Lucknow, April 24: A woman teacher on Tuesday tried to set herself on fire in front of the Vidhan Sabha building here, alleging that the Principal of her school had molested her and the police was not entertaining her complaint.
The woman said that she had also gone to the 5, Kalidas Marg residence of the Chief Minister to raise the matter but she was shooed away.
She then tried to immolate herself in front of the state assembly building, which also faces the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state headquarters.
The police present there immediately rushed in and prevented the woman from setting herself afire. She had already doused herself with kerosene and was striking a match stick when the woman police personnel overpowered her.
Rashmi Vishwakarma, said she teaches at Saraswati Shishu Mandir school and her Principal Vinod Awasthi molested her and had been torturing her ever since she told him that she would lodge a complaint with the police and make the matter public. She also accused the local police of not doing anything on her complaint.
On the contrary, she alleged, the Qaiserbagh and Chowk police station officials were pressurising her to compromise and close the matter.
When she tried to torch herself, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Sahi and Social Welfare Minister Ramapati Shastri were present in the BJP office for the "Jan Sunwai" programme, where ministers of the state government listen to the problems of the people and order necessary action.
The incident came as a chilling reminder of a similar incident a few weeks back when a woman accused a BJP legislator of rape and tried to set herself on fire. Later, her father was picked up by the police and beaten to death in custody.
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Bill to provide precise definition of 'transgender' introduced in LS
New Delhi (PTI): A bill seeking to provide a precise definition of the term "transgender" and provide graded punishments that reflect the gravity of the harm inflicted upon such persons was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill was introduced by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar.
It notes that it is imperative to give a precise definition for proper and definitive identification and protection of transgender persons, to whom the benefits of the present law must reach.
The protection and benefits that are provided under the present law are vast in nature, and therefore, care has to be taken that "such identification cannot be extended based on any acquirable characteristics or personal choice or claimed self-perceived identity of an individual".
The Bill also contains provisions for "designation of an authority" which will have the option to seek "expert advice" if required.
The draft law also seeks to empower transgender persons to make consequential changes in official documents.
