Jamshedpur: An ascetic, associated with a charitable organization, has been arrested for rape attempt on a minor girl in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said.

The 15-year-old girl, in her complaint, alleged misconduct on the part of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha (BSS) monk on December 18, he said. She, however, did not give details on the matter, the officer said.

The teenager had recently come here from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh with her brother and sister in-law, Deputy Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar noted.

The girl had put up at BSS’s Sonari complex with her relatives for 10 days before moving to a rented accommodation at nearby Kalganagar area. In her complaint, she said she had gone to the complex to visit a temple there, he noted. Her brother said that she was rescued from the monk’s bathroom.

The complainant’s brother told police that the girl went missing for several hours on Wednesday. He and his wife then reportedly visited the premises of the BSS and found the girl in the monk’s bathroom, Kumar said quoting the FIR. The accused has been arrested and the girl sent for medical check-up, the deputy SP said.

“We have arrested the accused monk based on the complaint. More details will be available in the case once the medical report arrives,” he said, adding that the Child Welfare Committee, East Singhbum, has also recorded the girl’s statement in connection with the case

PTI

Nasheman News : A 30-year-old man from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu has been arrested for raping a middle-aged British woman and robbing her belongings early on Thursday near the beach village of Palolem, police said.

Superintendent of Police (South Goa) Arvind Gawas said that CCTV footage near the scene of the offence and at the local railway station helped police track down the accused at the Margao railway station, located 35 km from Canacona village.

“The accused has been identified as Ramachandran, 30, and is from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. We arrested him as he was trying to flee from the Margao police station,” Gawas said.

The accused allegedly raped the British national around 4.30 a.m. when she was returning from the Canacona railway station to her guest house near Palolem beach after missing a train. Police have booked the accused for rape as well as robbery.

Police said that the accused first tried to rob her and chased her into nearby fields and then raped her, before fleeing with her bags which contained Rs 20,000 in cash. The victim is a regular visitor to Goa for the last 10 years.

Goa is a popular tourism destination attracting more than seven million tourists every year, half a million being foreign nationals. 

Over the last decade, crimes against foreigners, especially women, has been a cause for concern in Goa, especially after the sexual assault and subsequent death of a British teenager Scarlett Keeling in 2018.

District officials said that the Akshaya Patra Foundation had provided mid-day meals to one of the schools.

Over 100 students of government schools in Ballari and Bagalkot districts and around 25 students of a government primary school in Hagalur village in Ballari fell ill after consuming separate mid-day meals on Thursday.

According to Arun Rangarajan, the Superintendent of  Police of Ballari, several students saw a lizard in the meal, which was reported to the teacher. Soon after the incident was reported, several children in Classes 2, 3 and 4 began to vomit. They were immediately rushed to the local Primary Health Centre where they were treated for food poisoning.

“In Hagalur, the meal was prepared in the school itself. The lizard must have fallen into the sambar pot as it was not closed. All the children are out of danger and safe now,” SP Arun said.

In a similar incident in Bagalkot, over 90 children from classes 4, 5 and 6 of the Chikkamagi Government School fell sick after eating the mid-day meal. According to the Bagalkot District Health Officer Ananth Desai, the children began vomiting and a few of them fell unconscious after eating the mid-day meal on Thursday.

“Initially around 35 children began vomiting and three children fell unconscious. They were rushed to the primary health centre. As more children started falling sick, we had to transfer them to the district hospital (Bagalkot District Government Hospital). In total, 105 children have been treated for food poisoning. They were all discharged from the hospital this morning (Friday),” DHO Ananth Desai said.

Ananth Desai said that the mid-day meal was provided by the Akshaya Patra Foundation to the Chikkamagi School. Akshaya Patra had recently come under the government’s scanner after the state Food Commission had found discrepancies in the quality and quantity of food provided by the NGO.

K’taka Food Commission had stated that Akshaya Patra’s food was bland and monotonous as they did not use onion and garlic in the meals. This had led to children not eating the food. The commission had also noted that Akshaya Patra was not providing an adequate quantity of food as prescribed by the Karnataka government.

On Wednesday, the state food commission had met with representatives of Akshaya Patra in Bengaluru. “Akshaya Patra representatives said that they would find nutritional replacements for onion and garlic. They denied allegations of the food being bland. The government is testing the food quality and taste in every district. Once the test results are out, we will know how to proceed further,” said Krishnamurthy, the Chairman of the Food Commission.

Lucknow,  A Home Guard on patrol was shot dead in Budayun district of Uttar Pradesh early on Friday, police said.

Chatrapal, 36, was patrolling on foot near a petrol pump in Udhaiti along with his platoon commander Rajendra, when he signalled two bikes to stop, Superintendent of Police (Rural) S.P. Singh said.

Instead the four men on the two bikes opened fire at him, killing him on the spot. 

The incident happened near Mangal Bazaar on the Budayun-Bijnore highway around 4.30 a.m. 

A combing operation was underway to nab the unidentified gunmen. Major entry and exit points in the area have been barricaded.