An Indian congressman was publicly stripped and beaten by a mob of men and women on Jan. 3 before being taken into police custody for allegedly raping a married woman in her home in Santipur, Assam.

Congressman Bikram Singh Brahma of India's Chirang district allegedly broke into a residence and raped a woman in the early hours of Jan. 2 while visiting Santipur, according to the police report filed by the woman's husband.

India's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said in a statement that Brahma "would not be spared, whether he is Congressman or not," according to the Daily Mail. more >>

The grieving father of a 23-year-old woman, who died last week after being brutally gang-raped and assaulted in a moving bus in India's national capital, says when he last spoke to her in the hospital on Christmas, she gestured she was going to heaven.

"She gestured with her fingers that she was going to heaven," BBC quoted the father, a Hindu by religion and whose name is being withheld, as saying on Wednesday, the day before police were expected to formally charge five of the six suspects, aged between 18 and 35, with rape and murder.

Amid calls for capital punishment for all the accused, the sixth accused has claimed he is juvenile and police are conducting tests to determine his real age. more >>

India has marked the New Year with subdued and somber celebrations in response to the rape crisis protesters say are sweeping the capital, New Delhi, while government institutions have canceled celebrations throughout the country and abroad.

Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress, has said there would be no official party to mark the New Year's, while army divisions, the government of the major Punjab and Haryana provinces, and Indian embassies abroad have all canceled their annual parties, according to Bloomberg News.

The decisions are in response to the growing public anger at the rape crisis unfolding in New Delhi, where women are often targeted and receive little protection. The recent death of a 23-year-old woman who was raped in a violent attack on a Delhi bus has ignited tensions in the world's second most populous country, with protests erupting around the city trying to bring the spotlight on a problem that people say has not received enough attention. more >>

A young woman who was the victim of gang-rape in India died early Saturday. The 23-year-old's death has sparked protests in the country.

The woman, who was raped in a moving bus, has not been identified but protesters are calling her Damini.

She was in "extremely critical condition" when she was admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on Thursday after spending over a week at a local hospital.. more >>

The Indian government is starting in January a new cash transfer program to help its poorest citizens, with the hopes of reducing wide-scale corruption and making sure those who need the resources the most get them.

"Direct cash transfers, which are now becoming possible through the innovative use of technology and the spread of modern banking across the country, open the doors for eliminating waste, cutting down leakages and targeting beneficiaries better," said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The ambitious project is estimated to provide 40,000 rupees ($720 U.S. dollars) a year to poor households, which could make a big difference for a lot of people and help them get the food, animals and supplies they need to lift themselves out of poverty. The Wall Street Journal noted that the resources are expected to reach around 720 million people, and anyone who lives below or just above the national poverty line can qualify. more >>

A judge in India sentenced 12 people to six years imprisonment on Tuesday for their role in the mass violence against Christians in Orissa's Kandhamal district in 2008, in which dozens were killed.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a Christian organization working for religious freedom, sent a press release to The Christian Post that details the court's decision. Besides the prison sentence, the men will also have to pay 5,000 rupees (about $90,000 U.S. dollars) in connection with arson, rioting and the torching of houses in Jarkinaju village on Aug. 25, 2008. Ten other people accused in the case were acquitted, however, due to lack of evidence.

"Justice must be done, and must be seen to be done. The aggregate of justice in the fast-track courts in Kandhamal does not inspire a sense of confidence and closure among the victims. Many killers are roaming free, and a Member of the Legislative Assembly is at large after his conviction, because the courts seem to think he is too important to be incarcerated," said Dr. John Dayal, a Member of the Government's National Integration Council (NIC). more >>