The Weekly Observer Vol 14 Issue 10

The Weekly

Observer Volume 14 | Issue 10

BRIEFS

Crimes against women rise in the city.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Amma's bail plea rejected as supporters cheer her ‘release’

Every day, two women in Bangalore are harassed for dowry.

Page 2 Domestic violence leads to attempted suicides 40 per cent of domestic violence victims want to kill themselves.

Jayalalithaa’s supporters outside the court cheering after the false verdict SPECIAL REPORT

Page 3 Rise in Thalassaemia cases Hospitals lack funding for bone marrow transplant, the only treatment for the disease.

Page 4

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was today refused bail by the Karnataka High Court, much to the disappointment of her supporters on Bangalore's streets.

Moments before the official verdict there was another false announcement declaring that the court had granted Jayalalithaa’s plea for bail. Apeksha, a lawyer at the High Court, said that the grounds in her favour did not accord with the council.

Jaya's role as a public servant meant the court was not disposed to granting her bail in the case, unlike at least one fellow accused, Elavarasi who isn’t a public servant. This played a major role in the court refusing the plea for Jayalalithaa’s bail.

The defence lawyers cited the example of former Bihar Chief Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s plea for bail which was granted 10 months after being arrested.

The lawyers said that there is a possibility of her getting a bail later.

Deenabandhurai, a crim-

inal lawyer with Bangalore High Court, said, “Ram Jethmalani has declared that the case will be moved to the Supreme Court now.”

Jayalalithaa refused to talk to the media and has been taken back to the Parapanna Agrahara Prison.

Since today morning, AIADMK supporters were sitting outside the court and the jail praying for Jayalalithaa’s release. They were exuberant in premature victory when the court’s false verdict came through.

However, after the rejection of the bail was announced, Bangalore police is now ex-

pecting protests until midnight.

Bangalore Police Commissioner, M.N. Reddi, said, “No curfews are being instilled right now but we have sufficient police to curb the crowd.”

During the bail hearing, Mohommad Sheik, one of the protestors outside the court, said, “The DMK people have political rivalries with Jayalalithaa. But, we have our supporters all over the city and if the bail plea is rejected today, we will carry out peaceful protests everywhere. ”

(Continued on page 2)

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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Weekly Observer

City set to see 60 per cent spike in rape cases Saheli Sen Gupta From January to August 31 2014, 85 rape cases have been registered in Bangalore whereas 80 complaints were registered in 2013.

If the trend of 2013 continues, the city will see a 39% increase in rape cases .

More that ten cases are being reported every month.

The home-guard for the commissioner’s office, Sumathi, blames this rise on the influx of women from

Sumathi

outside the state. She said, “They wear short clothes and smoke and drink all the time unlike Kannada women. I have stayed here for 15 years and nothing has ever happened to me.”

She added, “These women themselves go out with boys and then lodge false complaints.”

A Malayali, Malini Raja, a teacher at DPS, who has stayed in Bangalore for the last eight years, said: “I don’t believe crime against women has anything to do with the clothes you wear or the lifestyle you follow.

Women irrespective of where they belong to are targeted by men.”

“When a girl goes out of her home, parents keep ringing her to know her whereabouts. When it comes to sons, no one does that,” she added.

Statistics obtained from the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) of Bangalore show that the crime rate against women in the city increased by 5.3% this year. A total of 1,625 complaints have been registered

under crimes against women and children this year.

Dowry harassment and molestation are the two major problems with 526 and 372 complaints registered respectively, according to records until August 31, 2014. In 2013, 821 cases of dowry harassment and 578 cases of molestation were registered. Every day, at least two women in the city are harassed by their husband and in-laws for dowry

Disappointed protestors after the bail was rejected (Continued from page 1) Lakshminarayana, a lawyer, said, “In the first half of the trial, allegations were thrown without references, evidences or

documents.

She was accused of rigging 20 percent discount on the construction of her house.”

During the hearing, section 144 of the Criminal

Procedure Code was enforced within one kilometer radius of the High Court and the prison. This law prevents the assembly of more than ten people in

and at least one woman is molested.

Women activist, Geeta Menon, said, “Dowry harassment has taken a more subtle and sophisticated form now with families merging business or asking for consumer goods stressing on how the bride herself will need them after marriage.”

She also said that nothing can justify these acts breeding out of pure patriarchal sentiments in the

society.

Bornali Moitra, a 29year-old IT professional, said: "The men here catcall in Kannada thinking that most of us don't understand anything. And since no one reacts, they keep getting bolder."

Veeramma Reddy, a former student of Women Studies in the Bangalore University, said, “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. People always like to shift the blame on the

The High Court after the hearing an area.

Jayalalithaa was arrested on September 27, 2014 on disproportionate assets where she was accused of

committing a fraud of over Rs 60 crores. The bail was set for Rs 25 to 50 lakhs and no further court date has been set.

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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Weekly Observer

Alcohol, finances and social stigma drive abused women to suicide Sreemoyee Chatterjee More than half the women questioned in a domestic violence survey said they were victims and 40% admitted trying to kill themselves.

The survey also indicated that children in some families were victimized by their abusive, alcoholic fathers.

Roma, 32, a construction worker, said: “When my daughter was small, my husband came home drunk, beat me up and pushed me out of the house one night.

I tried to commit suicide on a nearby railway track.

Unfortunately, I was saved by my sister-in-law. If I would have died that day, I would not have had to go through this torture for the past 10 years since my marriage with this monster.”

Mohini, 24, a domestic help, said: “Every night when my husband comes home, heavily drunk, the only thing he does is either beat up

Geeta Menon, the women activist fighting against domestic violence in Bangalore my three-year old son or pull my hair and thrash me with his belt. I feel like dying.

But then, seeing my children’s faces, I think that if I die, who will take care of them? My husband will marry again and will leave my babies in misery.”

Soma, a 21-year old mother of a two-year old daughter, was working as a vegetable vendor. She suffered from depression and was imbalanced mentally.

She was abandoned by her alcoholic husband and was left with her parents, one

year after her marriage.

Sekhar, 33, Soma’s husband, claimed: “She was mad. Her parents had hidden that fact during our marriage.

On realizing this, I threw her out of my house along with her baby.”

Meena, Soma’s mother, said: “My daughter was completely healthy, both mentally and physically. Sekhar would beat up my daughter every day and would torture her mentally. He would also threaten to kill my granddaughter as he wanted a boy child.” Soma said: “I am at

peace now after separation.

I want to work hard and bring up my daughter.”

The survey conducted

by National Center for Biotechnology Information among 48 low-income mothers showed that about 25 target participants experienced domestic violence.

Women activist Geeta Menon said: “Most of the low earning women are abused by their alcoholic husbands either because of dowry demands or because they want sons. These poor women have to work hard the whole day to bring up their children. Their husbands hardly contribute towards monthly family income. Instead, they would beat up their wives when they fail to get money for their daily liquor.”

Rani Shetty, coordinator of women helpline, Vanitha Sahayavani said: “Timely attention is not paid to the feelings of these women.

They eventually sink into deep mental trauma which

often leads to suicide attempts.”

Krishna Swamy, a psychologist dealing with domestic violence cases, said: “Domestic violence cases contribute to a wide range of suicides and suicide attempts. Maximum numbers of mental imbalance cases amongst low-earning mothers are due to violence from their husbands and the pressure of bringing up their children on their own as their husbands hardly contribute towards it.”

Aparna, a senior counselor of Vanitha Sahayavani said, “Most of the low-income mothers in Bangalore suffer from financial constraints and are illiterate.

Neither do they have adequate money to afford lawyers to fight cases against their husbands, nor do they know about law. This often results in mental distress amongst these poor ladies who end their lives by committing suicides.”

Fair price shops face shortage, open only once a month Tushar Kaushik The fair price shops in villages in rural Bangalore are open only for one day in a month, against government regulations.

The official government website states: “Full time Fair Price Shops shall be open on all days except government holidays and on Sundays.” But at least two local shops are open on only one or two days in a month, according to many villagers.

Sajid, a resident of Devagere, said: “The shops are opened only for a single day in a month. If that day happens to be a working day,

we have to miss the day’s work to go and stand n the queue. If someone can’t go to the shop on that day, he has to wait for another month to get his rations.”

Sajid also alleged that even when the shop was opened, there was a severe shortage of rations and many villagers would not get what they were entitled to by the government.

Fairoz, a tailor in Thagachauppe, said: “Instead of the 30 kgs of rice allotted to us, we get about 25-26 kgs, and buy the rest from other shops at market price.”

He said that government

officials’ self-interests might be responsible for the deficit.

Afzal, a local with his home beside a fair price shop in Devagere, said, “The shop is open on only one day of the month. That day we all get a call and are informed to be there.” Beedilingappa, another local, confirmed that the shop remained open only for a day in a month.

Suresh, vice chairman of the K Golahalli panchayat, stated the same fact. When asked whether they had tried complaining about this issue, he said, “Yes we have tried all that but it’s of no use”.

He said that it was tough to inform everyone that the shop was open, and added, “There should at least be a board beside the shop that shows the day on which the shop will remain open.”

The shop in Golahalli is owned by a local family in the village. Madhu, the shop owner, is a local resident.

When asked about the reason for the shop being opened on only one day, he said: “If there are say 200 ration card holders, then, after giving them the allotted supplies, there is nothing else to be done. So there is no point keeping the shop

open on other days.”

When asked about how the information regarding the shop being open was conveyed to everyone, he said, “On those days, we go and individually tell everyone that it is open.” He also said that there wasn’t any shortage in the rations supplied and that all villagers got their allotted rations every month.

When Sanjeev, another fair price shop owner in Tagachakuppe, was told about the villagers’ complaints, he maintained that there was no shortage of ration at his shop.

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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Weekly Observer

Blood disorder cases rise in Bangalore, hospitals lack funding Samreen Tungekar Thalassaemia cases have increased in 2014 in Bangalore but the government is yet to provide funds for bone marrow transplant (BMT).

According to the statistics of Sankalp India Foundation, an NGO, there are 148 cases of thalassaemia in Karnataka, out of which 87 cases are in Bangalore.

Vanivilas Hospital registered 18 new cases in 2013, and 22 new cases have been recorded so far in 2014.

Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH) has recorded 230 cases in four years, and the number of cases rise every month by two to three patients.

The hospital has registered 48 new cases in 2013 and 42 cases so far in 2014.

Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder which occurs because of the body’s inability to synthesize hemoglobin. The disease has variations. Thalassaemia major occurs at six months of age and tha-

lassaemia intermedia can occur by 16-17 years.

Thalassaemia requires regular blood transfusion.

“We have had 57 blood transfusions in the past one month, out of which 31 were male and 26 female,” said Dr. Shantala, doctor-incharge of Thalassaemia Ward at Vanivilas Hospital.

Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH) has also seen a significant increase in thalassaemia cases. Dr. Pooja, Asst. Professor, Pediatrics department, said: “Out of the 230 cases so far, 180 patients come every month for blood transfusion. 30% of these cases require transfusions twice in a month.

Every month, we have at least two to three new cases, which increase the number of cases by 10-12 patients from the last year’s figure.”

According to Sankalp Foundation India, over 2.5 crore people in India have the genetic trait for thalassaemia. When two people with minor thalassaemia

Dr. Pooja, Asst. Professor, Pediatrics department at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health(IGICH)

Husna Banu, a thalassaemia intermedia patient, cannot straighten her knee due to deformity (mild anaemia) have a child, it is possible that the child will inherit thalassaemia major.

External factors result in complications of thalassaemia, which can be fatal.

Dr. Pooja said: “People from poor economic backgrounds lack awareness about the importance of controlling the disorder.

There are factors like financial constraints, travelling to get blood transfusion and ignorance by families that result in such complications.”

Husna Banu, 18, is a thalassaemia intermedia patient who has developed complications due to poor control. “I stopped going to school after grade 5 because I cannot walk. My legs pain,” she said. Dr. Pooja said: “She has developed flexion deformity, so she is unable to straighten her knee. We suggested an op-

eration, but the family was reluctant as it was a major surgery. They recently agreed, but the anesthesia department did not consider her fit. If damage has already occurred, we cannot repair it. Lack of proper control has caused this condition.”

Alice D’Souza, one of the hospital staff at Vanivilas Hospital, said: “Most of the children we have here come from a poor background. Because they have to travel a lot, they avoid coming. We provide whatever services we can, free of cost.”

Maya, a nine-year-old thalassaemic girl used to come to Vanivilas Hospital for blood transfusions until she was abandoned by her parents as they could not take care of her. “She used to come with her grandmother after that, but her grandmother was illiterate

and did not understand the problem. She stopped coming a year ago, and we don’t know where she is now,” said Alice.

The only cure of thalassaemia is BMT, which is not available in these hospitals due to less funds.

According to the Karnataka Budget 2014-15, the govt is going to set up a special unit in the institute for patients suffering from Haemophilia, Thalassaemia, Sickle-cell Anaemia and Primary Immuno Deficiency.

Dr. Pooja said that they had also put forth a proposal to the govt for setting up a BMT unit last year, but nothing has happened about that yet. “There is a difference between something being sanctioned and something actually happening. Setting up a BMT unit takes a lot of effort.”

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Saheli Sen Gupta, Chief Sub Editor - Ridhi Agrawal, News Editor - C.L. Ramakrishnan , Sub Editors - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, Tushar Kaushik, Vignesh S.G, Design Head - Shruti Suresh, Design Desk - Subash Aravindh, Sharangee Dutta, Picture Editor - Samreen Tungekar, Reporters - Sameer Deshpande, Shalini Raja, Proofreaders - Soumya Chatterjee, R. Suharika.