Archives for February 2020

Hisar (Haryana): A court here on Wednesday sentenced a 24-year-old to life imprisonment for raping and impregnating a minor Dalit girl of a village in Hansi sub-division of Hisar district in 2017.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ved Prakash Sirohi pronounced the verdict on Sonu.

The court had held the youth guilty of crime on February 10 and the quantum of punishment was pronounced on Wednesday. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 47,000 on the convict.

According to the complainant’s counsel Rajat Kalsan, the father of the minor girl had filed a complaint on July 20, 2017 at the Sadar police station in Hansi in which he alleged that his daughter had gone to a panchayat land of the village to throw cow dung in March of that year.

The girl’s father had then alleged that the accused raped her there and continued to sexually exploit her over weeks, threatening to kill her.

After a few weeks, the victim had some pain in the stomach and narrated the incident to her parents. The girl was later found to be pregnant.

On the basis of the complaint, police had registered a case under IPC section 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation ), provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

On the court’s order, the victim’s abortion was done in Hisar civil hospital on July 30, 2017.

New Delhi: A group of Jamia Millia Islamia students on Wednesday alleged police kicked them in their private parts, tore their clothes and hijabs and abused them when they tried to march to Parliament on February 10 against the CAA and NRC.

Police have denied to give any immediate reaction on the charges.Hundreds of Jamia students and residents of nearby areas were stopped by police on Monday from taking out a march to Parliament against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and a possible National Register of Citizens, leading to a stand-off during which scuffles broke out between protesters and security personnel.

Around 20 students appeared before the media here on Wednesday under the Jamia Coordination Committee and narrated the alleged police brutalities they faced on that day.

The said they were stopped near the Holy Family Hospital where police allegedly thrashed them with their boots, batons, flash rods and steel gear they were wearing.

At least 23 people were taken to Al Shifa and Ansari Hospital for treatment after the scuffle on Monday.The students were speaking to the media after being discharged from the hospitals.

The female students alleged police kicked them in their private parts, stood on their thighs and tore their hijabs.

On Monday, the protestors had begun their march at noon from university’s gate number 7, which has seen demonstrations for the last two months, barring last Friday and Saturday when the protesters had shifted the venue due to elections.

The police stopped the protesters after they had marched for two kilometres and appealed them not to go further as there was no permission and prohibitory orders had been imposed.

New Delhi: Decomposed bodies of an e-rickshaw driver, his wife and three children were found inside their house in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura area under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday morning, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Shambhu Chaudhary (43), Sunita (37), Shivam (17), Sachin (14) and Komal (12), they said.

The police received information at 11.16 am from neighbours, who complained of foul smell emanating from the house.

The police broke open the door of the house and found the five decomposed bodies.

The bodies have been sent for a post-mortem examination.

The cause of the death is yet to be ascertained and a forensic team has been called at the spot which is examining the case, said Ved Prakash Surya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast).

No note has been recovered from the spot, he said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Shambhu Chaudhary was earning his livelihood by driving an e-rickshaw in Bhajanpura.

He had put as a tenant at the rented house for the past five months. He hailed from Supaul district in Bihar, the DCP added.

New Delhi: Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad on Wednesday called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on February 23 against a Supreme Court ruling that states were not bound to provide reservation in promotion and appointments in public employment and also quota is not a fundamental right.

He urged MPs and MLAs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes to build pressure on the government to bring an ordinance to nullify the ruling.

Azad said his outfit will hold a march from Mandi House to Parliament on February 16 to press for its demands.

New Delhi: A 40-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly firing at the convoy of newly elected AAP legislator Naresh Yadav in southwest Delhi when he and his supporters were returning home after visiting a temple, killing a party volunteer, police said on Wednesday.

The Aam Aadmi Party volunteer killed in the incident has been identified as Ashok Mann while the accused has been identified as Dharmender, alias Kallu, they said.

“Last last year, just before Diwali, the two (Mann and Dharmender) had a fight over some issue. Around 15 days ago, they again had a fight. It is suspected that Dharmender fired at Mann due to personal enmity,” a senior police officer said.

Three people have been mentioned as suspects in the FIR.The firing incident took place at Kishangarh village late on Tuesday night.

Sources said seven rounds were fired at the MLA’s convoy.Another person injured in the incident has been admitted to a hospital.

“Convoy of MLA Naresh Yadav attacked in Mehrauli, Ashok Mann killed. Naresh Yadav was returning home after visiting a temple,” AAP leader Sanjay Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.

“At least one volunteer has passed away due to bullet wounds. Another is injured,” AAP tweeted.

Ankit Lal, AAP’s social media in-charge, added that the miscreants in another car opened fire on the MLA’s convoy near Fortis Hospital.

Dubai: A 32-year-old Indian man is fighting for his life after sustaining 90 per cent burn injuries while trying to save his wife from a fire at their home in the UAE, according to a media report.

Anil Ninan, who hails from Kerala, is in a very critical condition and has sustained 90 per cent burn injuries, his close relative was quoted as saying by the Khaleej Times.

“Doctors said his condition is very critical. We are all praying for him,” said July, Anil’s relative who is in the hospital.

However, the condition of his wife is stable.

“She is doing okay. She has only 10 per cent burns and is recovering,” the relative said.

The incident happened on Monday when Anil was trying to save his wife Neenu from the fire that was caused by a short circuit from the electric box placed in the corridor of their apartment in Umm Al Quwain city in the UAE, the report said.

The couple, who has a four-year-old son, was rushed to the Sheikh Khalifa General Hospital in Umm al Quwain and was later shifted to Mafraq hospital in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for critical care, Sojan Thomas, vicar of St Thomas Mar Thoma Church in Ras Al Khaimah, told the daily.

“We do not know the exact details. But Neenu first caught fire while she was in the corridor. Anil who was in the bedroom ran to his wife and was trying to save her when the flames spread to him,” said the vicar, who knew the couple for more than a year. PTI

New Delhi: A Delhi court Wednesday offered Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, legal aid after he said that he does not have a lawyer.

Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana expressed displeasure over delay from Pawan’s side who said he has removed his earlier lawyer and will need time to engage a new one.

Nirbhaya’s parents and the Delhi government had moved the court on Tuesday seeking fresh death warrants for the convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was later postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order. The trial court had on January 31 stayed “till further orders” execution of the four convicts in the case, who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

The Tihar jail authorities had filed a status report on Tuesday before the trial court stating that no legal option was preferred by any convicts — Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31) — in last seven-day period, granted by the Delhi High Court.

Pune: President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said the Reserve Bank’s enhanced regulatory role will deter malpractices and make the nation’s financial system more credible.

“Regulatory oversight of the RBI has also brought greater stability of banking operations,” the president said in his address at the golden jubilee celebration of the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) here.

He said recently the role of RBI as regulator has been enhanced, and “We trust that this will deter malpractices and make our financial system more credible”.

Banks are fulcrum of the country’s economic ecosystem, and have played a sterling role in fuelling India’s growth over the years, he stated.

Through financial inclusion, we have taken rapid strides to cover the unbanked population, and the increase of deposit insurance from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh is a positive step in assuring our savers, he added.

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal is likely to be sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi on February 16 for the third time at the Ramlila Maidan, sources said on Wednesday.

Kejriwal’s oath-taking ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan also assumes significance as it was from this ground that he along with Anna Hazare led a massive anti-corruption agitation.

He has taken oath as the chief minister twice before at the same venue.

The Aam Aadmi Party swept the Delhi Assembly polls bagging 62 out 70 seats and decimating its rivals BJP and Congress. The BJP bagged eight seats.