NK'S POST

NK SINGH The burning to death of newly-wed brides is on the increase in Madhya Pradesh. Though exact figures are not available, according to newspaper reports half a dozen such cases were registered in the State during the last two months. The police recently arrested a naib tehsildar of Ujjain, Mr Om Prakash Sharma, in connection with the death last month of his daughter-in-law. Mrs Alka Sharma, who had been married to Mr Divya Prakash Sharma, last May. Twenty-year-old Alka had died shortly after sustaining third-degree burns. Police said she had been harassed in connection with her dowry and a case under Section 306 IPC was registered after recording the statements of the witnesses.  The police have also taken into possession certain letters written by the father-in-law of the deceased to Mr R. C. Upadhyaya, father of Alka, expressing dissatisfaction over the "inadequate dowry". In yet another case, Mr Manaklat Banbat, a freedom fighter and a resident of Nizamat Road villag...

NK SINGH Driven by acute poverty, the Gauds, an aboriginal tribe living in the villages around the two military-proof ranges at Itarsi and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, have taken to an unusual and dangerous occupation. They sneak into the artillery-proof range, entry into which is strictly prohibited, and pick up shells of the fused bombs which are exploded there. The shells contain brass, copper, aluminium and iron, which are processed separated and sold to unscrupulous traders at a fraction of the original value of the metal. The rich traders, who are alleged to wield political influence in the state, sell the stolen metal at an exorbitant profit through their well-organised network. The half-clad, illiterate people, including many adolescents and even women, wait behind nearby bushes and trees as the heavy mortars roar. Most of them race towards the fused shells even before the smoke caused by the firing clears. Experience gained through years in the trade has developed in them a cru...