CRIME

V. Balakrishnan IPS, popularly known as 'Balky', is one of Chennai city's top cops. A student of Mass Communication, he understands the power of communication and the role of media thoroughly and uses the might of social media to keep the people appraised of what goes on in his precinct. Women's safety is a subject close to his heart and he sat down for a chat with Citizen Matters one afternoon, discussing various aspects of it. Q. Is the city becoming more unsafe for women? Actually, if you look at the statistics, there is no actual increase in crime against…

WOMEN’S SAFETY – A LONG WAY OFF? I was walking home from the grocery store in my neighbourhood of R.A Puram the other day, when the driver of a passing rickshaw stuck out his tongue and made an obscene gesture at me. I was stunned. For less than a second though, after which I started laughing, highly amused. I suppose I should have been offended. But it happens so often that I have learnt to ignore it and laugh at it, indirectly allowing it to persist, not just with me but with scores of other women in the city. I…

“Mistakes happen deliberately or unwittingly. Sometimes convicts may not be the real culprits. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?” asks Honnegowda, who spent 15 years in jail. Ten years post-release, he now stands as a testimony to how one can lead a dignified life even after serving life sentence. But, to what extent do society and the government support and help prisoners lead their lives post-release? For a just-released prisoner, reintegration with the world is the most important and challenging aspect. The Karnataka government may have taken a significant step by releasing 633 convicts who had served over 14 years…

“Mistakes happen deliberately or unwittingly. Sometimes convicts may not be the real culprits. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?” asks Honnegowda, who spent 15 years in jail. Ten years post-release, he now stands as a testimony to how one can lead a dignified life even after serving life sentence. But, to what extent do society and the government support and help prisoners lead their lives post-release? For a just-released prisoner, reintegration with the world is the most important and challenging aspect. The Karnataka government may have taken a significant step by releasing 633 convicts who had served over 14 years…

Lawrence, in his late 30s, is seeing the world with the curious eyes of a child. As he looks around, he wonders how the world has changed and how different it looks. “The value of money is no more the same. In 1990s, I used to spend a good whole week with just Rs 100 in the pocket. Now everyone talks in thousands and lakhs. Strange!” he exclaims. In the last 19 years of his life, Lawrence was completely cut off from society — he had spent nearly two decades of his life languishing behind bars. Convicted in a murder…

Lawrence, in his late 30s, is seeing the world with the curious eyes of a child. As he looks around, he wonders how the world has changed and how different it looks. “The value of money is no more the same. In 1990s, I used to spend a good whole week with just Rs 100 in the pocket. Now everyone talks in thousands and lakhs. Strange!” he exclaims. In the last 19 years of his life, Lawrence was completely cut off from society — he had spent nearly two decades of his life languishing behind bars. Convicted in a murder…

Prakash Belawadi, an actor and a theatre personality, had the shock of his life when a caller posing as a bank officer asked his wife for the One Time Password (OTP). Belawadi happened to reveal it to her without thinking. It was too late when he realised that his wife had unintentionally communicated to it to the person at the other end of the phone. The result: money to the tune of Rs 90,000 was billed to his credit card. A screengrab from an animation by the Federal Trade Commission intended to educate citizens about phishing tactics. Pic: Wikimedia Commons…

If you are a women, the chances are that you have been at the receiving end of sexual harassment in some form or the other; being groped on a moving bus or being catcalled at, or even being made to listen to sexist jokes. Unfortunately, what happens in most cases is that women accept it as a sad reality of living in India. And unless the assualt is severe, very few women actually come forward to report it to the police. According to Amnesty International, only 1 in every 100 women reports sexual violence. Pic: readytoreport.in/WhenIFileAnFIR To empower women to…

Legislators from the ruling Congress have submitted a petition in the Assembly to remove Upalokayukta Justice Adi, on charges of overstepping jurisdiction. Meanwhile a group of citizens have written to the Chief Minister opposing the move. The Assembly also admitted a motion to impeach Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao. Upalokayukta Justice Adi addressing the press at Kaikondrahalli lake that he visited in 2013. Respected Chief Minister Shri Siddharamaiah, We, the citizens of Bangalore request your kind attention and intervention in the case related to the motion initiated in the State Assembly to remove Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi. The Lokayukta is…

Is Bengaluru the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg? If the political tizzy the city saw last month during BBMP mayor elections is anything to go by, one can confidently say yes! Should the citizens be grateful to all our netas for their public display of enthusiasm to serve the city or be plain worried? Going by BBMP’s history of siphoning off crores of rupees and scams after scams facilitated by the official-politician-contractor nexus, we should be a worried lot. The Kataria Committee Report to probe financial irregularities from 2007-2015 may have been a ploy used by the State…