One would not think that a Facebook status or a tweet could land you in jail, at least not in India -- the world's largest democracy. However, the reality is a lot more brutal in India, which has a shameful history of locking up its citizens for dissenting viewpoints. According to Mint, at least 50 people have been arrested through 2017 and 2018 for posts on social media. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents some of the most prominent cases.
Riya Shah, a New York teenager, who had been to Baroda to volunteer with an NGO that works for upliftment of orphans and delinquents, shares her learnings with Chaya Babu.
The apex court, after perusing the report, said it would not 'digress' from the main issue of ensuring a fair trial, not only for the accused but also for the victim's family.
...Dear Dad is disappointingly skin deep, feels Sukanya Verma.
Kammatipaadam is a gangster movie with a difference and a must watch, for sure.
Not only is Modi's India not the shining land of dynamism and prosperity that he promised -- though it may be that, for some people, in a few years from now -- but socially it has the positively regressive tendencies that were entirely predictable.
Chairman of the Bangalore school where a six-year old girl was allegedly raped, evoking public outrage and triggering protests, has been arrested.
The Delhi high court on Monday issued production warrants for Tuesday to four death row convicts in the December 16 gang rape and murder case on the trial court's reference for confirmation of the capital punishment given to them.
The court also said that under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, even intermediaries like social media platforms Google, Facebook and Yahoo could be held liable for penal action for display and circulation of photos and name of the victim by others.
The apex court lashed out at the law enforcing agencies for allowing the 'instigators of violence' to get away and said they should act as per law without waiting for somebody's nod.
Delhi high court restrained the media from revealing the identity of the victim by any means.
India has voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution calling for moratorium on the use of death penalty, saying it fails to recognise each nation's "sovereign right" to determine its legal system and punish criminals according to its laws.
Bahujan Samaj Party MP Dhananjay Singh and his wife Jagriti, arrested in connection with the murder of their maid, were on Monday remanded to four-day judicial custody by a court after the Delhi Police said they are waiting for some reports and will confront the accused with them later.
'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.
The apex court said the exception in the rape law was contrary to the philosophy of other statutes and violates the bodily integrity of a girl child.
Two lawyers, representing death row convicts Mukesh and Pawan Kumar Gupta, on Tuesday informed the Delhi high court that they are withdrawing from the December 16 gang rape-cum-murder case on the ground of alleged interference by family members of the convicts.
'They have started an institute, the Academy of Training and Sensitisation, for prison officials near Vellore.' 'This institute has been started by the Union home ministry and it is meant for all the four southern states.'
Are the ChildLine booths for runaway children an attempt to sanitise Indian railway stations or a genuine effort for the protection of 'railway kids'?
Advocates representing the media houses told the court that the mistake of disclosing the name and showing photograph of the victim was due to their ignorance of the law.
But the police campaign aimed at ensuring safety of women, especially young girls, was reportedly marked by some stray cases of harassment of innocent youths amid concerns that it could spawn moral policing.
Asaram is also facing a rape case in Surat in Gujarat in which the Supreme Court earlier this month gave five weeks time to the prosecution to complete the trial.
With a small team of like-willed youngsters, Himanshu Goenka is creating opportunities for underprivileged children to dream big.
An advocate on Wednesday informed the Delhi high court that he will represent two death row convicts in the December 16 gang rape -- Mukesh and Pawan whose counsel had withdrawn from the case on Tuesday -- but the court rejected his plea for recusal of one of the judges from the case.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know from Maharashtra government if it has decided to seek a CBI probe in the Govind Pansare murder case as claimed by the lawyer of family of the slain activist, even as the prosecutor said he has no such instruction so far.
Prince, remembers Raja Sen, snuck his way into an underage brain and sparked off deliciously inappropriate thoughts in style.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday deferred to October 1 hearing on the death penalty reference against four convicts in the December 16 gang rape and murder case and directed the police to supply to offenders the necessary set of documents.
The Delhi police, which drew flak after December 16 gang rape but was redeemed by court's praise for its probe, on Friday said the verdict will be a deterrent and will uphold common man's belief in criminal justice system.
Faux feminism aside, Mardaani is mostly a middling action thriller, writes Sukanya Verma.
A third accused in the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old photojournalist was arrested on Saturday from south Mumbai even as police launched a manhunt for two others in the case, which sparked a wave of protests.
SC sought reply from Centre and Haryana over the boy's father's plea seeking CBI probe.
Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad believes governance finally on track. An exclusive chat with Rashme Sehgal.
'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?'
'I think that has alarmed them because they probably think that it is their voice in there! The idea is to go into the mind of the rapist.' Dibang, co-producer of India's Daughter, defends the documentary in this exclusive interview to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'Banning the film is an unfortunate response and does great injustice to Nirbhaya's parents, who have supported the film and to the brave young men and women who forced the government to set up the Justice Verma Commission.' Bollywood gets their voice across.
'After Rajan is back in India, our resident dons are almost down. I won't say that they are out. So, now the obvious question is about Dawood, and the present government, I think, is more than willing to address that issue.' 'I think the political system made this kind of people; the corporate world made this kind of people. I have mentioned in my book that even the banks were using these outlaws to get their money back.'
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