Female child welfare worker's in India, arms are severed

After receiving a tip that several young girls were about to be married. Shakuntala Verma, a government child welfare officer, travelled to Bhangarh village in the tribal-dominated Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh. Illegal mass weddings of under-age boys and girls are performed on Akshaya Tritiya, a lunar holy day regarded as particularly auspicious for weddings. Verma confronted a family there that was planning to marry off their young daughters in such a ceremony by demanding proof of the girls’ ages. She was forced to leave after family members threatened her.

Later there was a knock at her door when she answered the door, a sword was swung at her body severing an arm and almost her other arm. She was repeatedkly slashed at by the sword. Authorities are looking for the father whom they believe wielded the sword, which has Verma fighting for her life in a hospital.