SC says right to menstrual health a fundamental right; orders free sanitary pads for school girls
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday directed all states and Union Territories to ensure girl students in private and government schools are provided bio-degradable menstrual sanitary pads for free, and held that the right to menstrual health is a part of the fundamental right to life enshrined in the Constitution.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan told states and Union Territories to ensure separate toilets for female and male students in all schools. It also said all schools, irrespective of whether they are state-run or controlled, will have to provide disabled-friendly toilets.
"The right to menstrual health is part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution," the court held. It said that if private schools fail to provide these facilities, they will be de-recognised.
The bench also said that it would hold governments accountable if they too fail to provide for toilets and free sanitary pads to girls.
The top court has reserved its verdict on a PIL filed by Jaya Thakur on December 10, 2024, seeking pan-India implementation of the Union government's 'Menstrual Hygiene Policy for school-going girls' in government and government-aided schools for adolescent girls students from Classes 6 to 12.
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Four-year-old girl killed in leopard attack in UP's Bahraich village
Bahraich (UP) (PTI): A four-year-old girl was killed in a leopard attack in a village under the Katarniaghat Wildlife Division in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, officials said on Friday.
According to villagers, Anushka (4), daughter of Manoj, a resident of Mukhia Farm village under Rampurwa gram panchayat in the Nishangarha Range, was playing in the courtyard outside her house when a leopard emerged from a nearby sugarcane field and dragged her away in its jaws on Thursday evening.
Family members and villagers chased the animal after raising an alarm, following which the leopard dropped the child about 50 metres from the house and fled into the bushes near a canal, they said.
The injured girl was rushed to a hospital but she died on the way. A family member said injury marks were visible on her neck and nose.
Nishangarha Range Officer Surendra Srivastava said the girl died due to the leopard attack. A forest department team inspected the spot late at night.
He said the department provided Rs 10,000 as immediate financial assistance to the bereaved family for the last rites. Patrolling has been intensified in the area, with four teams deployed for continuous monitoring and villagers being sensitised.
Police have sent the body for post-mortem examination.
