Mar 24, 2012: IPS officer accused of sexual harassment dismissed

IANS | Mar 24, 2012, 07.08PM IST

RANCHI: Indian Police Service (IPS) officer PS Natarajan, suspended from service on charges of sexually exploiting a tribal woman, has been dismissed from service, a senior Jharkhand official said Saturday. 

"Natarajan has been dismissed," state Home Secretary J.B. Tubid told IANS. 

Natrajan, then inspector general of police of Ranchi, remained suspended since August 2005 when a television news channel showed him in a compromising position with a tribal woman, Sushma Badaik. 

In her complaint, Badaik said she was sexually exploited by Natarajan who assured her justice against another IPS official. After his suspension, Natarajan was sent to jail. He is at present on bail and facing a case in a Ranchi court. 

Following the scandal, the Jharkhand government had initiated the process for Natarajan's dismissal. The state had recommended to the central government and the Union Public Service Commission that Natarajan be sacked and its recommendation was accepted.
Link: IPS officer accused of sexual harassment dismissed

Mar 24, 2012: 40-year-old woman raped by two neighbors

PTI | Mar 24, 2012, 09.28PM IST

GREATER NOIDA: A 40-year-old woman from West Bengal, working as a labourer at a construction site here, was allegedly raped by her two neighbours in a car.

The victim, who had separated from her husband and was leaving alone after marrying off her daughter, was last night visited by her two neighbours -- Raju and Saini -- at her house in Garhi Shahdara village, police said.

Saini proposed the victim for marriage. After she accepted the proposal, the two men brought a car and took her away with them.

Later, the two men allegedly raped her in the car near Pushta and then threw her out of the vehicle.

Following a complaint by the woman, the two men were arrested by Surajpur Police, police said.
Link: 40-year-old woman raped by two neighbors

Mar 24, 2012: Two dalit girls in Madhya Pradesh stripped in examination hall

Suchandana Gupta, TNN | Mar 24, 2012, 02.17AM IST
BHOPAL: Two dalit girls appearing for their first board examinations in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh were allegedly stripped by female invigilators while 40 male students watched. Both of them are 15. The incident took place on March 15 during the Class X mathematics examination, but it was reported to the district administration only on Friday. 

The alleged outrage happened during an anti-cheating check in the government higher secondary school in Barhebara village. A handful of girls and 40 boys of Barhebara and neighbouring villages were appearing for the examination. The female examiners involved, Preeti Sharma and Reshma Simaiya, suspected that some students were using paper bits to copy and picked the two minor girls and asked them to strip. 

One of the girls told sub-divisional magistrate (Gadarwara) P N Yadav that when she refused to obey the examiner's orders, one of them allegedly shouted: "Strip, or I will cut the cord of your salwar." When the girls refused, the examiners allegedly stripped them while male classmates sniggered and cracked jokes. Nothing was found to suggest they had cheated and the girls were allowed to leave after the three-hour test was over. 

The girls did not inform their family members for the next nine days. Finally on Friday, they broke down before their parents, who complained to the district administration. The administration has ordered an inquiry. 

Speaking to TOI, Narsinghpur district collector Sanjay Singh said: "A complaint has been registered with us and we have asked the block education officer to start a probe immediately and submit a report. It is a serious allegation and we are expecting the report to reach us by Saturday after which the administration will be in a position to comment." 

Link: Two dalit girls in Madhya Pradesh stripped in examination hall

Mar 24, 2012: Parents try to kill daughter for marrying against their wish

Press Trust of India, Updated: Mar 24, 2012 08:20 IST
Salem: The parents of a newly married woman software engineer were today arrested for allegedly trying to kill her, after the young techie married against their wishes.
They threw gelatin sticks into the room where she was sleeping, police said. 
One of their relatives, who procured the sticks, was also arrested, they said. 
23-year-old Ragapriya, working in a software firm in Bangalore, fell in love with a colleague Tharamanaglam and they got married at a registrar's office in Salem district on March 14, police said. 
Her parents and other relatives were opposed to it, they said. 
Police said her parents got their relative, who had taken a loan from them, to contact the quarry owner and get the gelatine sticks. 
On Friday morning, they threw the sticks in but it exploded in a room adjacent to the one in which the couple were sleeping, police said.
Link: Parents try to kill daughter for marrying against their wish

Mar 24, 2012: Woman gang-raped in Manipur, 2 India Reserve Battalion jawans held

TNN | Mar 24, 2012, 02.12AM IST

Manipur: Four persons, including a havildar and a rifleman of India Reserve Battalion (IRB), have been arrested in connection with an alleged gangrape of a 40-year-old woman at Keinou village in Manipur's Bishnupur district. The woman was going to Imphal in a truck with her relatives with to sell firewood and chilly early on Thursday.

Suddenly, four persons came in a car and stopped the truck and abducted the woman, a police source said. Later, the victim was taken to an isolated place in the district where she was sexually assaulted by two persons. Following a complaint lodged by the victim, Bishnupur Police arrested the four accused from different parts of Imphal, the sources added. A country-made 9mm pistol, Rs 6,500 in cash and a mobile were found on them.
Link: Woman gang-raped in Manipur, 2 India Reserve Battalion jawans held

Mar 24, 2012: ‘Jilted lover’ stabs woman in busy street

Nitasha Natu, TNN | Mar 24, 2012, 02.17AM IST

MUMBAI: A 23-year-old woman was stabbed in a busy street in Malad (East) in broad daylight on Friday. The accused brandished a chopper at stunned onlookers and fled before anyone could react. His identity is not known. The police said the man could have been motivated by unrequited love. 

Seema Parab, the deceased, had been working as an accountant at a beauty salon in Borivli (West) for a year. She was unmarried and stayed at Konkanipada, Malad (East) with her parents and sisters. 

Around 9 am on Friday, Seema left home for the salon. As she was walking on Vijay Salaskar Marg to reach the railway station, a man started coming towards her. He held a chopper in one hand and a knife in the other. "Before Seema could realize what was happening, the man stabbed her with the knife twice in the abdomen and then slit her throat. As she screamed for help, the accused waved the chopper at onlookers to scare them. He then turned around and ran, dropping the chopper in haste. We have recovered it from the spot," said a police officer. 

After the man fled, onlookers gathered around a profusely bleeding Seema. An autorickshaw driver, Javed Shaikh, saw her writhing in pain and put her in his vehicle. He then drove towards the Kurar police station, which was nearby. On the way, Seema gave him her father's cellphone number. Shaikh dialled it but got no response from Ankush Parab, who works as a watchman and has a heart ailment. "After informing us at the police station, Shaikh took Seema to the SK Patil Hospital in Malad. As her injuries were grave, doctors there suggested that she be moved to the civic-run Bhagwati Hospital in Borivli," senior inspector Subhash Dafle said. At Bhagwati, doctors declared Seema dead around 11am. The body was sent for a post-mortem examination. 

"Seema's jewellery was intact, which means that the culprit's intention was not robbery. We spoke to her parents and learnt that she was an introvert and selective about making friends. Though nobody seemed to be aware of any love affair or a boyfriend, it is a possibility we cannot rule out. We are now making inquiries with her colleagues and friends as to whether they were aware of any dispute she could have had," Dafle said; eyewitnesses, too, are being questioned. 

Seema had four sisters, one of them married. The police are going through Seema's cellphone records to check who--apart from her family members--she spoke to on the day of the incident and the previous night. A case of murder has been registered against an unidentified person under section 302 of the IPC by the Kurar police. The crime branch is conducting a parallel investigation in the case. 
Link: ‘Jilted lover’ stabs woman in busy street

Mar 24, 2012: 18-year-old neighbour accused of raping mnior girl in Kasan

Sanjay Yadav, TNN | Mar 24, 2012, 03.09AM IST

GURGAON: Another case of rape has been reported from Kasan village, this time that of a 15-year-old girl by her 18-year-old neighbour. The victim's kin lodged an FIR against the accused who is at large. 

According to the police, the 15-year-old victim was raped by his neighbour late on Thursday evening. In the complaint, the victim's family members have alleged that Sangram Singh, a resident of the same village, kidnapped the victim when she was on her way to a grocery store late on Thursday night. The accused took her to a lonely place and allegedly raped her, said the police. 

After a medical examination of the victim, the Manesar police lodged an FIR against the accused. "He will be behind bars soon," said a senior police officer. 
Link: 18-year-old neighbour accused of raping mnior girl in Kasan

Mar 24, 2012: Woman accuses sarpanch of rape

TNN | Mar 24, 2012, 07.13AM IST

BHOPAL: A 35-year-old woman has levelled rape charges against former sarpanch in Berasia area on Thursday.

The woman was known to the accused, Bhairav Singh, around 60 years of age. In her complaint, she reportedly told the police that the accused met her on the way to market and accosted her. He took her to his home, where she claims that she was allegedly raped. A case was registered in this connection.
Link: Woman accuses sarpanch of rape

Mar 23, 2012: Courageous schoolgirl helps bust sex racket

IANS | Mar 23, 2012, 05.32PM IST

DARJEELING: The bravery of a class 12 school girl resulted in the busting of a sex racket and the arrest of four people, including a married couple, here. A Rs 5,000 award was announced for the student whose efforts also resulted in a woman being saved from trafficking. 

The accused Nabin Thapa -- arrested from Siliguri, and Vishal Labar and Samir Thatal -- arrested from Darjeeling -- have been sent to 10 days' police custody while Thapa's wife Abanita Thapa was admitted to a hospital after she complained of ill-health following her arrest. 

"The arrests have brought to light a trafficking gang operating in this region and also running a prostitution racket in Delhi. We can expect more arrests in the near future," said Darjeeling superintendent of police, Anant Kumar. 

Police have also sought help from the Delhi Police to nab others involved in the racket. 

The Thapa couple approached the victim - a divorcee and a mother of two - with promise of a job which she was desperately seeking. She was offered a highly rewarding job in Delhi. 

After she agreed to the job, she was told that she would be picked up by two men (Labar and Thatal) who would take her to Delhi for the promised job. She got regular calls from a Delhi number giving details about the job and the men who would accompany her. 

Days before she was supposed to leave for Delhi, the woman met the school student and during a casual chat, told her the job offer. 

The student who earlier had attended a workshop on trafficking, organised by an NGO in her school, grew suspicious about the job promise and started calling the Delhi number seeking a job for herself. 

During her talks with the job agent, she realised that it was a trafficking racket and immediately contacted the NGO and police who later laid a trap and nabbed the culprits. The identity of the student, victim and the NGO has not been revealed by the police. 

For her bravery, the CID has announced a cash reward of Rs 5,000 for the girl student.
Link: Courageous schoolgirl helps bust sex racket

Mar 23, 2012: Headless body: Live-in partner killed woman

TNN | Mar 23, 2012, 06.57AM IST

NEW DELHI: The woman whose dismembered and headless body was found in a gunny bag near the Inderlok Metro station last Saturday night (March 17) was killed by her live-in partner, police claimed on Thursday. They also said the murder was not related to the discovery of a man's body on the Grand Trunk Express in Chennai the same day. 

Police said Pooja, 20, a native of Pauri Garhwal, and Yogesh Sharma, 21, had been living together for two years when she recently announced her pregnancy, and started pressuring him to marry her. But Yogesh, who wanted to be rid of her, brought over two friends on March 16 and allegedly killed her with their help. 

The north Delhi district police, who have arrested Yogesh and his friends Vinay Kumar and Ajay, said they cracked the case with just two initial clues and extensive legwork . The initials 'PJ' and 'YS' tattooed on Pooja's severed right forearm hinted at the names of the victim and someone intimate, while a torn photograph of a woman on the riverbank in Haridwar, with the name Pooja scribbled behind it, pointed to the victim's likely roots. TOI had first reported the significance of this photograph on Tuesday. 

Investigators scanned a database of missing women to match the photo, and also made enquiries with photographers in Haridwar. Suspicions were roused when a couple enquired about a missing woman at the Shanti Nagar (Keshav Puram) police post soon after the body was found. Questioning of the police personnel revealed that the man was Yogesh and the woman was Pooja's elder sister. "The policemen said Yogesh was not very keen to lodge a report and he was only making a show of searching for Pooja before her elder sister," said IB Rani, DCP north. 

Police said the accused, who were arrested from Yogesh's factory in Tri Nagar on Thursday morning, had confessed to killing Pooja and then dumping her body. Piecing together the sequence of events, officials said Yogesh, Vinay and Ajay got together at the couple's rented house last Friday afternoon for drinks. Later, they choked Pooja to death, hacked her body into pieces, and dumped it in the drain called Ganda Nala in the Sarai Rohilla area. 

Rani said Yogesh and his friends had burnt Pooja's head before cutting her body into pieces. The police have found the chopper used in the crime, and some remnants of the body in Yogesh's factory. But the head has not been found. 

The incident had sent shockwaves in the capital. Around 11am last Saturday, an officer inside the emergency response vehicle patrolling near the n a l a (Najafgarh Drain) behind Inderlok Metro station had noticed a gunny bag wrapped in a blanket near the wall of the drain. 

"The stomach was found cut and the legs were cut into four pieces. The left hand was cut in three while the right hand was cut in two. On inspection , the letters 'PJ' were found tattooed near the wrist on the right hand while 'YS' was tattooed on the right forearm ," said Rani. "The head was also severed and burnt. It was thrown into the Ganda Nala." 
Link: Headless body: Live-in partner killed woman