Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
Three individuals, including two minor boys and a 19-year-old youth, have been arrested for the brutal assault of a 17-year-old Dalit school student in Tamil Nadu. The assault, which resulted in the victim suffering severe injuries including severed fingers, is alleged to have stemmed from a dispute over a kabaddi match or a love proposal. Police are investigating the incident and have invoked provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the accused.
As outrage mounted over the death of a 19-year-old Dalit student, the Himachal Pradesh government on Saturday suspended an assistant professor booked on charges of sexually harassing her and announced an inquiry into allegations, including those of ragging and cast related abuse of the victim, while the University Grants Commission also set up a fact-finding committee.
Six persons were arrested under the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police added.
'The worst part is that after the attack on December 9, the Dehradun police refused to register an FIR for the murder.'
Chandrashekar, who completed his BDS in Hyderabad, had gone to US two years ago to pursue an MS. He completed the degree six months ago and was looking for a job, his brother Damodar told reporters.
The Haryana government transferred Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya after an IPS officer's suicide and allegations of caste-based discrimination.
A 28-year-old revenue officer (lekhpal) in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, died by suicide a day before his wedding, allegedly due to excessive work pressure related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The incident has triggered protests and accusations of harassment by revenue staff.
A Dalit groom's wedding procession was held under heavy police protection in Rajasthan's Ajmer district after the bride's family expressed concerns about potential opposition from upper castes. Around 200 police personnel ensured the safety of the traditional 'Bindoli' ceremony, where the groom Vijay Regar rode a mare to his bride Aruna Khorwal's village. The bride's family had approached the authorities after anticipating possible resistance from locals. The police presence prevented any incidents and ensured the wedding procession took place peacefully.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that a 'systematic vote chori' method, evolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission to 'kill Indian democracy', will be deployed in the Bihar assembly polls as well.
A recurring theme of the prime minister's election rallies was the reminder of the 'jungle raj' during the RJD rule under chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, and there were special efforts to ensure that the youth in the state does not get swayed by the promises made by Tejashwi Yadav.
Family members of Dalit icons B R Ambedkar, Jagjivan Ram, Kanshi Ram and other 'prominent people' belonging to the scheduled castes are among those invited for the January 22 consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, according to sources.
A committee formed to support the family of deceased Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the removal of state police chief Shatrujeet Kapur, who is accused of abetting Kumar's suicide. The family has refused to conduct the post-mortem and cremation until their demands are met.
This election is a thank you note to Nitish Babu from a grateful Bihari people, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The power tussle within the ruling party has intensified, amid speculation about chief minister change in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, citing an alleged "power-sharing" agreement involving CM Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.
Her claims of being detained overnight at the police station without food or sleep and being asked to drink toilet water by police personnel have sparked widespread outrage.
The accused allegedly thrashed the three boys, aged 12-14 years, shaved their heads, blackened their faces, wrote 'thief' on their forearms, and paraded them around the village with their hands tied, according to the police.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
'Rejection teaches you a lot of endurance, self-trust, and the ability to show up again.'
The cremation of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar took place in Chandigarh following an autopsy, with his wife seeking an impartial probe into his death.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family.
He lashed out at the state government terming it an "extremely sad and inhuman" crime.
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Fed up with rampant corruption and loss of money through forgery by a middleman led a Mahadalit man, his wife and three children to commit suicide in Bihar's Aurangabad district, police said on Monday.
'Rahul Gandhi has promised me to give a Congress ticket to contest the polls.'
Raghopur assembly constituency in Bihar prepares for a high-stakes election where voters may be deciding the next chief minister. Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD's CM candidate, seeks a third term, facing a strong challenge from BJP's Satish Kumar.
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
If women voters are mobilised in big numbers to the voting booths on November 6 and 11 by the Nitish Kumar-led NDA, then it will be quite difficult for the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan to defeat the incumbent government, points out Sheela Bhatt.
Police have registered a case against coffee estate owner Jagadish Gowda and his son Tilak under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC-ST Act.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
In the slot of rural poor, there are those who struggle to pull themselves out of crumbling hovels, and there are the Jamtara-like bunch who turn to crime. Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound is about the former, whose quest for respect and dignity is thwarted because they are underprivileged, notes Deepa Gahlot.
'So my question was, 'What is it that you are proud of? What have you achieved? What is your contribution?' 'He had no answer.'
'Our politics is transparent -- it's about ensuring farmers don't die by suicide, about ensuring agriculture remains viable, about ensuring food security for the nation.' 'If that's politics, then yes, we do politics.'
A day after 21 houses were set on fire in Bihar's Nawada district, a top state government official on Thursday said 15 people have been arrested in this connection.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman criticizes the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, alleging corruption, caste-based crimes, and a rise in drug abuse. She dismisses the DMK's claims about language and Dravidian identity as a distraction from their governance failures.
'If people don't see you, they might be hesitant, but once they see you, they are confident that this is the person they will vote for,' says political debutant Shambhavi Choudhury, 25, alumnus of the Lady Sriram College and the Delhi School of Economics.
Banerjee said she would stand by the Dalit community till the end as her caste is "humanity" and she does not believe in differentiation on the grounds of caste and religion.
After a long time, here's a film that does justice to the people whose stories are never heard or written about, notes Divya Nair.
A purported video showing the boy dancing to a song with four to five men sitting around surfaced online. In the video, the men were compelling the boy to dance with a smile.
The alleged attack has come to light amid furore over the assault on Dalits in Gujarat's Una for allegedly skinning a cow.
