Rape survivors are degraded by 'finger test' in India

Agencies
November 8, 2017

Mumbai, Nov 8: Five years after a fatal Delhi bus rape, more Indian women are reporting attacks but are often humiliated by police and medics or intimidated to withdraw cases, activists said on Wednesday.

A study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) found the outlawed "two-finger test" - which involves a doctor inserting fingers into a rape victim's vagina to determine if she is sexually active - being carried out in a hospital in the state of Rajasthan.

"In some states, both the police and the medical system have not adopted the measures the government set out," Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at the U.S.-based advocacy group told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"While the intention is there (to help rape survivors), it does not percolate down the system."

Home ministry officials said they could only comment once they had seen the report.

India has some of the highest number of rapes in the world but many sex crimes are not reported, offenders often go unpunished and the wheels of justice turn slowly, activists say.

HRW analysed the impact of reforms introduced following the fatal gang rape of a student in a New Delhi bus in 2012 that led to national outrage and put a global spotlight on rape in India.

Nearly 35,000 rape cases were reported to the police and 7,000 convictions were made in 2015, both increasing by about 40 percent in three years, according to government data.

But access to support services, ranging from legal aid to healthcare, is poor and gender-friendly government guidelines are often flouted, HRW said.

"Women and girls said that they received almost no attention to their health needs, including counselling, even when it was clear they had a great need for it," the report said.

India's top court said in 2013 that the two-finger test violated a woman's right to privacy.

It was banned and the Indian Council of Medical Research issued new guidelines in 2014.

But HRW found the test mentioned in a form that doctors fill in when they examine rape survivors at a Rajasthan hospital.

Sexual violence remains a taboo in the world's largest democracy, and women and girls fear stigma or retribution if they report attacks.

HRW called for India to introduce a victim and witness protection system to encourage people to come forward.

It interviewed more than 20 rape survivors, as well as lawyers, doctors and police officials in four states with a high prevalence of rape, as well as New Delhi and Mumbai.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: The new Army chief Lieutenant General MM Naravane on Wednesday said that India needs to pay more attention to its border along China and asserted that the force is capable of dealing with any security challenge.

"We have been giving attention to our western front in the past. The northern front now also requires an equal amount of attention... The Army is capable of tackling any dangers to the country," General Naravane told reporters after receiving the first Guard of Honour as the Army chief.

"In that context, we are now going in for capability development and enhancement of our capacities even in our northern borders which includes the northeastern part of our country," he said.

On the border dispute with China, the Army chief said that continuing peace along the border will pave the way for a solution.

He said: "We have been able to maintain peace and tranquility along borders and I'm sure that situation will prevail. By maintaining this, we will be able to set the stage for the eventual solution."

General Naravane said that operational readiness and modernisation will be among the top priorities of the Army under his leadership.

"Our priority will be to be ready to meet any challenge and to be operationally prepared at all times. This will happen as a result of modernisation. We will continue to build our capability especially in the North and Northeast region of our country," he said.

He said that the Indian Army will pay special attention to respect human rights. "We will also pay special emphasis on raising security awareness among ranks and file and pay special attention to respect human rights," the Army chief said.

Assuring the country on security, he said, "All three services — the Army, the Navy and the Air Force — are ready to defend the country."

He extended wishes to people in the new year and hoped that the country will make huge progress in this decade.

General Naravane took over as the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on Tuesday, succeeding General Bipin Rawat who has become India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

General Naravane was previously the Vice Chief of Army Staff.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Minneapolis, Jun 2: An official autopsy released Monday ruled that George Floyd, the African-American man whose death at police hands set off unrest across the United States, died in a homicide involving "neck compression".

George, 46, died of "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression," and the manner of death was "homicide," the Hennepin County Medical Examiner in Minneapolis said in a statement.

Floyd's other significant health conditions were listed as "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use."

The statement added that the "manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent."

It emphasized that under Minnesota state law "the Medical Examiner is a neutral and independent office and is separate and distinct from any prosecutorial authority or law enforcement agency."

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday paid tribute to the senior doctor of city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, saying the society has "lost a very valuable fighter".

The 52-year-old doctor served in the front line of the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of novel coronavirus infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday.

"Dr Aseem Gupta, a senior doctor of LNJP Hospital succumbed to Covid yday. He was known for going out of his way to serve his patients. We have lost a very valuable fighter. Delhi salutes his spirit and sacrifice...," Kejriwal tweeted.

The chief minister also said in his tweet that he has spoken to Dr Gupta''s wife and "offered my condolences and support".

LNJP Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government. It recently completed 100 days of being declared a coronavirus facility.

"LNJP Hospital has displayed great fortitude in the face of acute challenges. It''s recovery rate is going up, death rate is reducing, ICU capacity is being ramped up - the hospital is saving so many lives," the chief minister said.

A condolence meeting to pay respect to Dr Gupta has been scheduled at 1 pm in the office of the Medical Director of the hospital, a senior official said.

The doctor, a consultant anaesthesiologist died at the Max hospital, Saket in south Delhi, a private dedicated COVID-19 facility.

"He was a front line anaesthesia specialist who contracted COVID-19 infection while on duty. He tested positive on June 6, when he had mild symptoms and was shifted to a quarantine facility. His symptoms aggravated on June 7 and he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of the LNJP Hospital," the LNJP Hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

He was shifted to Max Hospital, Saket on June 8 on his request, it said.

The doctor was battling the disease for the last two weeks at Max Hospital, where he succumbed to the illness on Sunday, the statement said.

He was Specialist, Grade I, in the Department of Anaesthesia at the LNJP Hospital, the statement said.

Several hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected with COVID-19 till date in Delhi.

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