Archives for July 2023

New Delhi: The decision to exempt Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat from the Asian Games trials is “unfortunate” and will hurt wrestling in India, outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment charges by women grapplers, said on Wednesday.

IOA’s ad-hoc panel on Tuesday handed direct Asian Games entries to Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, who were at the forefront of protest against Singh.

The junior wrestlers, especially the most-affected Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal, have also slammed the panel and dragged it to the court, demanding a fair trial in all categories.

Singh, who is also a BJP MP, said they had ended the practice of giving exemptions to wrestlers because they realised that it was hurting the juniors.

“I am pretty anguished since the ad-hoc panel took this decision. It will hurt the sport of wrestling in this country. A lot of people have worked hard to lift this sport. The athletes, their parents, the fans of the sport, all have worked hard,” Singh told PTI in an exclusive interaction.

“Today, wrestling is one sport where Olympic medal is considered guaranteed. And the decision that these wrestlers will go to a competition like Asian Games, is an unfortunate one.”

Singh, who is out on an interim bail and not eligible to contest the upcoming WFI elections due to the Sports Code guidelines, feels the protest launched by six wrestlers was motivated.

“When all this (protest) began (in January) I used to think why is it all happening? I had recited a poem back then (on social media),” he said and recited the poem again emphasising that he chose to side with the juniors and thus invited trouble for himself.

The 19-year-old Panghal along with several other wrestlers, their families and elders hit the streets in Hisar to protest against the ad-hoc panel’s decision.

“I am remembering this poem again today because things are becoming crystal clear.”

When countered that even under his tenure as President, the WFI had exempted Vinesh, Bajrang and others from trials for the 2018 Asian Games and that even during the 2022 CWG trials, the same wrestlers were given direct semifinal entries, he admitted it was a mistake.

“We did not send these wrestlers (to Commonwealth Games) directly, though we gave them direct semifinal berths. We realised later that perhaps it is not right and that’s exactly why we discussed this issue at our Executive Committee, took advise of the coaches, studied the rules from other nations and passed the new rules in General Body Meeting that such exemptions will be not be given to any wrestler in any situation.”

“I myself did not make this rule, unilaterally. It was widely discussed and then a decision was taken.”

The WFI had passed the resolution on August 25 at its General Body Meeting in Rohtak, last year.

Singh chose not to speak when asked what he thinks of presence of Gian Singh and Ashok Garg as technical experts in the IOA ad-hoc panel.

“Now I would request you to let this go. How well these coaches are well-versed with modern-day wrestling is another topic. I don’t talk to the media now but some issues were rankling me, so I spoke today (on exemption given to wrestlers),” he said.

Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court

Gwalior: The Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a man who was accused of raping a woman on the pretext of marriage, observing that more than a year’s time is sufficient for a prudent woman to figure out a false promise.

Justice Deepak Kumar Agrawal made the observation on July 13 while hearing a petition of a man, seeking to quash a rape case registered against him at Seondha in Datia district.

“Near about more than one year’s time is sufficient time for a prudent woman to realise as to whether the promise of marriage made by the petitioner is false from its very inception or there is a possibility of breach of promise,” the order stated.

The order said that the prosecutrix (woman) was in a relationship with the petitioner over a significant period of time and therefore her consent could not have been obtained by misrepresentation.

“The complainant prosecutrix is a mature lady having three children and she knew the petitioner for the last more than one year. She made physical relations with the petitioner on her own consent and free will,” the order said.

As per the order, the woman had stated that she was in a relationship with the petitioner since 2020. If any woman continues to remain in a physical relationship for a long period during which she was free to visit every place, then it cannot be said that her consent was obtained by misconception of fact.

The court said that the woman herself went to the house of the accused (petitioner in this case) in Seondha. Thus, it cannot be said that her consent was obtained by “misconception of facts”..

“Only a false promise to marry made with an intention to deceive a woman would vitiate the woman’s consent being obtained under the misconception of fact, but a mere breach of promise cannot be said to be a false promise,” the order stated.

As per her complaint filed in July 2021, the woman said that she was in contact with the petitioner in 2017.

In 2020, the petitioner proposed to marry her following which she came to Seondha on June 29, 2020, and stayed there in a house where the petitioner had a physical relationship with her on the pretext of marrying her, she alleged.

Whenever the woman told the petitioner to solemnize the marriage, the petitioner would ignore her, she said.

The woman said that in July 2021, she again came back to Seondha where the petitioner assaulted her. On her complaint, a first information report (FIR) was registered against the petitioner for rape and criminal intimidation.

The FIR and criminal proceedings in the form of chargesheet are quashed against the petitioner, the order said.

IMPHAL: Manipur Police has made its first arrest in the case registered in connection with the video of the incident in May this year in which two women being paraded naked in Manipur, chief minister N Biren Singh said on Thursday.

A video of the two-month-old incident had gone viral evoking sharp reactions from various political parties and triggering outrage. 

Speaking to ANI, the Manipur chief minister said, “This is an inhumane act…so we have condemned this immediately…we instructed police to immediately act and arrest the culprits.”

“Every man every human being will condemn this act,” Singh said adding that they will seek for the perpetrators to get punishment “to the maximum possible extent.”

“Really shocked when I saw the video and after seeing it I inquired about the incident it happened on 4 May…but this video leaked after 40 days. I asked for mass combing ops…and last night itself we have arrested one man involved,” the Manipur chief minister said.

Superintendent of Police (SP), K Meghachandra Singh in a statement on July 19 said “As regards the video of 2 (two) women paraded naked by unknown armed miscreants on 4th May 2023, a case of abduction, gangrape and murder was registered at Nongpok Sekmai Police Station (Thoubal district) against unknown armed miscreants.”

Earlier in a tweet Manipur chief minister N Biren Das said that strict action will be taken against all the curprits, including considering the possibility of capital punishment. 

“After taking a Suo-motu cognisance of the incident immediately after the video surfaced, the Manipur Police swung to action and made the first arrest this morning. A thorough investigation is currently underway and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment,” the Manipur chief minister tweeted.

“Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning spoke said he is pained over the incident and said the incident is “shameful for any civil society.”

“No accused will spared, we will never forgive those who are behind this,” the Prime Minister said.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Monsoon session of the Parliament today, PM Modi said, “This a shameful incident for any society..who did this and who is responsible is another issue but this has put our nation to shame. I appeal to all chief ministers to tighten law and order. Whether it is Rajasthan, Chattisgarh or Manipur…the issue of a woman’s honour is above all politics. 

Manipur has been witnessing violence since May 3, following the protests by the Kuki and Naga communities against the High Court’s order asking the state government to consider the inclusion of Meitei community in the category of Scheduled Tribes (ST). Only STs can buy lands in hilly areas. 

The majority Meitei community, which occupy the Imphal valley and nearby areas, sought the ST status keeping in view their increasing population and increased requirement of land, so that they could purchase lands in the hilly areas.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

New Delhi: Delhi Police have examined 45 people while investigating the accusations of sexual harassment against WFI’s beleaguered boss Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by a top woman wrestler but only four corroborated the allegations while the others denied having witnessed any such incident.

According to the charge sheet filed by the city police, the complainant claimed three sexual harassment incidents happened abroad and two in India.

All four who corroborated the charges are relatives of the complainant and two of them were part of the protest at Jantar Mantar.

While summarising the events under investigation, police said the accused is liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences under sections 354, 354-A (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 354-D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Singh has consistently rejected the allegations and claimed he was “framed”.

One complaint is about the insult hurled at the woman wrestler by the accused and another is related to a show cause notice served to her by WFI.

According to the charge sheet, the accused touched the victim “inappropriately and put his hand on her breast and slid it down her stomach on the pretext of checking breathing” during the 2019 World Championship in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.

During the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, the accused “hugged her very tightly and did not let her go for good 15-20 seconds and she had to protect her breast to prevent from groping.”

In another incident narrated by the complainant, Singh molested her during the 2016 World Championship in Mongolia. According to the charge sheet, the victim suffered abuse when she was in the dining area in the hotel and Singh touched her breast and stomach.

One alleged incident is about molestation inside the WFI office on October 16-17, 2017.

“The complainant was touched inappropriately on her palm, knee, thigh and shoulders without her consent,” the charge sheet said.

According to the charge sheet, it was WFI that provided technical evidence in the form of photographs and videos that established that the accused and the victim were at the same spot in most places when alleged incidents took place.

Police found the technical evidence “clearly supports” the allegation levelled by the complainant to the extent of the presence of the accused.

While four witnesses corroborated the alleged misconduct, Delhi police also wrote that, “In all 07 coaches, 02 Physiotherapists, 02 Masseuses, 01 Psychologist, 11 wrestlers, 03 referees, who were present or accompanied the women wrestlers during all the various Wrestling Championships were also examined, but all of them denied witnessing the alleged incidents”.

The complainant also alleged that the accused insulted her during the Commonwealth Games trials at Lucknow Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in 2022 by taking her name publically and saying that he is not angry with her and will talk to her later.

According to the charge sheet, “The Police officials visited the place, took into possession a pen drive that had ‘video recording’ but none of the witnesses supported the version of the victim.” It was Sanjay Saraswat, the Executive Director of SAI Centre, Lucknow, who had provided the video of the event.

The charge sheet also mentions the version of the victim that she presented at the hearing conducted by the oversight committee constituted by the sports ministry to probe the allegations.

The CDRs (Call Detail Records) of the relevant people have bene obtained but so far nothing concrete has been established after going through them.

Jajpur (Odisha): A six-year-old boy died after he was allegedly administered injections by a medicine shop owner in Odisha’s Jajpur district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday in Mugupada village under the Dasarathpur Police Station limits after the minor, who was suffering from diarrhoea, was administered the injections in the chemist shop, an officer said.

The deceased was identified as Omm, the son of one Surendra Mallick of Mugupada, he said. The medicine shop owner allegedly administered two injections to the boy without any doctor’s prescription, after which the minor became unconscious, the family members claimed.

He was immediately taken to the district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Jajpur Town where doctors declared him brought dead. The family members of the deceased lodged a complaint at Dashrathpur police station on Monday night, alleging that the medicine shop owner was responsible for the death.

“Our son was suffering from diarrhoea and we took him to the medicine shop. The chemist administered two injections after which my child died,” said Kunalata, mother of the deceased.

The medicine shop owner was stated to be absconding, the police officer said.

Based on the complaint, the police have registered a case and started an investigation into the death.

Noida: Pakistani citizen Seema Haider, who entered India illegally in May and is staying with her partner here, was picked up Tuesday by the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad and questioned for over nine hours, a second day of quizzing by the agency.

A local police official said Haider’s Indian partner Sachin Meena, his father Netrapal Singh were also taken for questioning.

They were picked up from their residence in Rabupura area of Greater Noida around 8.30 am and brought to the ATS’s unit office in Noida around 10 am, where the questioning continued till late evening, the official said.

Haider, Meena and Singh left the ATS office around 8.15 pm. There was no comment from any ATS official and it was not clear whether they would be questioned again.

The cross-border couple was first interrogated by the UP ATS on Monday at its office in Noida and was allowed to go home about 10.30 pm. Haider (30) and Meena (22) were first arrested by the local police in Greater Noida on July 4 but were granted bail by a court on July 7.

Explaining the questioning process of the UP ATS, an agency officer on Monday told PTI that the couple “may or may not be arrested” after the interrogation, depending on the outcome of the inquiry in the sensitive matter that pertains to national security.

The local police is separately investigating the case lodged under the Foreigners Act and is yet to file a chargesheet.

Seema entered India along with her four children in a bus from Nepal in May to live with Sachin. The couple, who claims to have gotten married in Nepal earlier this year, had first got in touch in 2019 over online game PUBG.

On July 4, Seema was arrested by local police for entering India illegally and Sachin was held for sheltering illegal immigrants. However, they both were granted bail by a local court on July 7 and have been living together along with her four children in a house in the Rabupura area.

During her interactions with the media, Seema said she does not wish to go back to Pakistan and wants to live with Sachin. She also claimed to have turned a Hindu.

Back home in Pakistan, the family and neighbours of Seema Haider told a PTI correspondent that they do not want her to return, while a gang of dacoits attacked a Hindu temple with rocket launchers in the Southern Sindh province on Sunday.

The assailants attacked the small temple and adjoining homes belonging to Hindus in the Kashmore area of the Sindh province, a police officer there said. There was no loss of life in the attack.

The attack came days after dacoits in the Kashmore and Ghotki riverine areas had threatened violence at Hindu places of worship and community members in retaliation to Seema and Sachin’s PUBG love story.

Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have informed the country’s government that “love” is the “only” factor that led the mother of four to sneak into India to live with a Hindu man whom she befriended through an online game platform, a media report said on Monday.

Rahul Gandhi

Bengaluru: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said everybody knows who the winner is when someone stands against India and nobody has been able to fight the idea of India. Addressing the media here after deliberations between opposition leaders for the second day, Gandhi said the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are going to be a fight between “INDIA” and Narendra Modi.

The opposition has named its alliance as INDIA — the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance — as announced at the press conference after the meeting of the parties.

“All of you know who wins when anyone stands against India…. There is no need to spell it out,” Gandhi said. The former Congress chief also said it is known to everyone what happens to those who oppose or attempt to fight the idea of India.

“You can look in our history and you will see that nobody has been able to fight the idea of India. So I do not need to go into who is going to win this fight. This is a fight between the idea of India and the idea of the BJP…. This is a fight between INDIA and the BJP…. It is a fight between INDIA and Mr Narendra Modi,” he said.

Gandhi also said Tuesday’s opposition meeting, the second in a series, was very successful and things moved “very smoothly” during the deliberations that lasted for more than four hours.

He said the idea of India is being attacked today by the ideology of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The wealth of the country is being snatched from the millions and millions of countrymen and handed over to a few businessmen “who are close to the prime minister and the BJP”, the Congress leader alleged.

Noting that unemployment is spreading and prices are rising, he said this is what the fight is all about.

“The fight is about two different ideas of India and while we were having this discussion … this name frankly emerged from the discussion because we asked ourselves what is the fight … whom is the fight between?

“We realised that the fight is not between two political formations…. The fight is to defend the idea of India and that is why, we came up with the name — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, which also happens to stand for INDIA and what we are doing here as a group,” the former Congress chief said.

Gandhi also said “we are defending the Indian Constitution, the voice of the Indian people, the idea of our great country … the idea of India”. He said the third opposition meeting will be held in Maharashtra, where some key decisions will be taken.

“All of us have decided that we will prepare an action plan and move forward together and tell people about our ideology and what we plan to do for the country,” Gandhi said.

He thanked all the leaders for attending the meeting. Subsequently, in a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said: “Bharat will be united, INDIA will win.”