Bengaluru: One in seven women working in garment factories raped, says report

June 25, 2016

Bengaluru, Jun 25: She was 20 when the abuse started. Her supervisor at the garment factory where she worked would grope and pinch her, sometimes leaving bruises. Her complaints were ignored and her abuser went unpunished.

garment
One in every seven women working in the garment industry in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru have been raped or forced into a sexual act at work, said a report released on Saturday.

Violence, intimidation, unwanted sexual attention, being forced to watch pornography, being punched, choked and burnt are part of the daily abuse faced by women employees in Bengaluru's 1,200 garment factories which supply many global brands.

The unnamed woman is among the 60 percent of women garment workers who face intimidation and violence in "hostile" workplaces, according to a report released on Saturday by the women's rights groups Sisters for Change and Bengaluru-based Munnade.

"We were shocked by the levels of sexual violence (we found) during our survey," said Alison Gordon, executive director of the UK-based Sisters for Change.

"There is such a permissive environment of abuse in the factory, with the ... supervisors often being the perpetrators. There is no fear of the existing laws."

Much of India's $40 billion garment and textile industry, which employs an estimated 45 million workers, operates in the informal sector and is poorly regulated.

Vulnerable workers, nearly three quarters of them women, have limited or no legal protection and few formal grievance mechanisms.

"What the report says is true not only in Bengaluru, but in factories and spinning mills across (India)," said Karrupu Samy, director of READ, a non-governmental group that works with garment workers in the Erode region of Tamil Nadu.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

There are an estimated 500,000 workers working in and around Bengaluru, a major hub for the garment industry in south India.

The report, based on surveys of women workers, indicated that hardly any cases were reported to the authorities.

Eighty-two percent of respondents said they did not report the crimes because they had no faith in the police or senior management to take action.

"The laws are in place but the awareness about them and the implementation is negligible," Gordon told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The report urges the government to ensure compliance with the law and increase the frequency of factory inspections, with sexual harassment as a prime focus.

"The report provides solid evidence of the extent of abuse. Now there has to be a push for change," Gordon said.

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May 12,2024

Mangaluru, May 12: In a shocking development, a group of pilgrims which had travelled from Mangaluru International Airport to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, to perform Umrah has alleged that 26,432 Saudi Riyals, which were kept in a bag, have been stolen. 

In a complaint submitted to the Bajpe Police, Soukath Banu, wife of Ahmed Iqbal of Ajyad Tours and Travels, said that her husband, Ahmed Iqbal, along with 35 members, planned and scheduled to perform the Umrah and were travelling from Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) via Mumbai to Jeddah. 

Soukath Banu had given Ahmed Iqbal 2,000 Saudi Riyals for performing Umrah and other expenses. The group members were also told to bring Saudi Riyals to meet their expenses.

In her plaint, Soukath stated that the group had left for Jeddah on an IndiGo flight via Mumbai, and their return ticket to India was booked for May 13. 

At the airport, she said that 26,432 Saudi Riyals were collected in total, and they decided to keep them in baggage that had a lock. Accordingly, it was kept in the bag of Mohammad Badruddin Kadambar. The airport staff had even questioned what he had kept in the bag. 

The group reached Jeddah on May 1. To their surprise, Kadambar found that the baggage lock was broken open, the zip was damaged, and cash was stolen upon reaching Jeddah.

DCP (Law and Order) Sidharth Goyal said that following the complaint, one round of CCTV checks was conducted at the MIA along with the CISF personnel. The loading at the MIA was intact.

Further checks have to be carried out at Mumbai and Jeddah Airport as the victim found out that cash was missing only when they got the bag at the final destination, he added.

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May 12,2024

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Mangaluru: A native of Kerala was arrested on charge of misbehaving with crew on an Air India Express flight while travelling from Dubai to Mangaluru International Airport. The man even threatened to jump from the aircraft, according to officials. 

Siddartha Das, the security coordinator for Air India Express, lodged a complaint against the passenger, identified as Muhammad BC from Kannur, Kerala, after which he was caught by the airport security once the flight landed at Mangaluru. He was later handed over to the police.

DCP (Law and Order) Sidharth Goyal said the incident occurred on Flight IX814 on May 8.

When the flight was above the sea, Muhammad reportedly said he wanted to get off the plane, posing a threat to all on board. The unruly flyer was detained by airport security once the flight landed at Mangaluru International Airport and he was handed over to Bajpe police station officials.

Sources added once the flight took off from Dubai, the accused went to the lavatory and thereafter started inquiring with the cabin crew about a person named Krishna who was not on the flight. Muhammad kept on pressing the bell for in-flight assistance, even though the cabin crew members were near at hand. He then picked up a life jacket, gave it to a crew member, and said he wanted to use it upon landing.

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May 8,2024

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Mangaluru: Congress leader and five-time Belthangady MLA K Vasanth Bangera, passed away on Wednesday, at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Wednesday. He was 79.

His health condition had worsened recently, and he was shifted to Bengaluru for treatment. His body is likely to be brought to Belthangady on May 9 and will be kept for public homage, family sources said.

He has the credit of contesting from all three parties - BJP, Janata Dal and Congress. Since 1983, he had contested nine assembly elections and won five times.

Bangera had entered the Legislative Assembly by winning Belthangady constituency as a BJP candidate in 1983 against Gangadhar Gowda of the Congress.

He won had the elections again in 1985 and later joined the Janata Dal. However, he lost the election against Gangadhar Gowda of Congress in 1989.

He became an MLA once again for the third time in 1994. In the 1999 election, Bangera lost to his brother Prabhakar Bangera who contested from BJP.

In 2008, Bangera joined the Congress and won the elections for the fourth time. In 2013, he had once again won the elections against Ranjan Gowda of the BJP, but he also lost the elections to sitting MLA Harish Poonja of the BJP in 2018.

He was born to Kede Subba Poojary and Devaki. He is survived by his wife Sujitha V Bangera, and two daughters Preethitha and Binutha.
 

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