Madhya Pradesh: Minor girls paraded naked in village to please rain god; NCPCR seeks report
Damoh (MP), Sep 6: At least six minor girls were paraded naked in a village in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district as part of a ritual to please the rain god and get relief from the drought-like situation, officials said on Monday.
Taking cognisance, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also sought a report from the Damoh district administration about this incident which occurred on Sunday at Baniya village under the Jabera police station area, about 50 km from the Damoh district headquarter, in the Bundelkhand region.
A district official said a response will be submitted to the NCPCR.
Damoh superintendent of police (SP) DR Teniwar said the police received the information that some young girls were paraded naked to appease the God of rains as part of local practice and prevailing social evils.
Police are investigating this incident. Action will be taken if it is found that girls were forced to go naked, he said, adding villagers believe that this practice may result in rain.
According to beliefs, young girls are made to walk naked with a wooden shaft rested on their shoulders with a frog tied to it. Women accompanying these girls sing bhajans to praise the rain god, he said.
Damoh collector S Krishna Chaitanya said the local administration will submit a report in this regard to the NCPCR.
He said the parents of these girls are also involved in this incident and they will be made aware of such superstitious practices.
The district collector said none of the villagers complained about this 'ritual'.
"In such cases, the administration can only make the villagers aware about the futility of such superstition and make them understand that such practices don't yield desired results," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, two videos of the incident have surfaced.
In one of the video clips, girls (looking aged around 5 years) without clothes are seen walking side by side with a wooden shaft resting on their shoulders with a frog tied to it. A group of women singing bhajans follows the procession.
In another video, some women can be heard saying that this ritual was being performed as the paddy crop is drying in the absence of rains.
We believe that this will bring in rains, they can be heard telling the person who recorded the incident.
These women said they will collect raw food grain from villagers during this procession and then cook food for 'bhandara' (group feast) at a local temple.
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Allahabad HC sets aside maintenance order in favour of earning wife, says she didn't tell truth
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has set aside a lower court order mandating a man to pay maintenance to his estranged wife, observing that she earns her living and did not reveal the true salary in her affidavit.
Justice Madan Pal Singh also allowed a criminal revision petition filed by the man, Ankit Saha.
"A perusal of the impugned judgment indicates that in the affidavit filed before the trial court, the opposite party herself admitted that she is a post-graduate and a web designer by qualification. She is working as a senior sales coordinator in a company and getting a salary of Rs 34,000 per month," the court said in the December 3 order.
"But in her cross-examination, she has admitted that she was earning Rs 36,000 per month. Such an amount for a wife who has no other liability cannot be said to be meagre; whereas the man has the responsibility of maintaining his aged parents and other social obligations," it observed.
The high court observed that the woman was not entitled to get any maintenance from her husband "as she is an earning lady and able to maintain herself".
The man's counsel argued in court that the estranged wife did not reveal the whole truth in the affidavit.
"She claimed herself to be an illiterate and unemployed woman. When the document filed by the man was shown to her before the trial court, she admitted her income during cross-examination. Thus, it is clear that she did not come before the trial court with clean hands," the counsel submitted.
The court, in its order, said, "Cases of those litigants who have no regard for the truth and those who indulge in suppressing material facts need to be thrown out of the court."
It impugned the lower court's February 17 judgment and order, passed by the principal judge of a family court in Gautam Buddh Nagar and allowed the criminal revision petition filed by the man.
