Mahasweta Devi demands action on women lynchings

By Indo Asian News Service | IANS India Private Limited – Thu 18 Oct, 2012

Kolkata, Oct 18 (IANS) In the wake of the lynching of three women in West Bengal after branding them as witches, eminent writer Mahasweta Devi Thursday called upon senior police officers here to do justice and take steps to stop such 'barbaric incidents'.

"It seems we are still living in the dark ages. How can people think of such things when science has made so much progress? I do not have words to condemn the barbaric incident," Mahasweta Devi told IANS.

"I today (Thursday) called up Naparajita Maukherjee (Inspector General of Police) and the Superintendent of Police (Sunil Chowdhury, West Midnapore) asking them to look into the matter and do justice," said the Ramon Magsaysay awardee.

"Such barbaric incident should never recur," she added.

Three women were branded as witches and lynched by villagers Tuesday in Daspur in West Midnapore district, some 100 km from here.

According to the police, the problem started Tuesday night, when the villagers of tribal-dominated Dubrajpur Village in Daspur identified three women - Phulmani Singh, her daughter Sombari alias Titli and her daughter-in-law Risha - as witches and asked them to leave the village.

Following their refusal to leave, a kangaroo court held them responsible for bringing in bad luck and misery to the village. The court declared them as witches and ordered they be lynched for the safety of the village, police said.

The police have arrested seven people so far for the incident.

Autos »

  • Scenes from the 2013 Paris Air Show

    Scenes from the 2013 Paris Air Show

    2 hours 0 minutes ago
    Scenes from the 2013 Paris Air Show

    Take a look at the scenes from the 50th International Paris Air Show, 2013. It is considered as the world's largest aviation and space industry show, and takes place at Le Bourget airport June 17-23.

  • Now, a battery-powered flying bicycle

    Now, a battery-powered flying bicycle

    Fri 14 Jun, 2013
    Now, a battery-powered flying bicycle

    Three Czech companies have teamed up to make a prototype of an electric bicycle that successfully took off Wednesday inside an exhibition hall in Prague and landed safely after a five-minute flight. The amazing machine is currently controlled remotely while in development but its designers hope to have it capable of carrying people soon.

  • The Rs 17 crore palace on wheels

    The Rs 17 crore palace on wheels

    Fri 14 Jun, 2013
    The Rs 17 crore palace on wheels

    The world's most expensive mobile home has gone on sale in Dubai for £2 million, approximately INR 17 crores.

    The humongous, 40-foot-long eleMMent Palazzo from Austrian company Marchi Mobile is covered with gold and comes with a ton of luxury features, including a 40-inch flat screen, a pop-up cocktail lounge, a fireplace, a master bedroom, and underfloor heating.

    The moving mansion can even clean itself. "... the vehicle has been a hit among oil-rich Arab Sheikhs - the state-of-the-art homes even wash themselves after a day's driving through the Middle Eastern desert," the Daily Mail reports.

    But the amazing vehicle could also cater to any multi-millionaire or global superstar on the road. It's also available in white (shown here).

Flashback 2012 »

  • Narendra Modi

    Narendra Modi

    Yahoo! India News - Fri 23 Nov, 2012
    Narendra Modi

    From shaking up the very foundations of the Indian government to stirring up unseemly controversies, from showing incredible courage in the face of extreme adversities to losing a reputation built over years of hard work in just a blink of an eye, from setting the electoral hustings afire with golden speeches to getting into trouble for not speaking at all, there were many 'newsmakers' in 2012 who caught the common man's imagination. Some made it for stellar reasons, others for all there is wrong with the society. Here are 12 'newsmakers' that deserve a mention.

  • Arvind Kejriwal

    Yahoo! India News - Fri 23 Nov, 2012

    From shaking up the very foundations of the Indian government to stirring up unseemly controversies, from showing incredible courage in the face of extreme adversities to losing a reputation built over years of hard work in just a blink of an eye, from setting the electoral hustings afire with golden speeches to getting into trouble for not speaking at all, there were many 'newsmakers' in 2012 who caught the common man's imagination. Some made it for stellar reasons, others for all there is wrong with the society. Here are 12 'newsmakers' that deserve a mention.

  • Malala Yousafzai

    Malala Yousafzai

    Yahoo! India News - Fri 23 Nov, 2012
    Malala Yousafzai

    From shaking up the very foundations of the Indian government to stirring up unseemly controversies, from showing incredible courage in the face of extreme adversities to losing a reputation built over years of hard work in just a blink of an eye, from setting the electoral hustings afire with golden speeches to getting into trouble for not speaking at all, there were many 'newsmakers' in 2012 who caught the common man's imagination. Some made it for stellar reasons, others for all there is wrong with the society. Here are 12 'newsmakers' that deserve a mention.

Most Popular »

  • 50 people washed away as heavy rains lash Uttarakhand

    Dehradun, June 17 (IANS) Over 10 people are feared dead and 50 were washed away as heavy rains continued to lash Uttarakhand Monday, officials said. …

  • Venkaiah Naidu asks Nitish not to poke his nose into BJP's internal matters

    Chennai, June 17 (ANI): Taking potshots at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after he accused the saffron brigade of 'betraying and cornering' its senior elders in an oblique reference to the sidelining of Lal Krishna Advani, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said every party should take care of its own outfit and not poke its nose into other parties. …

  • Rebuilding Infosys will take 3 years, says Murthy

    Bangalore, June 15 -- It will take at least three years to rebuild Infosys, newly reappointed executive chairman NR Narayana Murthy told the company's annual general meeting in Bangalore on Saturday shortly after being formally elected a director of the company. On June 1, Infosys had dramatically announced that Murthy, who had retired two years ago, would once again lead the company that had fallen behind its peers on growth and other metrics."The challenge is daunting and the task is tough. …

  • UPA will get a third term: PM

    New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said he is confident that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will get a third term. …

  • Nitish clarifies as BJP releases an old video of him praising Modi

    Patna, June 17 (ANI): Reacting to the BJP releasing his 2003 speech in which he praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as a leader with a future outside the state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the speech was made as a railway minister and should not be taken as a political speech. …

  • Modi's role in NDA's shrinkage not surprising

    An old joke about surgery - the operation is successful, but the patient is dead - can be applied to the latest rumpus in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party managed to push Narendra Modi some distance towards his coveted goal of being the prime ministerial candidate. But, in the process, the party itself and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by it have taken a number of crippling blows. …

  • RAW founder B Raman passes away in Chennai battling cancer

    Chennai, June 17 (ANI): One of India's foremost security experts and one of the founders of India's external intelligence wing-the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Bahukutumbi Raman passed away in Chennai on Sunday evening after a prolonged fight with cancer. He was 77. …

More »

Related Videos

Loading...