Crimes against women embarrass Nitish govt
With the police records showing a steady rise in the number of crimes against women in Bihar in recent years, the state’s Opposition parties have got another handle to beat the Nitish Kumar government for its persistent boasting about salvaging the state from the “jungle raj” preceding its advent.
Even though it is often alleged that most cases of crime against women simply do not reach Bihar’s police stations, the latest police records show that such incidents have been growing since 2005, when the JD(U)-BJP government led by Mr Kumar came to power by dislodging the 15-year-old RJD rule in a historic election. With the next Assembly election just six months away, the crime figures are proving another embarrassment for Mr Kumar’s government.
In 2006, when Mr Kumar’s government initiated several steps to overhaul policing and judicial trials, the number of crimes against women actually rose by 10 per cent with 4,974 cases against 4,442 in 2005. While 2007 saw little change in the total number of crimes against women in comparison to 2006, there was a distinct rise in incidents of rape, abduction and dowry deaths in 2007.
But in 2008, Bihar witnessed a 20 per cent rise in crimes against women with 6,186 cases, the report said. Abductions, which have been Bihar’s bane for about a decade, seem to have targeted women in 2008. Abductions of women grew by over 30 per cent in 2008, the official figure putting the number of abductions at 1,494.
“The relentless self-publicity of good governance and a crime-free Bihar is finally melting under the weight of official records exposing the reality. The people are watching and will reply through their votes,” said RJD principal general secretary and former MP Ram Kripal Yadav.
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DU teachers assaulted on campus
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association on Sunday alleged that its members were manhandled by university security personnel when they tried to meet the vice-chancellor.
“The security personnel and the police assaulted us when we tried to meet the V-C,” Duta president Aditya Narayan Misra said. “Its the V-C who is doing illegal things, from the introduction of semester system to disposing of cobalt in an irresponsible way,” he said. According to the teachers, the V-C was not coming to his office in North Campus and started going to South Campus. “We came here (south campus) to meet him, but the security personnel did not allow us to go inside. While the incident happened, the V-C remained a mute spectator,” Mr Kumar added. However, he later assured the teachers that he will meet them after sometime.
They have been demanding that the semester system should not be implemented without consensus.
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