JONAKI Mar 2015

An Untold Story
Protecting Women In The IT SectorProposal
To
A Case Of Confused PrioritiesThe Vindictive Doctor
Review A Law
Growing Up A Child TogetherA Case Of Shame
A Grim Reality Pad Protest And The Debate
Jonaki
March 2015
Chief Editor : Indrani Sinha
Editorial
A Grim Reality
Dear Reader,
"Civility" a term
when used by the
patriarchal
Indian Society
has a far
reaching
meaning and
thus
consequences.
While such
terms are used to
restrict dress
code, attitude
and behaviour of
women, they are
hardly used to
quality attributes
of men.
Ironically
men are
supposed to be
loud, tough and
rude and
"civility" is not an
adjective for
them.
Being a
"Gentleman" is
an outdated
virtue
Indrani
Address:
38B Mahanirban Road,
Kolkata - 700 029
Tel:
91-33-2464 9596,
2465 3429
Fax:
91-33-2465 3395
email:
hq@sanlaapindia.org
Documentaiton Unit, Sanlaap
the Student Sex Work
Project report said. One in 20
students had worked in the
sex industry while they
pursued a degree,
researchers from Swansea
University's Centre for
Criminal Justice and
Criminology said.
One in 20 students in the UK
have worked in the sex
industry while studying at
the university to make ends
meet, according to a new
survey that shows more
number of them are secretly
turning to the profession.
Men were more likely to be
involved than women, and
the sex work ranged from
prostitution and escorting to
stripping and internet work,
..."Majority of
them keep their
occupations
secret because
of social
stigma"...
Tracey Sagar, who led the
study, said: “We now have
firm evidence that students
are engaged in the sex
industry across the UK.
Majority of them keep their
occupations secret because
of social stigma and fears of
being judged … not all
students engaged in the
industry are safe or feel safe.
It is vital now that
universities arm themselves
with knowledge to better
understand student sex
work issues and that
university services are able
to support students where
needed.”
The recent study involved
6,750 students, of which 5%
of men and 3.5% of women
said they had worked in the
sex industry, while nearly
22% overall said they had
considered doing so.
1
Protecting Women In The IT Sector
Legal Cell, Sanlaap
In a bid to curb harassment in the
bylanes of sector V in the evening,
police have already held meetings
with civic agencies.
Border areas under Bidhannagar
police and Kolkata Police are
always a soft target for criminals, it
is easy to commit a crime and
escape to another area. The main
reason behind criminals gaining
easy access is the lack of
coordination among police units. A
meeting was aimed at putting an
end to this.
Bidhannagar police have asked
woman employees of IT
companies to directly complain to
them if there are security issues
regarding their pick-up and drop
facilities.
the employee. However; a few IT
firms are not sticking to the
guidelines. We will contact those
offices and try to resolve the
p ro b lem ,” a n o ff ic er s a id .
Realizing that it might be difficult
for an employee to lodge a
complaint directly against her
employer, police have urged them
to call one of their helpline
numbers anonymously.
..."The police have
decided to put
woman officers as
decoys in city
hotspots to
apprehend
ruffians"...
“We will investigate and get in
touch with the companies
concerned and get the matter
sorted out,” said a senior officer.
The main complaint of woman
employees relates to returning
home very late after work. “We
have standing instructions that no
female employee can be dropped
off last. If such a situation arises, a
security guard has to accompany
Verification of drivers and guards
have also been made mandatory,
said a source. IT firms which
provide transport to employees
have to register the names and
addresses of the drivers.
The police have decided to put
woman officers as decoys in city
hotspots to apprehend ruffians.
The women will be closely
followed by their male colleagues.
The moment any of them is teased
or taunted, the culprit will be
caught. Buses will also be kept
under surveillance.
The city police have also planned a
special meeting with the excise
commissioner. “Even though we
have no den for illicitly distilled (ID)
liquor in the city, we suspect their
existence in the suburbs. The
excise commissioner has assured
us of conducting raids in these
places. We, in turn, have assured
the excise commissioner that raids
can be carried out in the
neighbouring districts also, since
we can always coordinate with our
counterparts there,” said an
officer.
21
Growing Up A Child Together
Documentation Unit, Sanlaap
Fathers in Britain will now be
officially entitled to paternity
leave.
In a landmark law that came into
force, mums and dads in the UK
will be able to share up to 50 weeks
of parental leave. The rule will also
apply to couples who adopt a child.
The government estimates that
285,000 couples will be able to be
benefitted yearly.
The law has been amended to
ensure that women don't lose out
on a career because of child birth.
At present, in most instances,
women have to choose between a
..."The law has
been amended to
ensure that women
don't lose out on a
career because of
child birth"...
successful career and having a
baby. Under the new system,
working parents will have the right
to divide the statutory 50 weeks of
parental leave between them.
Britain had earlier made it illegal to
sack a female employee because
of being pregnant or during
maternity leave.
create a fairer society that gives
parents the flexibility to choose
how they share care for their child
in the first year after birth,” said
deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.
In addition, parents of children
under 18 will have the right to take
up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per
child.
The new law says, “Eligible couples
whose child is due on or after April
5, 2015 can now share up to 50
weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay
in the first year of their child's life.
Parents can take the time off at the
same time as each other or
separately.”
“We need to challenge the oldfashioned assumption that
women will always be the parent
that stays at home -- many fathers
want that option too. We want to
31
A Fight For Gender Justice
Gender Desk, Sanlaap
sometimes lose in the world
outside it.”
Kleiner issued a statement
saying it was committed to
supporting women.
One of Silicon Valley's most
famous venture capital firms
prevailed over a former partner in
a closely watched suit claiming
gender discrimination, but hardly
got away unscathed.
The plaintiff, Ellen Pao, had
accused the firm, Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, of discriminating
against her in the course of her
employment and eventual
dismissal. The decision handed
Kleiner a sweeping victory in a case
that had mesmerized Silicon Valley
with its salacious details while
simultaneously amplifying
concerns about the lack of
diversity in the technology
industry.
Even with her loss in the case,
Pao's suit succeeded in prompting
debate about women in
technology and venture capital,
said Deborah Rhode, a lw
professor at Stanford University.
“This case sends a powerful signal
to Silicon Valley in general and the
venture capital industry in
p a r t i c u l a r,” R h o d e s a i d .
“Defendants who win in court
Pao waved to the jury as she
left the courtroom for the
last time, a smile fixed on her
face. “If I've helped to level
the playing field for women
..."If I've helped to
level the playing
field for women and
minorities in
venture capital,
then the battle was
worth it" ...
and minorities in venture capital,
then the battle was worth it,” she
said in a brief news conference.
Her suit, filed in superior
court in SF, claimed that
Kleiner did not promote
her because of her
gender, that it retaliated
against her for
complaining, that it
failed to prevent gender
discrimination and that it
fired her in 2012 for
complaining.
million in compensatory damages
plus punitive damages. After the
jurors rejected each of her four
claims, they were found to be one
vote short on a claim about her
termination. For two hours, doubt
reigned, the media unspooled
possible outcomes and the jury
went back to work. In the end, the
problem seemed more juror
confusion than anything else, and
the claim went down with the
others. The jurors said in
interviews they did not take on the
role of “conscience of this
community,” as one of Pao's
lawyers had urged in the closing
arguments.
They focused on the facts at hand,
and concluded it was Pao's own
performance that held her back.
One juror, Steve Sammut, 62, said
it was difficult coming to a verdict.
“We were split there for a while,”
he said, adding that a key point
was how Pao's reviews at Kleiner
deteriorated over time.
The suit asked $16
41
A Case Of Confused Priorities
Gender Desk, Sanlaap
It's time we took pride in our rich
ancient Indian culture. Now, it has
become trendy among Indian
women to not wear kumkum on
the forehead, and wearing tight
and revealing clothes, trimming
hair and making weird hairdo etc
…Incidents or rape are on the rise,
largely owing to the fact that
women have adopted western
culture.”
This was a statement by the wife of
Goa cabinet minister Deepak
Dhavalikar at a meeting of Hindu
Janjagruti Sanstha at Margao on
Sunday, Lata Deepak Dhavalikar,
who was introduced as a senior
member of Sanatan Sanstha, also
laid out guidelines, to protect
Hindu culture: Hindu men, while
leaving home, should sport tilak,
and women kumkum; celebrate
Gudi Padwa as Hindu new year;
not January 1; don't send children
to convent schools; say namaskar
instead of 'hello' when an swering
a phone call.
..."Fatorda MLA
Vijai Sardessai
condemned the
meet as a “sign of
intolerant times
ahead"...
Exhorting the audience to resist
attempts at conversion of Hindus,
Dhavalikar said: “It amounts to
treachery of one's religion if one
looks the other way in the face of
onslaughts on his faith. There's
need to create a strong deterrence
against conversion of Hindus.”
Dhavalikar also came out strongly
against cow slaughter and
underscored the need to put an
end to it. Interestingly, the
meeting was held on Easter
Sunday in the Catholic-dominated
South Goa district.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardessai
condemned the meet as a “sign of
intolerant times ahead.”
51
Pad Protest And The Debate
Documentation Unit, Sanlaap
Facebook alone. On Tumbir, it had
over 8,600 “notes” which includes
likes and shares. On Instagram,
where the photo is now back, it has
over 15,000 likes and nearly 3,000
comments.
Instagram screens and removes
pictures that are reported by
users. “When our team processes
reports from other members of
the community, we occasionally
make a mistake. In this case, we
wrongly removed content and
worked to rectify the error as soon
as we were notified. We apologize
for any convenience,” said an
Instagram statement.
A photograph depicting a woman
menstruating was taken down
twice by image-sharing platform
Instagram and restored after social
media uproar. The photo belongs
to Toronto-based poet Rupi Kaur
and was a part of a university
course project.
The snapshot has sparked off an
online debate about taboos
concerning menstruation. This
comes close on the heels of four
Jamila Milia students being served
a show-cause notice for an antirape campaign involving sanitary
napkins.
Kaur's picture showed a sleeping
woman with her back turned
towards the camera, a stain of
menstrual blood on her pyjamas
and on the bed sheet. She first
posted the series on March 23 on
..."In this case, we
wrongly removed
content and
worked to rectify
the error as soon
as we were
notified"...
Instagram and Tumbir. By March
25, the picture had been taken
down twice from Instagram, both
t i m e c i t i n g a v i o l at i o n o f
community guidelines. She later
posted the pictures on Facebook .
By next day 4 pm. the picture had
gathered over 47,000 likes and
nearly 10,000 comments on
Expressing rage at the takedown,
Kaur wrote in a post: “I will not
apologize for not feeding the ego
and pride of misogynist society
that will have my body in an
underwear but not be okay with a
small leak. When your pages are
filled with countless photos /
accounts where women ( so many
who are underage) are objectified.
Pornified. And treated less than
human,” Kaur wrote at the time of
reposting the picture, less than 24
hours after it was first taken down.
When it was taken down again, she
wrote in a long, angry post: “I
know that some communities and
cultures go out of their way to
shun and oppress a woman on her
period. I guess Instagram is
another one of them.” In an
allusion to the picture, she added:
61
“Their patriarchy is leaking. Their
misogyny is leaking. We will not be
censored,” She urged her followers
to tag Instagram and build
pressure against the takedown. It
worked.
“The point of the project was to
demystify the period and get the
rhetoric changing on how we
discuss and handle the topic. My
sister and I … worked together on
taking the photos. This photo in
particular is one she took. The
woman in the bed is me and we
took it in one shot. I lay down as I
would, if I were asleep and
unaware that I received my
period,” Kaur told.
..."Their
patriarchy is
leaking. Their
misogyny is
leaking. We will
not be
censored"...
The episode reflects the society's
uneasiness with menstruation and
menstruating women, says Aditi
Gupta, founder of Menstrupedia,
an online encyclopedia on female
reproductive health.
Similar voices in Jadavpur
University. The vociferous slogans
of “Hok Kolorob” have barely
subsided and Jadavpur University
has taken up the mantel of the
sanitary napkin protest that
started on Delhi's Jamia Millia
Islamia (JMI) campus a few days
ago. Around the same time, a
controversy erupted on social
media worldwide over online
photo-sharing platform Instagram
twice removing a picture of
Toronto-based Sikh author Rupi
Kaur lying on a bed with patches of
period blood on her pants and the
bedsheet.
While the website said the photo
didn't 'follow their community
guidelines', a section of the society
has seen it as a refusal to accept a
woman's body, and sexualizing
something as natural and healthy
as a woman's menstruation. In the
ca s e o f t h e ' Pa d s A ga i n st
Pat r i a rc hy ” ca m p a i g n , t h e
promoters, many of whom took
active part in the Hok Kolorob
'movement' a few months ago, say
they want to convey messages of
gender sensitization and lodge
their protest against the culture of
naming, shaming and blaming the
survivor in cases of sexual
harassment or rape.
While JMI showcaused students
sprearheading the movement, JU
pro-VC Ashish Verma promptly set
up a committee to look into the
matter and made a very pertinent
point: “There is always space for
freedom of expression but
students should also know where
to draw the line.” His response
leads to a fundamental question is privacy passé? The city's
71
makes no bones about the fact
that when he buys a packet of
sanitary napkins for his wife, he
neither wants it wrapped in
polythene nor does he hesitate to
pur it in his bag in full public view.
Coming out in full support of the
campaign at his alma mater, Ray
declares on social media that such
drives will go a long way to
eradicate meaningless taboos
regarding a natural process.
intelligentsia, as expected, is
divided on this.
Associate professor of English at
Presidency University Sumit
Chakraborty took to Facebook to
vent his discomfort. “I do not
understand my milieu anymore.
Perhaps I grow old. I would not
make public my private thoughts
or habits, deepest pain or dearmost pleasure. I would not upload
a video of my daily ablutions, or of
picking my ears, or if I am bleeding
from a bout of piles. All of these
are natural. All of these are
private. If I menstruated, I would
not advertise it: Not because it is
shameful; but because some of
what happens to my body, as some
..."such drives
will go a long way
to eradicate
meaningless
taboos regarding
a natural
process"...
of what happens in my mind, is
private,” he posted.
The counterview came from
assistant professor of Bengali at
Visva-Bharati, Biswajit Ray. He
But president and CEO of Apollo
Hospitals Dr. Rupali Basu says,
“There is a need for protests and
change of mindset. But to me,
civility is supreme. I would never
endorse a campaign which is
insensitive. Modernity means
being sensitive to other people's
feelings. This is uncivil.”
A c t o r a n d S ta t e Wo m e n ' s
Commission member June. Malia,
however, refuses to see it as
anything but students' democratic
campaign. “These boys and girls
are on their way to becoming
adults. They have the right to
protest on their campus. If they
think this should be their mode,
who are we to stop them?”
'Feminist' author and columnist
Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, however,
sees it differently. She was
approached by the JU students for
a message endorsing the
campaign. She refused. “I see
more sensationalism in this than
meaningful activism. I refused to
be a part of it because I am more
wo r r i e d a b o u t m i l l i o n s o f
menstruating woman of this
country who do not even know
what a sanitary napkin is,” she told
over phone from Delhi.
81
An Untold Story
Documentation Unit, Sanlaap
month to working as a motivator
for other dalit women. She pushed
them into giving up manual
scavenging in order to lead a
“more honourable life” making
jute bags, pickles and sweets and
also trained them to work in
beauty parlours.
As a child, the longest distance
Usha Chamour had travelled was
the 2 km walk from Hazurigate
Harijan Colony in Alwar
(Rajasthan) to the houses where
her mother worked as a manual
scavenger.
When she turned seven, she
followed in her mother's footsteps
and, for the next three decades,
used her bare hands to clean
human waste in drains and homes
of upper caste people. She was
married off at the age of 10 and
spent most of her years being
treated as an “untouchable”.
Chamour (42) will take a nine-hour
plane ride to share her life
experience with an audience in the
UK and push the case for the
eradication of the age-old practice
of manual scavenging in India.
She has been invited by the British
Association of South Asian Studies
at University of Portsmouth to
narrate an almost unbelievable
story that saw her clean sewage
pipes along with dirty manholes
and drains for a paltry Rs. 300 a
Chamour was rescued and
rehabilitated by NGO Sulabh
I nte r n at i o n a l ' s B i n d e s hwa r
Pathak. She will interact with top
..."She pushed
them into giving up
manual scavenging
in order to lead a
“more honourable
life" ...
British academics and policymakers during a special panel
discussion on 'Sanitation and
Women's Rights in India' on April
8. She said: “It is almost like a
dream. I can't wait for this night to
end.”
“It was almost a given practice that
we had to follow our mother's
footsteps into becoming manual
scavengers. I worked in 30 houses
around Alwar cleaning human
waste for just Rs. 10 a day. I would
eat the leftover food from the
previous day's dinner given to me
by the houses where I worked. I
pray no one has to ever work as a
manual scavenger the worst job in
the world,” Chamour said. “Most
people avoided us like a plague.
We were the untouchables,” she
added.
“I was then helped by Sulabh and
now am involved in making jute
bags, pickles and am also trained
to work in beauty parlours. Today, I
make almost Rs. 3,500. During
wedding season, I can earn up to
Rs 5,000 a day to dress up the
bride. The people who once
avoided me for being from a low
caste today invite me to their
homes for meals and to attend
their functions like weddings. They
also don't mind me eating from
the same utensils used by them.
The priests of the local Jagannath
temple also invite me during
festivities,” Chamour said.
UK recently became the first
country outside South Asia to
legislate against caste
discrimination. A bill that
outlawed it received royal assent
from the Queen. In a major victory
to 4 lakh dalits there. The
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Bill made history in parliament,
with the House of Commons
voting for the inclusion of caste as
an aspect of race.
91
A Case Of Shame
Legal Cell, Sanlaap
Bangladesh in 2002 and posed as a
mason, say police.
On the night of March 12, police
picked up a dozen-odd men for a
drunken brawl in a house in
Golabati Malibagan in Habra,
North 24 Parganas. They were let
off on bail the next morning. A few
hours later; eight of them would
raid a convent in Ranaghat some
50 km away and unleash horrific
violence on the nuns; say police.
Among them was Md Selim
Sheikh, who allegedly raped the 71
year old nun, shaming Bengal
..."Among them
was Md Selim
Sheikh, who
allegedly raped
the 71 year old
nun"...
before the world. Selim and the
owner of the Habra house, Gopal
Sarkar, were arrested. CID's
investigation so far follows the
initial line that all or most of the
culprits were Bangladeshis. Selim
had sneaked across the border a
few days before the crime and
Sarkar had come over from
In fact, CID officers said Sarkar may
have been the mastermind of the
entire operation. He picked the
target, plotted the robbery and
put together a group of eight
hardened Bangladeshi criminals
so that they wouldn't be easily
traced, say investigators. He had
also planned their escape back
across the border, said an officer.
Sarkar's plan was so meticulous
that he got three of the criminals
t o c ro s s o v e r u s i n g v a l i d
documents. They slipped out
through the Gede border outpost
after getting their valid
Bangladeshi passports stamped,
sources say. Three others crossed
over illegally.
Sarkar's plan would have been
foolproof had Selim and another
accused. Milon Sk alias Milon Bhai,
not stayed back, say police. While
Selim headed off to Mumbai,
where he was arrested, Milon's
whereabouts are unknown. “It is
now established that three
criminals entered India with valid
passport and visa, carried out the
crime and left India with valid
travel documents,” a senior officer
said.
Tracking Sarkar wasn't easy. He
had no criminal record here and
there wasn't even a hint of
10
1
barring two. One led to Sarkar
and the other to Selim in
Mumbai, say sources. “If a
cellphone is used, it is very
difficult to erase the mobile
footprints,” he added.
suspicion against him. CID officers
started checking cell phone calls
after the sisters told them that the
gang made cell phone calls during
the robbery and spoke in an accent
prevalent in the border areas. The
agency then sought a list of all calls
made in a 3-5 km radius. They
ended up analyzing half a million
calls. “Most calls have a pattern.
People dial certain numbers at
regular intervals. We tried to
eliminate these and identify the
calls that were non-regular,” a
source said. This brought down
the number of suspicious calls
The identity of the culprits was
ascertained 12 days after the
robbery and despite half of them
being caught on CCTV. The next
big challenge for CID is to track
the remaining six. “If the
passport and visa details are any
indication, they are not in the
country any more,” said an
officer: But CID is still hopeful of
bringing them to justice.
..."Police say it was
Sarkar who chose
the Ranaghat
convent because it
was virtually
unguarded" ...
from 5 lakh to single digits. Each
one of these was eliminated,
Selim and Sarkar was produced in
a Ranaghat court. Both were
remanded in 14 days' CID remand.
The court allowed investigators'
plea to charge Sarkar under
additional sections for harbouring
crimin als . As s istant p u b lic
prosecutor Pradip Kumar
Pramanik told the court that
Sarkar is “integral to the probe.”
We suspect that he not only
sheltered the criminals at his
home, but also got a share of the
loot,” he said . Selim, however,
insists he did not rape the nun. He
says he was on guard outside the
convent and did not know what
went on inside.
Police say it was Sarkar who chose
the Ranaghat convent because it
was virtually unguarded. “The
modus operandi suggests he may
be in the know of many such
robberies, not only in Bengal but
also Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu,” a
senior CID officer said.
11
1
The Vindictive Doctor
Documentation Unit, Sanlaap
Santanu Mondal, a doctor with a
well-known government hospital
in Kolkata was arrested for
allegedly posting obscene
photographs of his divorced wife
on the internet.
The woman is a lecturer and filed a
complaint with Howrah police
cyber unit in November.
They were divorced two years ago.
I n N o v e m b e r, t h e w o m a n
complained that the principal of
her college and colleagues had
received e-mails with links to a
..."Police found
that the pictures
were uploaded
from the doctor's
smart phone"...
pornographic website. The link
was also uploaded on the college
website and led to doctored
pictures of her.
Police found that the pictures
were uploaded from the doctor's
smart phone. A police team
arrested the doctor a resident of
East Jadavpur from the hospital.
His phone and laptop were seized
and he is now in three days' police
custody.
“We have arrested the doctor on
the basis of this ex-wife's
complaint. He was apparently
trying to tarnish her image. We are
trying to find out why he was doing
so,” said Howrah DC-DD Sumit
Kumar: Mondal has been charged
under several sections of the
Information Technology Act,
which can lead to three to five
years in jail in case of a conviction
and lakhs of rupees in fine.
12
1
Proposal To Review A Law
Legal Cell, Sanlaap
tions made by the law commission
and Justice Malimath Committee.
The new law would also have
penalty provisions of Rs. 15,000 as
against Rs. 1,000 now if the case is
found to be false, said sources.
However, it would not be easy to
get an amendment such as this
through easily as women's rights
activists have been vociferously
Every year more than 10,000
complaints of dowry harassment
are found to be false. Given that
close to 90,000 to 1 lakh cases are
investigated every year; the figure
makes it one of the most abused
laws in the country.
Government is now working on a
proposal to make Section 498A of
the Indian Penal Code that deals
with offences of dowry demand
and cruelty by husband and inlaws compoundable.
This means that the law, if
amended, would have the
provision of settlement between
the warring couple if the court
allows the same. As the law stands
n o w, t h e o f fe n c e i s n o n compoundable and non-bailable.
Sources in home ministry said that
the ministry sent a draft note for
the Union Cabinet to amend
Section 498A of the IPC to the law
ministry for drawing up a draft bill.
Making dowry law compoundable
was also among recommenda-
..."This means that
the law, if
amended, would
have the provision
of settlement
between the
warring couple" ...
opposed to such moves in the
past.
The argument against any dilution
of the law is that it is the strength
t h a t s e v e ra l e c o n o m i c a l l y
dependent and helpless women
have against dowry harassment. A
dilution effected due to over 10%
false cases will affect millions
whose cases may be genuine.
Arguments in favour have always
stressed that those who are really
in need hardly approach the police
against in-laws due to various
societal pressures and it's only
those looking to 'extract revenge'
and having robust economic
strength who reach the courts.
In a recent order, the Supreme
Court had said Section 498A had
“dubious place of pride amongst
the provisions that are used as
weapons rather than shield by
disgruntled wives.”
An effort by National Commission
for Women to amend Dowry
Prohibition Act came a cropper
after government rejected the
recommendation last year.
Women and child development
minister Maneka Gandhi had in
December, 2014 informed Lok
Sabha, “The NCW had
recommended certain
amendments in Dowry Prohibition
Act. However, the ministry has
taken a considered view on the
matter and decided to drop the
amendment proposed by NCW in
the present form after taking into
account the comments of the
high-level committee on the status
of women and the ministry of
home affairs.”
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