Blog@GraceJunction

It’s official! India has added one more dubious distinction to its “shining” cap. In a study conducted by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) where they compiled data from 22 countries which included Australia, Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Japan, Canada, England and Wales, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Srilanka, India has been declared as the ‘murder capital’ of the world!

According to the NCRB report, in 2007 – 08, there were 32,719 incidents of murder recorded in India, which is three times more than its neighbor Pakistan and double the figures in the United States.

Did it catch us by surprise? I don’t think so. The media is peppered with news of gruesome murders every single day. Grover, Aarushi cases are still fresh in our minds. Many other cases go unnoticed. As per the study, India witnessed an average of 90 murders per day! This means that as every hour passes, around four people are murdered in India! A very high number by any standards! (more…)

Is that all that a life can be valued at? Just Rs 2.25 lakhs?

That was the question which came to my mind over and over again after I read about an incident which happened in Delhi High Court recently.

A story was told about a man named Shambu who hails from Madhubani district in Bihar, who after a silly quarrel with his father Kailash Chaudhary left his home and traveled 1000 km to Delhi to become a vegetable vendor. He was the only son of his father.

On that tragic night of September 26, 1999, as Shambu was sleeping in West Patel Nagar in Delhi, the building collapsed and he died under a pile of brick and mortar. Forensic reports of samples taken from the building debris found that a disproportionate ratio of cement, gravel and sand had been used. A probe by the Special Crime Cell of the Delhi Police ended with a sessions court charging the builders under Section 304 A (death caused by negligence) in August, 2003. (more…)

The title caught my sleepy eye’s attention early morning as I was on the train from Mumbai. “My sins have been cleansed: Nalini”. Three consecutive ‘less-sleep’ nights and long days of work were taking a toll on me physically but I just could not quell my curiosity after seeing the title. I just waited for my co-passenger to finish reading the newspaper so that I can get a hold of it.

As I went through the article, I understood that it was about the visit which Ms. Priyanka Vadra (D/o late Indian Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi) paid to Ms. Nalini who is serving a life term for involvement in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. (more…)