Ernakulam Principal Sessions court judge N Anil Kumar awarded the death penalty to Ameerul Islam, a migrant labourer from Assam, for committing murder of the law student at nearby Perumbavoor.
'When a country's humanity and morality levels are this low, it has a disease so deadly that it could die,' says Mitali Saran.
'India has a conviction rate of about 25% for serious crimes. This means that 75% of the time the police probably get the wrong suspect, and this makes murdering them in an encounter more morally problematic for the officers concerned.' says Aakar Patel.
The Union cabinet also decided to put in place measures for speedy investigation and trial of rape cases.
'The 17-year-old boy, who pulled out Nirbhaya's intestines, should have got the harshest punishment because he was not human at the time.' 'Instead, he was given a sewing machine and some money to have a new beginning!' 'Are we giving out incentives?' 'Are we telling our unemployed youth that if they do something like this, the government will give them jobs?'
DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Friday sought intervention of the Chief Justice of India and the President against releasing of the juvenile convict in the December 16 gang-rape case, saying he must be kept in observation home until his reformation is ascertained.
The four men, all lorry workers, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman by smothering her and later burning her body.
Amid outrage over the brutal rape of a four-year-old girl in north west Delhi, police said they have questioned over 100 people.
'A speedy trial is absolutely essential.' 'Not only justice is given, it is given expeditiously.'
The 32-year-old cabbie, who allegedly raped an executive on Friday night, would not have been behind the wheel of the Uber taxi had the United States-based company run a background check and conducted a police verification, as he had earlier been jailed too in a rape case.
'We cannot believe the police encounter story at all.' 'They were in the hands of the police and they were de-weaponised.' 'They didn't have weapons. How can you kill them?'
The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid title dispute case, the Sebi-Sahara payment row, the Aadhaar privacy issue and the Cauvery water dispute are only some of the legal puzzles he will have to deal with.
'We expect mobs on the subcontinent to hand out punishment without trial.' 'To have ministers doing it and then being proud about it says something about how the law is treated in India and how seriously ministers take their oath of office,' says Aakar Patel.
The government has displayed a tin ear in its responses to the JNU protests by using the sedition law -- and by encouraging lawyers who wear their political affiliations on their sleeves to display utter contempt for the Constitution. The Modi Sarkar has over three years of its term to run. But it may well have already sown the seeds of defeat,' says Devangshu Datta.
Sreehari Nair presents his Top 20 movies of the decade.
'What if this was my child?' 'My 3 year old, my 8 year old, my 17 year old?' Would I be insular, silent?' 'Would I protect those who I so actively protect now?' asks Preeti D'Mello.
For more than 23 years, Bhanwari Devi, who was gang-raped for speaking out against the marriage of two babies, has been fighting a lonely battle for justice. Rashme Sehgal traveled to Dausa in Rajasthan to meet the courageous woman, a winner of the Neerja Bhanot Award for bravery, a symbol of Indian women's struggle.
Most juvenile remand homes are in appalling condition and need a massive overhaul. But whether redrafting the law will bring down juvenile crime is the moot question. What is required better remand homes, more specialised care rather than to expose young people to the trauma and stigma of adult jails, says Rashme Sehgal.
'I like to see myself as a troll-slayer and I have realised the best way to do that is to ignore them. Nothing bothers them more,' Barkha Dutt tells Rashme Sehgal.
'She was just a little girl. She didn't understand religion. Who is Hindu, who is Muslim.' 'She was just 8! Why punish her?' The family of the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu's Kathua district say everything has changed since that horrific crime.
