Photos: 700 Indian brides given wooden bats as weapon to fight off abusive husbands

700 new brides in the Indian state of Madya Pradesh have been empowered to defend themselves against domestic violence by state minister Gopal Bhargava. At a mass wedding organised by the government, he gave the brides long wooden paddles to use as weapons in case their husbands turn abusive after taking alcohol. The paddles are the first of 10000 which he plans to dole out to women. On