquiry into allegations that BSF soldiers in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district tortured villagers into confessing that they were Maoists. The allegations were levelled by Sunita Tulavi, 19, in a story published in The Hindu on September 11. A resident of Aloor village, Sunita said she was illegally detained, blindfolded and electrocuted in the BSF camp at Durgkondal, Kanker, on September 5 and released four...

KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...

A hillock is strewn with empty bottles of whisky and sticks — remnants of what tribals allege was a 48-hour torture session by drunk BSF men. The enraged people of Panchangi village have accused the paramilitary force, along with Chhattisgarh police, of brutally beating nearly 40 men. Two teenage girls have also alleged that they were sexually molested. One of them says she was stripped, while another provided a detailed...