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A poem on the man who worships many goddesses, but proves his masculinity by beating his wife
Guest Blogger Meera Srikant is a professional freelance writer and manuscript editor, having contributed for various newspapers, for business magazine The Smart CEO and with one published novel, Written in the Stars, to her credit. She blogs regularly at http://www.meera-lastingimpressions.blogspot.com in English, and www.valadukaal.blogspot.com in Tamil.
He touches his mother’s feet When he wakes up in the morning He walks to the river for a bath Believing she washes away his sins He touches the ground he walks on Seeking forgiveness of Mother Earth He worships Goddess Lakshmi So she may stay with him forever He chants the name of Saraswathi So she may give him knowledge He prays to Ma Durga So she may give him strength He reaps the harvest Hailing the name of Annapurna He beats his wife at home So he may know he is strong He rapes an innocent woman To prove he is a man He kills his daughter at birth Hoping for a son to carry his name He is a beast in the garb of man Fooling the world, with two faces One that worships the powerful goddess The other that beheads the “weaker sex”.
Pic of Goddess Durga at a Kolkata Puja; credit Arindam TTB (Used under a creative commons license)
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If you want to get back to work after a break, here’s the ultimate guide to return to work programs in India from tech, finance or health sectors - for women just like you!
Last week, I was having a conversation with a friend related to personal financial planning and she shared how she had had fleeting thoughts about joining work but she was apprehensive to take the plunge. She was unaware of return to work programs available in India.
She had taken a 3-year long career break due to child care and the disconnect from the job arena that she spoke about is something several women in the same situation will relate to.
More often than not, women take a break from their careers to devote time to their kids because we still do not have a strong eco-system in place that can support new mothers, even though things are gradually changing on this front.
No law in the country recognises enabling the rapist to walk free after marrying the survivor. However, in reality, it is something that families and communities often push for.
In the same week where the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 11 May, saw a split decision on the constitutionality of the marital rape exception, another equally reactionary decision was handed by a divisional bench of the Supreme Court when they set aside the conviction and sentence of a man who had repeatedly raped his 14 year old niece
The facts of the case are simple. The accused, K Dhandapani, enticed his 14 year old niece with the promise of marriage and raped her several times. The family came to know of the offence when the girl became pregnant, and a case was lodged against him under the Protection of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. After trying his case, in 2018, the Sessions Court found him guilty on all three counts, and convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. The accused appealed to the Madras High Court which upheld the conviction and the sentence in 2019.
The girl gave birth in 2017, before the case came up in court. Despite the pending case against him, he continued to have sexual relations with the girl, and she gave birth to her second child at the age of 17.