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Mumbai teenager leaves red-light zone for US degree

[email protected] (TNN)
August 5, 2013

Mumbai_teenagerMumbai, Aug 5: A young Indian woman who grew up in Mumbai's red-light district facing poverty and sexual abuse has overcome the odds to win a scholarship to study in New York.

Shweta Katti, 18, left for America on Thursday to study at the liberal arts Bard College, where she hopes to read psychology. Afterwards she wants to return to India and help other young women in her community.

"It's my childhood dream. I didn't think it would finally happen," she told AFP before leaving Mumbai, where she grew up in a brothel.

Katti's determination won her a place this year in Newsweek's list of 25 " Young Women To Watch" aged under-25, alongside Pakistani schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousufzai who was shot in the head by the Taliban.

It is a long way from Katti's early childhood experiences of abuse and harassment in Mumbai's notorious Kamathipura neighbourhood.

"You would see everyday someone beating up a woman, the police coming unexpectedly at anytime, and women selling their bodies — they were not happy," Katti said.

"Men would ask to sleep with me, it was so embarrassing, but I had to face it. My father abused me, many people abused me, but my mum was with me always saying: 'You are the best, you can do anything'."

The teenager, who describes herself as "a tough-skinned girl", said she faced discrimination "from all sides" at school because of her poor background and low caste status.

She credits her mother, a factory worker, as her "inspiration" and says the local charity Kranti — meaning "revolution" in Hindi — also played a vital role in helping her achieve her dreams.

The group's aim is to empower girls from Mumbai's red-light areas "to become agents of social change", and a small group of them live at Kranti's north Mumbai apartment, where Katti moved two years ago.

Here she was able to work on her English language skills and experience therapy, which sparked her interest in psychology.

"I really think it can change somebody. I started thinking openly and respecting my background and myself," she said.

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Agencies
April 5,2020

Nagpur, Apr 5: A 23-year-old man allegedly committed suicide in Imambada area in Nagpur on Saturday due to financial distress, police said.

Nikhil Gavhane, who worked in a grocery shop, hanged himself as he had taken money from a person and was stressed over repayment, an official said.

"He was depressed since a week," the Imambada police station official said.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Mar 12: Three women were arrested for allegedly administrating fake coronavirus vaccines to villagers in Maharashtra's Jalna district, police said on Thursday.

The police on Wednesday arrested Beed residents Radha Ramnath Saamse, Seema Krishna Andhale and Sangeeta Rajendra Avhad, who allegedly posed as doctors and healthcare workers, an official said.

The trio met villagers of Pipalgoan in Ambad tehsil, informed them about a vaccine that could protect them from coronavirus and administered it to gullible locals, he said.

Some villagers informed Dr Mahadev Munde, a medical officer at a rural health centre, about this, after which a complaint was lodged, the official said.

Fake vaccines and bottles, which were seized from the accused, have been sent to the state health department, he said, adding that a case of cheating has been registered against the trio.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Amaravati, Jul 31: Nine people have died after allegedly consuming sanitiser in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh today, the police said.

Prakasam district Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kaushal said the people had been consuming sanitiser for the past few days, mixing it with water and soft drinks.

"We are also investigating whether they laced the sanitiser with any other toxic substances," the official said.

"Their family members say these people have been consuming sanitiser for the past ten days. We are sending the sanitiser stocks, being sold in the area, for examination," he added.

Kurichedu in Prakasam district has been under lockdown due to rise in coronavirus cases and hence, liquor shops have also been shut since the past few days.

Habitual drinkers were said to be consuming sanitisers that have alcohol content, apart from illicitly distilled arrack.

The police said two beggars near a temple were the first to fall victim on Thursday night. While one of them was found dead at the spot, another died in the government hospital in Darsi town, they said.

A third person was also taken to the Darsi hospital late on Thursday night after he fell unconscious but he was declared brought dead. Six others who fell ill after allegedly consuming sanitiser, died this morning.

Others who fell ill after consuming sanitiser are undergoing treatment at their residences in the village, the police added.

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