In a shocking incident, a physically challenged Dalit woman was gang raped in Vijayanagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, police said on Monday.

An auto-rickshaw driver and his two accomplices allegedly raped the 21-year-old, in Phool Bagh area of Vijayanagaram town late on Sunday night.

According to police, the woman was on her way to her sister’s house in the three-wheeler. The auto driver, who was accompanied by two other men, diverted the vehicle and took the victim to an isolated place, where the accused violated her.

A passerby rushed to rescue her after hearing her cries. He dropped the victim at her relatives’ house. She was later admitted to government-run hospital.

Police registered a case of rape and also under the SC/ST Act against the auto driver and the two others. A police officer said they were on the lookout for the accused.

People condemned the inhuman act of the accused and demanded stringent punishment.

The trials in the Kathua rape and murder case began on Monday (April 16) against eight accused. The accused include a juvenile.

As the trial in the case began in Kathua, the district and sessions judge asked the state Crime Branch to give copies of the chargesheet to the accused and fixed 28th of April as the next date of hearing.

The accused in the case pleaded not guilty and asked the district and sessions judge for a narco test.

The accused allegedly held an 8-year-old girl in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district for a week in January this year. She was kept sedated and sexually assaulted before being bludgeoned to death.

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here on Monday acquitted all five accused in the 2007 Makkah Masjid bomb blast case.

Eleven years after the powerful explosion killed nine people and injured more than 50 during the Friday prayers near the iconic Charminar here, the court held that none of the charges framed against the accused were proved.

A lawyer of one of the accused told reporters outside the Nampally criminal court complex here that the court held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges.

Hindu right-wing members Aseemanand, Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharatbhai and Rajender Chowdhary, who were charged by the NIA, were all acquitted.

The explosion ripped through the mosque on May 18, 2007. Two live IEDs were also recovered by police and defused. Later, five more people were killed in subsequent police firing on the crowd outside the mosque.

(IANS)

Cyber Crime officials of the Criminal Investigation Department are looking for a woman from Kolkata, who befriended a 34-year-old businessman from Bengaluru on a dating website and cheated him of Rs 59.7 lakh.

Businessman Santosh Reshmi told the police in his complaint that he came across the profile of Arpita on the website and befriended her. They exchanged photos and personal details. After several interactions, Arpita reportedly sought financial help from him saying that her father had been hospitalised in Kolkata and needed medical attention.

Initially he transferred Rs. 30,000 to her bank account. Few months after, she kept asking for money to be transferred to different bank accounts until he realised that he had given her Rs. 59.7 lakh.

This January, Santosh was unable to reach her on her mobile phone and her profile, too, had disappeared. When he realised he had been duped, he approached the CID and filed a complaint.

A disagreement about prostitution business among friends resulted in the murder of one of them in Kamakshipalya police headquarters limits. The incident took place when a group of six to seven assaulted the victim with deadly weapons and fled.

The deceased has been identified as Koteshwara Rao, 21, a resident of Kengeri. His friends , Chandra, Krishna and Antony are presently under treatment in Victoria hospital.

As per the police, Koteshwara was associated with running prostitution business. As of late they had moved the ladies from one area to another and Koteshwara and Suresh had fought about the financial issues.

On Thursday morning Koteshwara had gotten a call from Suresh, who requested that he meet him near Sunkadakatte Bridge. Suresh alongside Vinay, Kumar and others went to the spot in an auto and assaulted Koteshwara and his friends with deadly weapons and got away. The Kamakshipalya police have enrolled a case and are inspecting CCTV footages to catch the suspects

The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the CBI to arrest BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused in the Unnao rape case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DB Bhosale and Justice Suneet Kumar gave the direction to the agency after the counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government informed it that Sengar has been detained for interrogation and not arrested yet.
The court directed the CBI to carry out investigation strictly in accordance with law and to consider filing an application for cancellation of bail granted to other accused in the case.
It also directed the CBI to file a status report by May 2.
The bench passed the order on a letter written by senior advocate Gopal Swaroop Chaturvedi demanding a court-monitored investigation of the incident and treated it as a PIL.

Yesterday, the court had asked the Advocate General whether the state government proposes to arrest Sengar. Advocate General Raghvendra Singh had replied that he was not in a position to make any statement in this regard and police will proceed in accordance with the law only after recording the statement of the complainant and witnesses.

The CBI registered three separate cases in connection with the alleged rape and detained Sengar for questioning in the early hours today. The cases pertain to the alleged rape, killing of the girl’s father and a case of arms act which was slapped on her father in which he was arrested by local police. He had subsequently died in judicial custody and the autopsy report showed serious injuries on his body.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday thanked the “thousands of men and women” who stood with him in protesting the rising acts of violence against girls and women and said their battle for justice would not be in vain.

Gandhi led a midnight march to India Gate to protest the Kathua and Unnao minor rape cases and said it was time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to walk the talk on ‘beti bachao’ (save the girl child).

“Thousands of men and women stood up to be counted in the battle for justice and to protest the rising acts of violence against girls and women. “I thank each and every one of you for your support. It shall not be in vain,” he tweeted.

Gandhi was joined last night by his sister Priyanka, her husband Robert Vadra and scores of Congress leaders, party workers and others, some carrying candles and placards against the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir while demanding urgent action against the perpetrators of the two incidents.

In Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, an eight-year-old girl from the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community disappeared near her house on January 10. A week later, her body was found in the same area. A Special Investigation Team, formed to probe the incident, has arrested eight people, including two special police officers (SPOs) and a head constable, who was charged with destroying evidence.

In Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, a teen alleged that she was raped by ruling BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who was detained for questioning early today. She alleged she was raped by the MLA at his residence on June 4, 2017, where she had gone with a relative seeking a job. After filing of the case, her father was booked by the police under the arms act on April 3 this year and put in jail on April 5.

The police have arrested three men for killing their cook over a petty issue and later burnt the body in Marathahalli police headquarters limits.

The accused have been identified as Rami Reddy alias Ram Reddy, 52, who runs a Paying Guest accommodation in Kadubeesanahalli, Vineet, 22, a resident of the same PG and a supervisor of housekeeping branch of a private software company and Mahesh Reddy N, 22, who filled in as a supervisor at the PG. The three had killed, Murali, 25, who filled in as a cook at the same PG and hailed from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

As per the police, on April 7 around 7:30 pm, the police got a data that a half burnt body was found on the Challaghatta road and went to the spot. Investigation uncovered that he was killed as his body was burnt to destroy evidence.

The police then checked more than 200 CCTV cameras in the surrounding areas and the one from the close-by petrol pump helped them focus in on the executioners.

The accused had supposedly acquired petroleum to burn the body. The police had additionally dissected the cell phone signs of the considerable number of suspects and limited on Mahesh. The police kept him and during cross examination he admitted to his crime. Based on his statements, the police arrested the other two. Examinations uncovered that Mahesh, who was the supervisor of the PG, was furious that Murali was taking frequent holidays.

On April 6, Mahesh, alongside Murali, Ram Reddy and Vineet were drinking liquor at the PG. A contention broke out amongst Murali and Mahesh with respect to his regular absence and in rage Murali attacked Mahesh.

Murali breathed his last in the attack. The trio hired a car to dispose the body. They tied his hands and legs and stuffed his body in a plastic sack. They conveyed his body in the rented car, threw it in near the Airway compound on Challaghatta road and burnt it down. They left the place and later came back to the some point to check whether his face was recognizable or not.

The Marathahalli police, led by inspector Sadiq Pasha, solved the case inside three days.

Union minister Maneka Gandhi said her ministry would move a cabinet note on Monday to amend POCSO Act.

Union minister Maneka Gandhi said her ministry would move a cabinet note on Monday to amend POCSO Act.
Amid nationwide outrage and grief over the gangrape and murder of eight-year-old Asifa Bano at Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, there is a move to change the law for sexual crimes against children to bring in the death penalty for child rape.

Union Minister Maneka Gandhi declared it in a video message in which she said she was “deeply, deeply” disturbed by the Kathua rape case.
Maneka Gandhi, the Union women and child development minister, said her ministry would move a cabinet note on Monday to amend POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) Act.

“I have been deeply, deeply disturbed by the rape case in Kathua and all the recent rape cases that have happened on children. I and the ministry intend to bring an amendment to the POCSO Act asking for the death penalty for rape on children below 12 years,” said Maneka Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, on Thursday said a new law would be introduced awarding death sentence to those guilty of raping minors in the State.

Mufti tweeted, “We will never ever let another child suffer in this way. We will bring a new law that will make the death penalty mandatory for those who rape minors, so that little Asifa’s case becomes the last.”

8-year-old Asifa Bano, a nomad Bakerwal (herdsmen) girl, went missing while grazing horses in Rasana village of Hiranagar tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on January 17. Her body was found in woods near her village a week later.

The DNA and police investigations have revealed that she was held inside a local temple where she was drugged, raped and killed. The police have arrested eight people including the custodian of the temple, his son and two Special Police Officers for their alleged involvement in the crime. A police Sub-Inspector and a Head-Constable too have been arrested on charges of destroying evidence.

The Chief Minister in another tweet said, “I want to assure the entire nation that I stand committed not just to ensure justice for Asifa but also seek exemplary punishment for those responsible for a crime whose brutal savagery has shamed humanity.”

She had earlier in yet another tweet said, “The Law will not be obstructed by the irresponsible actions and statements of a group of people. Proper procedures are being followed, investigations are on the fast track & justice will be delivered. #JusticeFor Asifa.”

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has said he will submit to the law on his 1988 road rage case. His comment came after the Punjab government, of which he is a part, told the Supreme Court that it supported his conviction in the case.

“I don’t have any reactions. You submit to the majesty of the law,” Sidhu was quoted as saying, by news agency.

Punjab government counsel Sanram Singh Saron had on Thursday told the top court that it supported the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s conviction and the three-year sentence it had handed to the cricketer-turned-politician. Saron also told the court that there was no evidence to support the judgement of the trial court to conclude that the victim had died of cardiac arrest. The Punjab government lawyer had also categorically stated that Sidhu’s statement to the court denying his involvement was false.

Sidhu’s lawyer, RS Cheema, is set to offer rebuttal to the Punjab government’s contentions on April 17.

The prosecution maintains that Sidhu and a friend were present in a car parked near Sheranwala Gate Crossing on December 27, 1988. Gurnam Singh and two others were going to bank. As they reached Sheranwala Gate Crossing, Gurnam Singh found Sidhu’s car blocking the way, and called for the car to be moved so he could drive through. A heated exchange took place, in which Sidhu allegedly fled dealt one blow to Gurnam Singh, who was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Sidhu had been acquitted of the murder charges of Gurnam Singh by a trial court in September 1999, saying the 65-year-old had died of a heart attack and not brain haemorrhage. However, the High Court in 2006 reversed the verdict and held Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The high court sentenced them to three-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each.

In 2007, the Supreme Court stayed the conviction of Sidhu and Sandhu in the case, paving the way for him to contest the by-poll for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.