ON January 29, 2014, 26 year old Yuma Sherpa, died in the aftermath of a surgical procedure to harvest eggs from her body, as part of the egg donation programme of a private clinic based in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi.

Yuma was persuaded by agents to donate her eggs for a surrogacy, and started undergoing the procedure early this year. Subsequently, she wanted to stop the procedure and back out altogether as she was suffering from discomfort caused by the injections, but was told by the doctor at the clinic that it was too late to go back.

THROUGH a letter addressed to A K Antony, defence minister in the government of India, on June 27, 2013, several national level organisations of women have demanded justice for the victims of Kunan Poshpora rape case in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The letter reminded the defence minister that the said rapes had much to do with the security forces of the central government. As it happened, some of the security personnel of 4th Rajputana Rifles went in search of militants to the village of Kunan Poshpora on February 23-24, 1991.

The National Women’s organisations - All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM), All India Democratic Women’s, Association (AIDWA), All India Women Conference (AIWC), Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS), Guild of Service (GOS), Joint Women’s Programme ( JWP), National Federation Of Indian Women (NFIW), and Young Women’s Christian Association of India (YWCA) have jointly issued the following statement on June 20, 2013