All posts tagged: women's rights

Supreme Court cancels bail to accused, cautions courts against taking crimes against women lightly

Supreme Court cancels bail to accused, cautions courts against taking crimes against women lightly

The Supreme Court has cancelled the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to a man accused in a dowry death case from Uttar Pradesh, terming the relief “not sustainable in law” and cautioning courts against taking crimes against women “very lightly”.  A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi allowed the appeal filed by the father of the deceased woman and directed the accused husband to surrender before jail authorities within one week, failing which coercive steps may be taken. The case relates to the death of a woman, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her matrimonial home in Ghaziabad on July 11, 2024, within seven years of her marriage solemnised in February 2019. An FIR lodged by the deceased’s father alleged that despite spending over Rs 30 lakh at the time of marriage, including an i20 car, cash, jewellery and household articles, the husband and his family continued demanding an SUV and an additional Rs 10 lakh as dowry. Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, …

Elnaaz Norouzi: In a free Iran, I will return home when women can have a voice

Elnaaz Norouzi: In a free Iran, I will return home when women can have a voice

Amid the growing unrest, Iranian-German, Elnaaz Norouzi believes the ability to speak freely is something women must value and protect, especially at a time when many across the world are still fighting for that basic right. Reflecting on the significance of Women’s Day, the actor says women living in countries that allow freedom of speech must recognise the responsibility that comes with it. Elnaaz Norouzi: In a free Iran, I will return home when women can have a voice “I think the one thing that’s really important as a woman nowadays is the fact that we live in times where, in most countries, and especially in the country that we live in right now, we have a voice,” she says. “And we can use our voice, and that is something we shouldn’t take lightly. For years and years, and even today in many countries, women are literally fighting to have a voice and to be able to say what they stand for. So when you live in a country like India where there’s freedom of …

Women employees entitled to maternity leave for third pregnancy too, reiterates Madras High Court

Women employees entitled to maternity leave for third pregnancy too, reiterates Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has reiterated that women employees cannot be denied maternity leave even during third pregnancy and directed the Chief Secretary to circulate its order among all heads of departments in the State government so that they adhere to it scrupulously in future. The High Court’s second Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and Shamim Ahmed expressed dismay over the officials continuing to deny maternity leave for third confinement despite multiple orders passed by the High Court in favour of grant of such benefit to women employees. The judges found that even the Registrar (Management) of the High Court had denied maternity leave to court employee P. Mangaiyarkkarasi though the official was informed that the High Court had in a similar case ordered grant of such a benefit during third pregnancy too. The Division Bench directed the Registrar General of the High Court also to circulate a copy of their order to all the judicial officers who were the heads of the units in the district judiciary throughout the State for strict …

Iran’s crisis is not for the West to resolve

Iran’s crisis is not for the West to resolve

West Asia seems headed for another round of crisis and uncertainty as Tehran threatens to crush street protests against the government over rising unemployment and inflation. Unconfirmed reports — the regime has enforced an internet blackout — estimate that over a hundred people have been killed in police action since people started mobilising on the streets beginning late December. What can further complicate the situation is any US intervention; Washington has long seen the Islamic Republic as an ideological foe and a threat to its interests in the region. President Donald Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” Tehran has already sought to malign the protests as instigated by the US and Israel, both countries that bombed Iran last year during the war in Gaza. Any military intervention by the US or its allies has the potential to change the discourse in Iran and intensify action by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Washington’s attempt to appropriate the dissent in Iran has …

Bihar Man Arrested For Marrying 3 Times In 3 Years, Cites Mother’s Health As Excuse | India News

Bihar Man Arrested For Marrying 3 Times In 3 Years, Cites Mother’s Health As Excuse | India News

Last Updated:December 26, 2025, 16:16 IST Pintu Barnwal from Bihar was arrested after his wives accused him of dowry harassment and marrying three women in three years without divorcing any of them The second wife claimed she had been misled into the marriage and kept in the dark about Pintu’s first wedding. (Representative Image) A bizarre case of alleged ‘serial marriage’ has surfaced from Bihar, where a man is accused of marrying three women in as many years without divorcing any of them. The matter came to light after his first and second wives lodged a joint complaint with the police, leading to his arrest. Police said the accused, identified as Pintu Barnwal, married his first wife Khushboo Kumari in December 2022. In her statement, Khushboo alleged that her family paid Rs 3 lakh in cash along with jewellery at the time of the wedding, yet she was subjected to harassment and physical assault for additional dowry before being thrown out of the house. Khushboo later learnt that Pintu had married a second time in …

‘Wouldn’t touch your new Harry Potter’: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan rips JK Rowling over UK trans ruling celebration | Web-series News

‘Wouldn’t touch your new Harry Potter’: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan rips JK Rowling over UK trans ruling celebration | Web-series News

Earlier this week, the UK Supreme Court ruling caused a lot of drama after it decided that when the law talks about a “woman,” it means someone who was born female (biological sex). According to the court, trans women (who were not born female but identify as women) aren’t legally recognised as women under certain laws. Many celebrities have voiced their frustration over the ruling, and Bridgerton’s Lady Whistledown is one of them. Nicola Coughlan, who was earlier in the running for the new Harry Potter role, pretty much shut that door herself after blasting author J.K. Rowling in a scathing Instagram post. After the court’s decision, Rowling celebrated the idea on social media, claiming the win protected women and girls across the country. Later that day, Coughlan shared a post from The Cut, which came with the headline “This Is a New Low for J.K. Rowling.” On top of that, she wrote, “Keep your new Harry Potter lads, wouldn’t touch [the series] with a ten-foot pole,” referring to the upcoming HBO series which will be …

Sakshi Malik’s Witness shows us the insecure life of elite athletes and the murky world of Indian sport | Books and Literature News

Sakshi Malik’s Witness shows us the insecure life of elite athletes and the murky world of Indian sport | Books and Literature News

“I’ve never enjoyed the actual act of confrontation,” writes Sakshi Malik. She goes on to describe her life that is littered with confrontations. Her countless bouts on the wrestling mat. The fights with her family to marry long-time partner Satyawart Kadian. Challenging the patriarchal set-up. Grappling with her fears. And, of course, taking on the establishment in her battle for justice. Sports autobiographies, especially the Indian ones, often fall into a familiar trap: the authors — the athletes themselves — being reluctant to delve into any grey areas of their personalities or careers. The goody-goody representation and controlled narrative may still provide some fascinating, previously unknown tidbits. But they don’t always give an honest, 360-degree view of what they actually are and think. Malik’s Witness — co-authored with award-winning sports journalist Jonathan Selvaraj — provides a breath of fresh air by breaking away from the usual tropes. It isn’t as candid as, say Andre Agassi’s Open (2009) — one of the benchmarks of bare-it-all storytelling — but it still is brutally honest. In her memoir, …

Dismay in Kamala Harris’s ancestral village after she loses prez polls | Latest News India

Dismay in Kamala Harris’s ancestral village after she loses prez polls | Latest News India

Nov 07, 2024 04:10 AM IST Residents of Thulasendrapuram, Kamala Harris’s ancestral village, express pride in her achievements despite her loss, hoping for US-India friendly relations. Chennai There was dismay on Wednesday among the residents of Thulasendrapuram in Tamil Nadu, the ancestral village of US Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to her Republican rival Donald Trump. A Kamala Harris banner was put up in Thulasendrapuram village, Tamil Nadu before the polls. (HT) “She championed women’s rights. Her victory would have made her a role model for women in high office,” said S Arulmozhi, a DMK councillor. The village in Painganadu, Tiruvarur district, had conducted special prayers at the Dharmasastha temple on November 5. “We had planned elaborate celebrations,” said J Sudhakar, a resident. “The plans included bursting crackers, distributing sweets, putting up banners across the village, conducting another special prayer and organising a community feast.” Also Read | Trump’s win sparks celebrations in Andhra Pradesh, ancestral home of next second lady Despite the loss, villagers said they were proud of Harris’s achievements. “Our village …

Arundhati Roy’s first memoir ‘Mother Mary Comes to Me’ to release in September 2025 | Books and Literature News

Booker-winning writer Arundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, “Mother Mary Comes to Me”, will hit the stands in September next year, publisher Penguin Random House announced on Friday. The book is a soaring account, both intimate and inspiring, of how the author became the person she is, shaped by circumstance, but, above all, by her complex relationship to the extraordinary, singular mother she describes as “my shelter and my storm”. Her latest writing is borne out of her response to the death of her mother and women’s rights activist Mary Roy in September 2022. “I have been writing this book all my life. Perhaps a mother like mine deserved a writer like me as a daughter. Equally, perhaps a writer like me deserved a mother like her. Even more than a daughter mourning the passing of her mother, I mourn her as a writer who has lost her most enthralling subject. “It’s not easy for me to think of this story being out in this world, at this time, but I am reassured by the …

Justice Hima Kohli Looks Back On Challenges Women Face In Legal Profession

Justice Hima Kohli (retired) has been known as a tough judge. New Delhi: Justice Hima Kohli (retired), who has always been vocal about women’s rights and is considered a tough judge, recently retired from the Supreme Court. In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Justice Kohli spoke on a range of issues from her long experience in the legal profession. “Women judges need to be tougher because they face more difficulties in the judiciary. It was very difficult to become a woman judge back in the 1980s. Women also face many difficulties in advocacy,” Justice Kohli told NDTV. She was the ninth woman judge in the history of the Supreme Court, and the first woman judge in the Delhi High Court. Justice Kohli has been known as a tough judge, and has been part of many historic decisions, with a focus on women’s rights. Explaining some of the difficulties that women face, Justice Kohli said first and foremost they have to take care of family and children. “Why should only women judges run family courts, child …