The Constitutional Court of India has decided that sex with minors is also punishable within marriage. So far, there was an exceptional clause in the Penal Code, allowing sex with minors aged from 15 years and above. The decision is intended to protect young brides from sexual violence. Although child marriage is legally prohibited many do not stick to the laws. Half of all Indian women between the ages of 18 and 29 married today were minors when they married. However, the judgment applies only to marriages from now on.
The Eastern Himalayas have the biggest biodiversity of anywhere in the world but in recent years, locals have waited in vain for cherry blossom, a popular local flower and the focus of a festival in the mountainous city of Shillong in the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya.
more
Indian and Pakistani troops have been facing off on top of a glacier for 30 years.
more
How a young man in northeast India is reigniting curiosity about the cultural wisdom of his ancestors.
more
The author recounts a custom in her home country India
more
Short news from South Korea.
more
When he was 14 years old, Soun Rottana was kidnapped and became a child soldier for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, killing dozens of enemy combatants.
more