Party distributes knives to women

A regional party in India’s Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, has given away knives to women supporters to help protect themselves from rapists. The move comes after protests over the brutal gang rape of a student in New Delhi in December. This has led to demands for more security for women. Party officials said the government had failed in this aspect. The knives were given away at a birthday party of a party official, but thousands of small knives would be given more in the coming days. “The way you cut vegetables, cut the hand of the person who touches you the same way,” news agency AFP quoted a Shiv Sena party official Ajay Chaudhury as saying.

Read the full story on BBC