Justice, rural style!

The ways of the wild are not much worse than the ways of rural India.

Specifically, here we mean the shame of an incident in Kavadva village, just 15 kilometres from Rajkot. Where 22-year-old Gita Soma was forced to dip her hands in a pot of boiling oil to prove her innocence.

Gita, you see, was accused of stealing her neighbour's gold earrings. Though the girl denied the charge, no one believed her. "You will prove your innocence by dipping your hand in oil," the neighbours decided, "If you are innocent, you will not be hurt."

Thus, on Friday, Gita was taken to the neighbourhood temple, provided a pot of hot oil, and ordered to go ahead. Which order, the terrified girl obeyed to the letter -- and got both her hands severely burnt.

Gita has now been admitted to the Rajkot civil hospital. The police have registered cases against two people and the 'investigation is on.'

Fifty years of progress or a 100 years of regress? Which way is India moving?