ObserverVolume 14 | Issue 8 Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The Weekly

Abused women cannot have their day in Karnataka's courts

Just four per cent of the

3276 cases of domestic

violence filed in Kar-

nataka last year resulted

in convictions, according

to the National Crime

Records Bureau.

Statistics from the bureau

also show that of the

118,866 cases of domestic

violence filed last year in

India, only 16% resulted in

convictions.

Helpline co-ordinators in

Bangalore have also stated

that thirty percent of do-

mestic violence cases regis-

tered with them are also

found to be false. Between

April 2013 and March 2014,

1010 cases of violence

against women have been

reported with Vanitha Sahaya

Vani, a womens’ helpline in

Bangalore.

As of July 2014, just 82

cases of violence against

women had been prosecut-

ed.

Of the 21,669 dowry ha-

rassment cases filed from

January 2011 to August 2013

in Bangalore, 7,220 cases

were proved to be false. Of

the remaining 14,449 cases,

some are still being investi-

gated and charge sheets are

yet to be filed in others.

“We receive several do-

mestic violence related calls

every day, most of which

pertain to dowry harassment.

Out of the 92 dowry ha-

rassment cases in November

2013, only 20 were found

to be true,” said Dipa, a

Woman Police Constable in

Bangalore.

The IPC 498A is a crim-

inal law, whereby the offence

is 'cognizable, non-com-

poundable and non-bailable'.

The perpetrator can be pun-

ished for a term which may

extend to three years. More-

over he shall be liable to

pay a fine.

Rathi (name changed), a

private counselor, said: “Sec-

tion 498A is a very important

weapon for women. Ego

clashes in working couples

often lead to false complaints

being filed under the sec-

tion.”

She added, “At times,

women are not in favor of

living in joint families. They

also want their husbands to

contribute money towards

her family. If the husband

refuses, the wife often files

a 498A case against him.

(Continued on Page 3)

Raya Ghosh

Dr.Sujata, Counselor of

Vanitha Sahaya Vani,

The operations director

of a foundation at the

centre of the Bangalore

mid-day meals scare

claims his company fol-

lowed all safety rules.

Fifty children ate con-

taminated food and 300

pupils in total were rushed

to hospital last Friday after

a lizard was found in school

food served under the na-

tional scheme.

Prashanth Kumar, Man-

ager of Operations, Akshay

Patra Foundation, claimed

that the same batch of food

was sent to many schools

yet there were no reports

of ill health at any other

school.

He said: “We have deliv-

ered the same food to 21

government schools in the

vicinity. We haven’t received

any complaints from them.”

Vinay Kumar, General

Manager of Operations at

the NGO, said that there

was almost zero chance of

the lizard slipping in during

transport because the school

is 12 kilometers away and

the lids are sealed tight. “We

are delivering since 12 years.

This has never happened

before. The lizard must have

fallen from the wall while

serving food,” he said.

Zareena Khanam, prin-

cipal of Gorvernment Urdu

Model Primary School, said

that they found the dead

lizard after serving about

three quarters of the rice.

“The lizard probably got in

during packing of the food,”

she added.

Shahnaz Unnisa, a

teacher at the school for

three years, said, “Around

10 children stopped coming

after this incident as the

parents are scared of sending

them. Most of these children

come to school for these

meals because this is the

only proper meal they get.

They loved this food.”

Vinay said, “We have

not sent food to the primary

school after Friday because

many children are not staying

back for lunch, but are going

home as their parents are

scared.” He said that the

higher secondary students

are still eating food from

their kitchen.

There were seven vessels

of food, and the rice with

the lizard was served to

around 50 children. 300 chil-

dren were hospitalized as a

precaution. Syeda Asiya Jee-

lani, 40, and Syeda Tabassum

Khatoon, 33, were serving

the food.

BBMP High School, in

Pillana Garden, has the food

from the same kitchen.

Chandra Naik, principal of

the school said that they

have not faced any problems

with the food.

Zeenat Parbeen, mother

of four, all of whom were

hospitalized, said that this

has never happened before.

“All my children were ad-

mitted, but they got dis-

charged in a day.”

‘Our food was safe’ claim mid-day meals NGO managersShruti Suresh

Soumya Chatterjee

Samreen Tungekar

Zareena Khanam

Pupils at Government Urdu Model Primary School

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 23, 20142

Right before Narendra

Modi’s visit to Bangalore,

the route from the Old

Airport Road to Raj

Bhawan was completely

renovated.

While several complaints

regarding potholes and

garbage on Old Airport

Road have been ignored by

the BBMP for years, the en-

tire process of renovation

took just three days in the

run-up to Narendra Modi’s

visit to Bangalore.

Street vendors in the area

were also instructed to stay

clear of the road during the

time Modi’s fleet passed the

area to reach Raj Bhawan.

A vendor from Mu-

rugesh Paliya said, "We were

given a circular that we

should clear the road as

Narendra Modi passes. We

were asked to park our stalls

down the road. Afterwards,

we can get back to our usual

business."

Dickenson Road was

cleaned and garbage was re-

moved this morning.

A police officer on

duty,Naveen, said, "The

cleaning process was going

on in Dickenson Road. We

have cleared the garbage

that was strewn along the

pavement."

The renovation began on

Friday night and is being

done by RNS Infrastructure

Limited on a contract with

the BBMP.

Janardhan Reddy, super-

vising the entire process,

said: “The construction is

done during the night. A

fresh coat of tar was done

in three days and the painting

of the footpath is still on.

Before Murugesh Paliya, we

were working near HAL po-

lice station.”

He added, "I don't have

any idea regarding how

much funds were allocated

for this work.."

While commuters appre-

ciated the work done, many

Bangloreans tweeted about

civic irresponsibility on

BBMP’s part and con-

demned the system of fixing

roads only when a VIP is

visiting.

Venu Gopal from Ac-

centure tweeted last night,

“Potholes on Old Airport

Road to Raj Bhavan are cov-

ered up for Modi's visit. Mr.

Modi, please visit my locality

too.”

This is Modi’s first visit

to the state after becoming

Prime Minister. He is going

to visit ISRO near Peenya

to witness the entry of Mars

Orbiter Mission on Septem-

ber 24. He will also be in-

augurating the Integrated

Food Park in Tumkur right

after arriving today.

Pulaha Roy

Saheli Sen Gupta

Modi-fied for PM’s visit

Govt's cancelled projects leave Nelamangala residents without drinking water

Due to repeated failures

of government projects

to take off, the residents

of Nelamangala near

Bangalore are supplied

only borewell water..

“Everyone here drinks

mineral water. You can’t

drink the borewell water

that is supplied,” said Chikka,

a local bakery owner. Dr.

M Jayaprasad, ENT surgeon

and director of JP hospital

in Nelamangala said that

borewell water contained

high percentages of dis-

solved salts and he often

gets cases which could be

caused by its consumption.

“Hypertension and kidney

stones can be caused by

consuming this water, but

most of the people don’t

consume it.” On being asked

whether poor people were

forced to consume the

borewell water, he admitted

that it was a possibility.

A doctor at the Primary

Health Centre in Nelaman-

gala, who is in charge of

doing the MRI scans, said

that a few cases of kidney

stones had been detected.

There have been many

proposals by government

bodies in the last 10-15 years

to ensure supply of surface

water to the town, but all

have been scrapped due to

various reasons, according

to a document. A BWSSB

project planned to transport

water from Bangalore, but

was scrapped later. Another

project involved transporting

water to Nelamangala and

90 other villages from Kun-

nigal kere, a lake, forty kilo-

meters away from Nelaman-

gala. However, this project

didn’t take off because the

cost of the project which is

110 crore, wasn’t sanctioned.

One proposed project

was supposed to provide

surface water to Nelaman-

gala and en route villages

from Hemavathy canal,

which is at a distance of 64

kilometers from Nelaman-

gala. This project was pro-

posed two years ago. How-

ever, the project has hit ma-

jor roadblocks, according to

Ravi B, the Junior Engineer

of water supply department

for Nelamangala. He said,

“We sent the project to Ban-

galore Urban Water Supply

Board(BUWSB), for ap-

proval, and it has been with

them ever since. It is a 24

crore project, only for Nela-

mangala.” He said that the

main reason for the delay

was the inability to acquire

land needed for the project.

He also said that the project

might not get approval.

Nelamangala has a pop-

ulation of 37,232 according

to the 2011 census. As per

the govt website www.nela-

mangalatown.gov.in/, the

main activity of the town is

manufacture of silk cloths

by using power looms and

various small scale and large

scale industries are also set

up in the area.

Laxmigowda Nityananda

Anand, Deputy Chief En-

gineer of the water board

for Bangalore, stressed on

the importance of Nela-

mangala. He said: “Nela-

mangala has had water short-

age since twenty years. It is

an important town for Ban-

galore as it is a potential

satellite town. Yet it does

not get surface water. The

main reason for this is the

lack of water bodies near

the town.”

Elaborating on Nelaman-

gala’s importance, Anand

said, “Since there is no land

available in Bangalore, gov-

ernment can develop indus-

tries in the nearby areas.

Bidadi is one such area which

was successfully developed..”

Regarding the project that

Ravi talked about, Anand

said, “The cost of the project

is too much considering the

population here.. The per

capita cost is not justified,

and so it is difficult for this

project to get approval..”

Tushar Kaushik

Workers on Old Airport Road before Modi’s arrival

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 23, 20143

Getting blood from a stoneCustomers demand refunds from online ‘scam’ site

An online shopper who

thought he was buying a

computer tablet claims

he opened up the box to

find he had purchased a

heavy stone.

The�website,�100bestbuy,

has� 30� complaints� every

month�to�various�consumer

forums�across�India.

Almost�all�of �them�were

victims�of �“contests”�held

by�the�shopping�site.

On� June� 24,� Pan-

chanathan� from�Bangalore

took�part� in� a� contest.�He

paid�Rs.�699� to�participate

and� the� prize� was� a� Sony

Xperia�phone.�The�site�then

asked� him� to� pay� Rs.� 12,

999�more� to� get� a� combo

gift�of �an�HCL�Tablet�and

a�Polo�Watch,� and� he�was

assured�that�50�per�cent�of

the� money� would� be� re-

turned�via�credit�points.

He� did� not� receive� the

products� in� the� stated� 10

day�time�limit,�sent�several

mails�to�the�site�but�got�no

reply.� He� said,� “I� went� to

their� office� later� and� they

said� the� product� is� out� of

stock.�They�were�supposed

to�deliver�it�to�me�once�the

stock� got� refilled.�Or� else,

my� money� was� to� be� re-

funded.”

Paanchanathan� added,

“The�customer�care�initially

neither�picked�up�my�calls

nor� talked� politely.� When

they�spoke�to�me,�they�said

the� initial� payment� of � Rs.

699�was�meant�only�for�par-

ticipating�in�the�contest.”

On�July12,�he�received�a

courier� from� 100bestbuy.

But� the�parcel�contained�a

heavy�stone�instead�of �the

tablet,� packed� inside� the

original� packaging� for� the

tablet.�There�was�no�watch.

He�went� to� their�office

again�with� pictures� of � the

parcel.�When�he�threatened

to� file� a� police� complaint,

the�site�promised�to�return

him� 13,698� credit� points

and�asked�him�to�buy�some-

thing�else�instead.�

“I�bought�a�pair�of �shoes

and�a�very�low�quality�tablet

with� the� credit� points.� It

was�a�horrible�experience.�I

never� want� to� shop� from

this�site�anymore,”�he�said.

Other�customers�too�par-

ticipated�in�the�same�contest.

After� paying� the� amount,

they� were� either� called� or

mailed� and� asked� to� pay

more�in�order�to�win�combo

gifts� like� Lenovo� mobiles,

wrist�watches�and�tablets.�

The� customers� claimed

that� the� site� promised� to

give� 100� percent� credit

points�of � the�extra�money

spent�by�them.�They�said�if

they�didn’t�want�to�partici-

pate�in�the�contest�and�want-

ed� their� prize,� they� were

kept� waiting� for� over� five

months� to� get� either� the

product�or�the�credit�points.�

“They� took� Rs.� 10,000

and�then�returned�the�money

in�the�form�of �credit�points

which�they�said�can�be�used

in� the�next�purchase.�Why

should�I�want�to�stick�around

with� a� site� that� is� nothing

but�a�sham?�I�would�simply

want�my�money�back,”�said

Vijay�Bharti,� 37,� from�Hi-

machal� Pradesh� who� paid

Rs.10,698�on�August�6,�2014.

Vijay�Bharti�took�part�in

the� same�contest� and�paid

Rs.�9,999�extra�for�a�combo

gift� of � a� � Lenovo� Mobile

and�Power�Bank.�He�claimed

that� their� combined� price

wasn’t�more�than�Rs.�5,000

on� the�market.�“I� received

the� gifts� on� September� 8,

2014� after� making� about

200�phone�calls�to�the�site

that� cost� me� at� least� Rs.

500,”�he�said.

The� company�does�not

mention�the�rules�of �credit

points�on�its�website.�When

customers� tried� to�use� the

credit� points� that� they� re-

ceived,� they� then� got� to

know�that�they�couldn’t�use

more� than� 10� percent� of

the�credit�points�at�once.

“In� order� to� use� your

credit� points� entirely� you

need� to� spend� almost� Rs.

50,000.�They�set�a�trap�for

the�customers,�forcing�them

to� stick� to� them� even� if

they�don’t�want�to.�On�top

of � that,� the� prices� are� so

high� that� even� after� using

the� credit� points,� you� feel

cheated,”�said�Mohan�Babu

from�Bangalore.�

He�paid�Rs.�12,999�for�a

mobile�and�a�camcorder�on

March� 6.� He� claimed� that

he�never�received�the�mobile

and�the�camcorder�that�was

delivered�wasn’t�functioning

properly.

“I� wanted� my� money

back� and� hence,� I� started

to�make�calls�and�send�mails.

After� six� months� I� finally

got�my�money�back� in�the

form�of �a�check,”�he�said.

A�customer�care�execu-

tive� of � 100bestbuy� denied

all� the� allegations� and

claimed� that� the� site� was

good� and� offered� smooth

delivery.�He�said:�“The�cus-

tomers�are�obviously�telling

blatant�lies.�We�haven’t�ever

cheated�nor�will�we�ever�do

it.”

The stone that was delivered to the customer

Paanchanathan, instead of the tablet he ordered

(Continued from page 1)

Women�who�find�their�hus-

bands�involved�in�illicit�re-

lationships�may� also� file� a

498A.”

Some�case� studies�were

provided� by� the� helpline.

Srikala�(name�changed)�was

involved�in�an�extra-marital

relationship.�When�her�hus-

band�started�suspecting�her,

she�filed�a�case�under�Section

498A,�which�turned�out�to

be�fake.

Another� case� study� re-

vealed� that� cases� are� filed

under� 498A� due� to� failure

of �love�marriages.�Sumalatha

(name�changed)�filed�a�case

against�her�husband�under

the�pretext�of �being�harassed

for�dowry.

“Not� all� women� are

misusing�this� law.�Most�of

them�are�physically�abused

by� their� husbands� and� in-

laws� to� death.� However

some�of �them�are�dissipating

this� law,�thereby�leading�to

disintegration�of �their�fam-

ilies,”�said�Rani�Shetty,�Co-

ordinator�of �Parihar,�Vanitha

Sahaya�Vani.

“In�case�victims�are�beat-

en�to�death,�an�FIR�can�be

filed� with� the� permission

of � the� sufferer.�But� if � the

cases�are�found�to�be�fake,

then� senior�police�officials

intervene,”� said� Bharathi,

Assistant�Sub-Inspector.

Due� to� the� decrease� in

conviction�rates,�in�July�2014,

the�Supreme�Court�directed

the�state�government�to�in-

struct� the� police� -� “not� to

automatically�arrest�when�a

case�under�Section�498A�of

IPC�is�registered�but�to�sat-

isfy� themselves� about� the

necessity� for� arrest� under

the�parameters�provided�un-

der�Section�41.”�

Sharangee Dutta

Raya Ghosh

Paanchanathan,

a customer

The Weekly Observer Tuesday, September 23, 20144

OBSERVER Team: Editor - Shalini Raja, Chief Sub Editor - Tushar Kaushik, News Editor - Samreen Tungekar, News Desk - Subash Aravindh,

Sub Editors - R. Suharika, Sameer Deshpande, Sharangee Dutta, Design Head - C.L. Ramakrishnan, Design Desk - Vignesh S.G, Picture Editors -

Saheli Sen Gupta, Ridhi Agrawal, Reporters - Shruti Suresh, Soumya Chatterjee, Proofreaders - Sreemoyee Chatterjee, Raya Ghosh

State stadium in need of funds to keep it in race

Tipu Sultan Palace a fire risk, lacks safety measures

Sri Kanteerva Outdoor

Stadium, visited by 500

people every day, dis-

plays patched running

tracks, dirty bathrooms

and has no changing

rooms for athletes.

Athletes and coaches

complained about the sta-

dium facilities. Many ath-

letes who were seen

practicing in the outdoor

stadium said that the toilets

were not maintained well.

The girls said that there

were no changing rooms.

Shilpa Sundar, an Inter-

national level long jumper

said: “I have been coming

to Kanteerva Stadium for

the past 10 years for my

practice. The development

here is stagnant. The new

running tracks have worn

out faster than the old ones.

Bathrooms here have only

become worse.” She added

that the facilities are obso-

lete and long jump pits are

improper.

Prajna Rao, a National

level short distance runner,

said, “The indoor changing

rooms are very bad. There

is a need to renovate the

stadium.”

Aiyappa, a coach at

Kanteerva Stadium said: “I

have been training children

here for more than 15 years.

There are no proper toilets

for them. The funds are not

being used properly.”

Beedu, a senior coach

said: “This stadium is open

to everyone. As against

other stadiums, Kanteerva

does not have any identity

cards issued for users.”

On highlighting the is-

sues to the Deputy Director

of the stadium,Ramesh

M.C said: “We provide a

good arena for sports peo-

ple. The stadium is given to

public and private institu-

tions for use. Wherever the

usage is more, the property

needs to be maintained,

which we are doing. Since it

is a government property,

people think they have the

right to do whatever they

want. Public should have

sense.”

According to the Direc-

tor, the maintenance of the

stadium is borne by the

State Management Com-

mittee selected by the De-

partment of Youth

Empowerment and Sports.

The revenue collected when

the stadium is given out for

activities is used for its

maintenance. The stadium

was in need of more funds.

He said that since infra-

structure needs branding,

they don’t know what can

be done with the existing

structure as renovation can-

not be done at one step.

Ramesh added, “Issues

raised by the general public

are being addressed. The

coaches have been inti-

mated to submit a list of

athletes training under them

so that identity cards can be

issued in order to enhance

the security.”

As per the latest plans

of the Department of

Youth Services and Sports,

Rs.43.30 crores will be

spent for Youth services

and sports in Karnataka

with plans to upgrade Sri

Kanteerva Sports Complex.

Girls’ bathroom in Kanteerva stadium, Bangalore

Fire extinguishers at

one of the state’s major

tourist attractions are not

maintained or inspected

regularly.

Tipu Sultan Summer

Palace is maintained by the

Archeological Survey of

India (ASI) but fire extin-

guishers have not been re-

charged and sand buckets

lie empty across the site,

which attracts 350 tourists a

month from around the

world.

The beams of the roof

are made from wood as are

the railings of stairs and

balconies.

Some fire extinguishers

at the palace displayed

safety stickers stating that

they had last been

recharged last March.

The stickers state that

they were last re-filled on

March 12, 2013. The buck-

ets, which are supposed to

contain sand for fire safety,

were empty. An attendant,

Venkatappa, said that all de-

cisions are taken by ASI cir-

cle office in Koramangala.

Sukanya, Assistant

Archeologist at ASI circle

office, said she was not

aware of the extinguishers

not being refilled regularly.

She said, “I will speak to

T.M. Keshava , Superinten-

dent Archaeologist about

this problem.”

Tipu Sultan palace is

under Chamrajpet Fire Sta-

tion. B.V. Kimappa, Head

Constable at Chamrajpet

Fire Station, said that they

can take action only when a

fire breaks out.

The entry fee for the

palace is Rs5 for locals and

Rs100 for foreigners. The

security said that approxi-

mately 350 tourists visit

every month. “There has

not been a fire recently, so

we don’t care about the re-

filling,” said Sanjay Braiya,

security head.

Tipu Sultan, known as

the Tiger of Mysore, was

ruler of Mysore State from

1782 to 1799. His reign was

highly controversial, and is

contested among historians.

Fire extinguisher

Ridhi Agarwal

Sameer Deshpande &

Soumya Chatterjee

Tipu Sultan Summer Palace, Bangalore