Bangalore child rape: Activists, parents protest against school
Bangalore:Hundreds of socio-political activists and parents Friday staged a massive demonstration against a private school in the city’s eastern suburb where a six-year-old girl student was allegedly raped twice this week by a teacher. Seeking severe punishment to the suspect and stringent action against the school for the horrifying crime in its premises, many parents said the management was not forthcoming on what safety measures it had taken to protect their wards.Of the four closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the school premises, only one was working while the others were defective, a parent alleged. “The cameras also do not cover the entire school complex, especially first and second floors of the rectangular building, rest rooms and the whole playground in the middle. Only two guards are seen at the main gate while no maids are posted inside to ensure safety of girl students,” another parent said on the condition of anonymity. In a swift action, suspect Jaishankar, 38, a Hindi teacher in Cambridge School, was arrested late Thursday hours after the victim’s mother lodged a complaint in the local police station about her daughter, reading in first standard, being sexually abused Oct 28-29 in the school premises. “We will present the suspect in a local court to seek his custody for interrogation. We are waiting for the victim’s medical report from the state-run hospital in the city where she was examined for the sexual assault to investigate the case,”Alok Kumar told reporters near the school.(IANS)
Odisha BJP to step up campaign against scams
Bhubaneswar:Dubbing BJD Government in Odisha as a total failure, BJP on Friday said it would step up campaign against corruption and ensure that all culprits in chitfund and mining scams in the state are booked. “Culprits in chitfund and mining scams in Odisha will not be allowed to go scotfree at any cost as BJP is determined to intensify the campaign against corruption in all forms,” BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters here. Asserting that nobody can protect the culprits in chitfund scam who have looted poor investors’ money, Patra said CBI is already investigating the matter and all those involved in loot would be taken to task. Similarly, the demand made by state BJP for a thorough probe into the mining scam would be pushed effectively at the national level to ensure that all those involved in plunder of mineral resources are booked, Patra said. “As a political party we will raise the issue forcefully,” he said adding that BJP was taking concrete steps to strengthen the party in Odisha.(PTI)
HC sets aside life term of man in rape, murder charge
New Delhi:The Delhi High Court has set aside the life imprisonment awarded to a man for raping and killing a 60-year-old woman, whom he used to call his mother. A division bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Mukta Gupta set aside a trial court order which had awarded life term to Achey Lal for allegedly raping the woman while he was in an inebriated state, resulting in her death. “It is proved beyond reasonable doubt from the postmortem report that the woman too had consumed alcohol before she was subjected to sexual intercourse. “Achey Lal, even if held guilty for causing the offence of rape, cannot be held guilty of murder as he neither had any intention nor knowledge that such a forceful act of sexual intercourse would cause the death of the woman. Consequently, he is acquitted for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC,” the judge said. The court, while allowing the appeal of Achey against his conviction and sentence, also acquitted him of the charges of rape saying, “As regards the offence punishable under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC, the woman was aged over 60 years, thus beyond the age of menopause.(PTI)
ED defused in Shopian district
Srinagar: Security forces on Friday detected and defused an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in south Kashmir’s Shopian district weeks ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state, police said. The IED, weighing about five kilogrammes, was hidden inside a small LPG cylinder in an orchard near the Mughal Road, they said. The traffic on the road was stopped briefly till the cylinder was recovered and taken to a safe place. The IED was later defused through a controlled explosion by the bomb disposal squad, he said, adding it was apparently planted to target security forces passing through the area. Polling in Jammu and Kashmir will take place on November 25, December 2, 9, 14 and 20 and counting of votes will be on December 23. (PTI)
