Gurgaon: A 22-year-old woman from Sikkim was allegedly raped by three men in a moving car here and thrown out on a road in Delhi in yet another chilling rape incident in Haryana days after the Nirbhaya-like case in Sonipat. The woman was attacked at around 2 AM when she was returning from Delhi to her residence in Sector-17 here.

As she reached near her house, she was dragged by three men into their Swift car. They then took turns to rape her in the moving vehicle while heading to Najafgarh in the national capital, 20 kms from here, a senior police officer told PTI quoting the victim’s statement. The woman had gone to visit Connaught Place with her friend on Saturday night. The accused then threw her out in Najafgarh area and sped away, the officer said. The woman later approached some passersby and informed the Delhi Police which alerted the Gurgaon police.

A case of rape has been registered against three persons. One of the accused was addressed as Deepak by the others, police said. “We have identified a few vehicles on the basis of her statement and CCTV footage and raids are being conducted at various locations to nab the accused,” the officer said.

The incident comes days the gruesome gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old woman came to light after her decomposed and mutilated body was found near the Industrial Model Township in Urban Estate, Rohtak. The woman had gone missing from Sonipat on May 9. Stray dogs had bitten off the face and lower portion of her body.

Women’s safety remains an issue of concern despite a slew of steps taken by the government after the December 16, 2012 gang-rape and murder of a paramedic student in Delhi sparked nationwide outrage. She later came to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’ (the fearless).

(PTI)

The Hague: India fears that Kulbhushan Jadhav could be executed by Pakistan before its arguments are heard, India’s attorney Harish Salve said at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today.

The Indian national, who had been arrested on March 3 last year and sentenced to death on allegations of espionage and subversive activities, had been framed on the basis of confessional statements extracted from him when he was in Pakistan’s military custody, Salve added.

As the ICJ began hearing Jadhav’s case, India argued that human rights treated as “basics” all over had been thrown to the wind by Pakistan.

We want appropriate legal representation for Jadhav, India told the UN’s main judicial body which has stayed his death sentence.

New Delhi has called for immediate suspension of Jadhav’s death sentence and accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna convention by denying its 16 requests for consular access.

All requests for consular access to 46-year-old Jadhav had fallen on “deaf ears”, it said.

The present situation, Salve said before the court, was grave and that is why India had sought its indulgence. He described Jadhav’s trial process as “farcical” and stressed that Pakistan did not respond to Jadhav’s mother’s plea to see her son.

India is presenting its case first, followed by Pakistan later in the day. Both sides will get 90 minutes each to argue their case.

India may avail a “short extension” to present its case, the judge said in his opening remarks.

India had appealed against the death sentence on May 8 alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by Pakistan. On May 9, ICJ gave Jadhav a lease of life.

India, in its appeal to the ICJ, had asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy.

However, it denies that he has any connection with the government.

Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav from its restive Balochistan province.

The ICJ was last a battleground for India and Pakistan nearly 18 years ago when Islamabad sought its intervention over the shooting down of its naval aircraft.

(PTI)

Sonipat: A 23-year-old woman was gang raped and brutally murdered with her mutilated body being found in Rohtak district, police said today.

Stray dogs had bitten away the victim’s face and lower portion of her body which was spotted by a passerby in the urban estate area of Rohtak on May 11, they said.

“Two persons, Sumit and Vikas, have been arrested in this connection,” Sub-inspector rpt Sub-inspector Sonipat, Ajay Malik said.

Sumit was an acquaintance of the victim, he said.

The woman, who was a divorcee, was allegedly kidnapped from Sonipat on May 9 and taken to Rohtak in a car, police said.

The victim’s parents had lodged a missing complaint at Sonipat police station.

Malik said the woman was first raped and the suspects then hit her with a brick and smashed her face against a stone, adding that the victim sustained grievous head injuries.

The matter is being probed thoroughly, police added.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: For the second consecutive year, Kerala retained its Numero Uno status in the 2017 Public Affairs Index (PAI),

Kerala stands 1st in Governance for the second year in a row, says Public Affairs Index (PAI), an initiative by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC).

PAC is a think tank committed to good governance.

The PAI aims at objectively ranking the states of India in the field of governance on a wide variety of themes, focus subjects and indicators.

Launching the 2017 edition of Public Affairs Index as the Chief Guest was former Judge of the Supreme Court Santosh Hegde along with Chairman of PAC, former Chief Justice M N Venkatachaliah.

The PAI report revealed that states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Goa were at the top of the governance spectrum as seen from a wide range of important themes such as Essential Infrastructure, Support to Human Development, Social Protection, Women and Children, Crime, Law and Order, Delivery of Justice, Environment, Transparency and Accountability, Fiscal Management and Economic Freedom.

Kerala Chief Secretary SatyajeetRajan and Dr Purnima Chauhan, Secretary Administrative Reforms Department from Himachal Pradesh graced the occasion.

The 2016 edition of PAI included 25 focus subjects under ten themes and 68 indicators.

The 2017 PAI expands this scope to include 26 subjects and 82 indicators and also includes a new theme of ‘Inequality’.

Telangana makes its debut in the report as data for the State was unavailable for the previous year.
The PAI report uses statistics from sources available in the public domain and standardizes the data using the GSDP or population as the denominator while assigning the values of 1.0 and 0.0 to the highest and lowest performers respectively, and placing the other states in between these two end points.

Speaking at the book launch, Chairman of PAC and former Chief Justice M N Venkatachaliah said the Public Affairs Index will be a game changer in governance.

It creates a competitive environment among governments to secure the top spots that will without a doubt result in a direct benefit to the common man,’’ he said.

Author of PAI Dr C K Mathew, Senior Fellow at PAC and former Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, said Public Affairs Index is our attempt to produce a credible report on the quality of governance in India.
The attention that it received through its first edition in 2016 was heartening and inspired us to come out with the 2017 edition which we hope will aid future governments in providing better public services to the citizens of India.

The report categorises states into small and large states with the population of two crore as the distinguishing line.

Among the large states, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat secure the top three spots respectively while Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram are the best performers among the smaller states respectively.

The special chapter on Inequality examines three perspectives of economic disparity, social discrimination and gender bias through the lens of 25 indicators making a broad analysis of the issue in all its dimensions.

Kerala also emerged as the least unequal (or the most equal state) with Tamil Nadu and Punjab following closely. The special focus on Inequality makes PAI 2017 unique in the annals of comparative governance literature.

(Agencies)

The Supreme Court on Friday said the practice of triple talaq was the “worst” and “not desirable” form of dissolution of marriages among Muslims, even though there were schools of thought which termed it as “legal”.

There are “school of thoughts (which) say that triple talaq+ is legal, but it is the worst and not desirable form for dissolution of marriages among Muslims,” a five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, said on the second day of continued hearing on the matter.

The observation came when former Union minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid, who is assisting the court in his personal capacity, told the bench that it is not an issue where judicial scrutiny is required and moreover women have the right to say ‘no’ to triple talaq by stipulating a condition to this effect in ‘nikahnama’ (marriage contract).

The court asked Khurshid to prepare a list of Islamic and non-Islamic countries where triple talaq has been banned.

The bench was then informed that countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia do not allow triple talaq as a form to dissolve marriages.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for one of the victims, was blunt in his arguments and assailed the practice of triple talaq various constitutional grounds including the Right to Equality.

“The right of triple talaq is available only to the husband and not to the wife and it breaches the Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution,” Jethmalani said.

(PTI)

Srinagar: Clashes broke out between protesters and government forces in Nowhatta area of Srinagar city and in Shopian town in south Kashmir today, police said.

Groups of youth indulged in sloganeering and stone- pelting on government forces in Nowhatta soon after Friday congregational prayers ended at Jamia Masjid, a police official said.

He said forces used force including tear smoke shells in a bid to chase away the protesters.

The clashes were going on till last reports came in, he said, adding no one has been hurt in the incident so far.

Similar violent protests took place at Shopian district, prompting forces personnel to use force, the official said.

Clashes between protesters and forces triggered erupted in Sopore town of Baramulla district after congregational Friday prayers, triggering shutdown in the area.

Witnesses said that youth assembled near Markazi Jamia Masjid area of Sopore town and staged protest against the student detentions.

The protesters pelted stones on forces deployed in the main bazaar area who retaliated by lobbing teargas shells.

(Kashmir Reader)