According to the BBC, tension and conflict arose in an Indian village earlier this year when a young woman from an upper-caste Yadav family eloped with a 19-year old man of the Dalit caste, which is the lowest in India’s bizarre caste system. So several dozen Yadav men did what any self-respecting upper-caste man […]
Category Archives: India
Dowry Demands Still Major Problem In India
September 30, 2003 – 12:00 am
The BBC has done some excellent reporting over the past few months about the continuing problem of grooms and their families demanding large dowries from brides and occasionally resorting to violence if the dowries are not forthcoming.
The issue was brought to the forefront again in May of this year when 21-year-old Nisha Sharma had […]
Significantly Higher Death Risk for Girls than Boys in India
July 27, 2003 – 12:00 am
The BBC reports on studies in India suggesting that infant girls have a substantially higher death rate than infant boys, even from diseases that should be relatively easy to treat.
The BBC notes that in 2001 that for every 1,000 male babies born in India there were just 933 girls born. This might sound horribly […]
Should Indian Women Who Kill Their Babies Be Punished?
July 27, 2003 – 12:00 am
Should women who kill their babies be punished? That might sound like an absurd question to ask, but in fact a group in India is arguing that women who commit female infanticide are themselves victims and should not be punished.
The BBC reported this month on the controversy in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. […]
Indian Agency Campaigns Against Child Marriages
May 22, 2002 – 12:00 am
The BBC reported this month that India’s National Commission for Women is trying to highlight he issue of child marriages in that country.
Thousands of children, including some infants, are married on Akha Teej, which is considered one of the most auspicious days in some Hindu communities. Despite official laws making it illegal for boys […]