SOCIETY

Bihar rapist marries raped victim in jail

     Navada (Bihar): Naseem alias Raja, who was accused of raping a girl named Rani, has married the latter in Patna's Navada Jail. The marriage took place in the presence of both their families and the prison staff. A rape case was registered because Naseem initially refused to marry Rani. But after a court order, Naseen married Rani. Rani believes that had the case not been registered against Naseem, he would not have married her. "Now he is ready to marry me. I filed a case because he was not ready to marry me", she said. Both families have accepted the marriage and the case against Naseem has been withdrawn.
-Oct 26, 2004

Muslim artists make Durga idols in Cuttack

     Cuttack: Cuttack's Durga Puja is a heartening example of communal harmony. While Hindus perform puja and practice religious rituals, Muslims decorate Goddess idols in the city's pandals. Interestingly, about 95 percent of Cuttack's Muslims are involved in making the backdrops behind the Goddess Durga idols in the pandals. Cuttack's Durga Puja has greater significance than the mere visual and ritual symbols of the triumph of good over evil. The festival gives the city a chance to showcase communal harmony. This is traditional family business for many Muslims. "I am doing this work since 40 years, since the time I got married. My husband was into this business so I too started doing the same work. My entire family earns its livelihood from this work and we are satisfied. We have good relations with Hindus and they shower us with presents," says Maharun Bibi, an artisan. Others add that the respect the work gets them from Hindus makes it worthwhile. "This work spells no discrimination between Hindus and Muslims. Hindu brethren come to us and we go to them. We are greeted and respected by them. We are doing this work due to the adoration and respect we receive from them," says Shamim Khan, another artisan.
-Oct 20, 2004

Impoverished woman sold by husband

     Pipraich (UP): A 22-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh was sold off for Rs. 30,000 by her second husband who had married her on promises of food and money for her impoverished parents and child. Malnourished and broken by tragedy, Vandana, tries hard to fight back tears as she recounted her horrific tale. Married through a neighbour to a well-mannered city boy who claimed to seek a simple wife, unsuspecting Vandana was put up for sale within two days of her nupital ceremony. Vandana said she was asked to leave with another man with whom her husband struck a deal. As protests and pleas bore little fruit the uneducated girl with no money was forced to run. Lucky enough not fall into wrong hands again she was finally rescued by local policemen who sent her back to her parent's home in Papraich village of northern Uttar Pradesh. "They were taking Rs. 30, 000 and when I asked them why were taking money, they told me that I have been sold for Rs. 30,000. I started crying. When I said that I was being forced into this marriage, they said that it did not matter to them as everything was settled before hand," she said. Married first when just 19, Vandana and her two-month old child had been abandoned by her alcholical and abusive first husband. The duo had since been living with her parents, a farmer couple- devastated by successive droughts and crippled by debts to landowners. Barely surviving in their ramshackle house, the family was overjoyed at the offer of marriage, which would simply mean one less mouth to feed for the old parents and promised an earning son-in-law willing to support the child who was to be left with her grandparents. The hasty marriage however was to unfold a different tale and has exposed a poor social support system, which has perhaps forced thousands more like Vandana into sham marriages which end up in forced prostitution. "Her father sent her with her husband. She was already married once, when she was sold. The girl somehow managed to run away from there and is now at her father's place. We are conducting an enquiry," Anupam Srivastav, the local police in-charge said.
-Oct 14, 2004

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