Kiran Bedi's 'small rape' remark: Women's commission seeks apology

August 13, 2012

kiranbedi

Mumbai, August 13: Women activists want an apology from anti-corruption activist and former top cop Kiran Bedi for talking about "small rape" cases on a public stage. They have accused her of extreme insensitivity and say she shows a "feudal mentality." Ms Bedi denies she said that rape is a small crime.

Ms Bedi had lashed out at the media for what she called inadequate reportage of Team Anna's alleged expose on corruption in the UPA government. She said, "Ask yourself. On a small rape case or assault which a low ranking police official commits, how you would discuss it. But against 15 ministers, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal had given the evidence but nobody from among you media hold any debate or discussion over the issue.

"Tell me, why you haven't done that? Do you fear them?"

Ms Bedi used yoga guru Baba Ramdev's protest venue at Ramlila Maidan to raise her team's agenda on Sunday. The National Commission for Women has isolated the remark on rapes and said it was "distressing". NCW member

Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkar said the Commission will issue a notice to Ms Bedi today after taking suo motu cognisance of the remark.

"Ms Bedi is a woman and a former police officer. Sheshould have shown extreme sensitivity while talking about a serious crime like rape. There is nothing like a 'small rape'. A rape is a rape and should be viewed as a crime against humanity," Ms Prabhavalkar said in a statement in Mumbai.

"It is distressing that Ms Bedi showed utter lack of sensitivity on a serious issue. It shows her feudal mentality. I demand an immediate apology from her," Ms Prabhavalkar said, adding "the NCW has decided to take a suo motu cognisance of Ms Bedi's statement. It will issue a notice to her on Monday."

After her remarks created a furore, Bedi tweeted that "deliberate wrong news" was being circulated to distract people from knowing what she said.

"I never said rape is small crime. I said when small ranked person commits rape crime he is hung while big ones go scotfree. It was about comparative punishment. Small officer (not small rape) involved in rape is hung while big ones go scotfree!" she said.


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News Network
April 9,2020

Patna, Apr 9: In a horrifying incident, a migrant woman was sexually abused in a Gaya hospital where she was kept in an isolation ward. Three days later, she died due to excessive bleeding.

The matter came to light on Tuesday when her mother-in-law informed the authorities concerned about the shocking incident.

The 25-year-old victim had returned to Bihar’s Gaya district from Ludhiana (in Punjab) along with her husband on March 25. Before returning to her in-laws’ place, she had undergone abortion at Ludhiana just when she was two months pregnant.

On reaching Gaya, she complained of excessive bleeding. Her husband admitted her to Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) on March 27 where she was kept in the emergency ward.

Later, on April 1, on being suspected to be coronavirus patient, she was kept in an isolation ward. Her family members alleged that it was in this isolation ward where a doctor attending to her overnight outraged her modesty for two successive nights on April 2 and 3.

“The following day, she was discharged from the hospital after her coronavirus test report was found to be negative. However, after returning home, she remained aloof and struck by fear. On questioning, she revealed how a doctor had sexually abused her in the isolation ward. On April 6, she passed away due to excessive bleeding,” said her mother-in-law.

On receiving the information, the local police asked the mother-in-law to come to the hospital on Tuesday and identify the doctor (about whom the victim had given a description). However, the accused was not identified.

“Prima facie, the matter is serious. We are verifying the allegations. We will dig out the CCTV footage in the hospital and take strict action after identifying the culprit,” said Dr VK Prasad, the hospital superintendent.

Meanwhile, the Gaya police have arrested two people who posed as doctors and entered the isolation ward using doctors’ kits. One of the apprehended people works in a private.

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News Network
July 15,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: India's COVID-19 tally has reached 9,36,181 as 29,429 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

The death toll went up to 24,309, including 582 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

Out of the total cases, 3,19,840 are currently active and 5,92,032 are cured/discharged/migrated.

As per the Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the infection -- has a total of 2,67,665 COVID-19 cases and 10,695 fatalities. While Tamil Nadu has a tally of 1,47,324 cases and 2,099 deaths due to COVID-19.

Delhi has reported a total of 1,15,346 cases and 3,446 deaths due to COVID-19.

As per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 3,20,161 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 14, of these 1,24,12,664 samples were tested on Tuesday.

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News Network
May 29,2020

New Delhi, May 29: With the highest spike of 7,466 more COVID-19 cases and 175 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally reached 1,65,799 on Friday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of active coronavirus cases stands at 89,987 while 71,105 people have been cured or recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. The death toll due to the infection has reached 4,706 in the country.

Maharashtra is the worst affected state with 59,546 cases. Tamil Nadu has recorded as many as 19,372 cases while Gujarat and Delhi have recorded 15,562 and 16,281 coronavirus cases respectively.

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