Mumbai teenager leaves red-light zone for US degree

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
March 26,2020

Puducherry,Mar 26: Congress legislator from Kamaraj Nagar constituency John Kumar has been booked on charges of violating lock-down rules, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said on Thursday.

In a Whats app posting she further said that an FIR has been registered under the Disaster management Act.

She stated John Kumar in an irresponsible manner allowed more than 200 people to gather outside his house and distributed doles personally when lock down was enforced in the country.

A criminal case has been registered against him for blatant violation of law despite mass information and media messages.Instead of following the law, he chose to violate it,she further stated.

The LG added that as per the ground report by IGP Surendra Yadav, there was perceptible improvement in enforcement of lock down and public were aware and cooperative.Vehicles carrying essential supplies and personnel were moving and every day is an improvement.

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News Network
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: A 44-year-old man allegedly killed his daughter and son before ending his life by jumping in front of a Delhi metro train at Haiderpur Badli Mor station on Sunday, police said.

No suicide note has been recovered, but police claimed that the man, Madhur Malani, was depressed since his sandpaper-manufacturing factory was closed some six months ago due to financial crunch leaving him jobless. Madhur's parents had been supporting his family financially since then.

He used to stay with his wife Rupali, daughter Samiksha (14) and six-year-old son Shraiyans at a rented house in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh area, they said.

Rupali was not at home when Madhur strangled their children. He might have also smothered their daughter but the exact cause of death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem reports arrive, a police official said.

After killing his two children, he jumped in front of an approaching train at Haiderpur Badli Mor Metro station following which he was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him 'brought dead', the official said.

Metro services on the Yellow Line were briefly delayed due to the incident.

"Delay in services from Samaypur Badli to GTB Nagar due to a passenger on track at Haiderpur Badli Mor," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted.

After about 15 minutes, it again tweeted that normal services have been restored. The Delhi Metro's Yellow Line connects Samaypur Badli in Delhi to HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon.

The suicide was reported to the police around 5.40 pm while the Shalimar Bagh Police station received a call about the killings around 6.50 pm.

On reaching the house, police found bodies of the children lying in beds in two rooms. During enquiry, it was learnt that their father has left the house, a senior police officer said.

While police were trying to trace Madhur, they learnt about a suicide at the metro station. On verifying the details, it surfaced that Madhur committed suicide after killing his children, the officer said.

Rupali told police that she had gone to a nearby market around 3 pm and on returning home she found the bodies of her children while her husband was missing.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered and investigation was underway, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya said.

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Agencies
July 4,2020

The Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) of Tamil Nadu Police has arrested suspended constable Muthuraj.

Wanted in the Tuticorin custodial deaths of P Jeyaraj and his son J Bennicks, Muthuraj was arrested on late Friday.

Muthuraj was later remanded to the judicial custody till July 17.

Jeyaraj and Bennicks had been booked for not closing their mobile shop in time on June 19 by the Sathankulam police. They were sent to judicial custody and lodged in the Kovilpatti jail on June 21.

Jeyaraj died on June 22 night and Bennicks on June 23 morning in judicial custody, allegedly due to the police torture.

The Madras High Court while hearing the case had said there was prima facie evidence to register a murder case against the Sathankulam police officials.

The court also transferred the probe into the deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks to the CBCID to gather and protect the evidence till the case is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

It has also initiated criminal contempt cases against three police officials -- Additional Superintendent of Police Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Prathapan and constable Maharajan -- for their behaviour at the Sathankulam police station in front of Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate MS Bharathidasan who had gone for an inquiry.

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