Jul 21, 2012: Woman 'raped', murdered by husband's friend

TNN | Jul 21, 2012, 01.24AM IST

HAROA: A 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped before being killed by her husband's friend at Haroa in North 24-Parganas on Friday. The body was sent for autopsy.

The accused, Fakir Ahmed, has reportedly gone into hiding.

The victim's husband and Fakir, both fish sellers, happen to be friends. Usually, they used to go to work together. On Friday, while the victim's husband left for work, Fakir chose to stay back. Instead, he went to the house of the victim, who was at home with her two sons - aged seven and two years.

Fakir reportedly heckled the sons, pushed them out and locked the room from inside. Later, when he left and the kids entered the room, they found their mother lying unconscious on the floor with her clothes stripped off. On being informed, the victim's husband summoned police. The husband has lodged a complaint against Fakir, stating that she may have been raped before being murdered.

Police suspect the woman was strangled. They are probing if there was a rift between Fakir and her husband . Raids are on to nab Fakir.
Link: Woman 'raped', murdered by husband's friend

Jul 20, 2012: National Commission for Women should be scrutinised, not scrapped

Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, TNN | Jul 20, 2012, 07.56PM IST

MUMBAI: Recent statements by members of the National Commission for Women (NCW) following the Guwahati molestation case have raised a public outcry for the ouster of offending members as well as scrapping of the commission. While the latter might be an extreme stand to take, the events certainly highlight the need for more scrutiny of the body, its role and effectiveness. 

The public ire is probably justified given the series of gaffes. First, a member of the NCW, Alka Lamba who was on the fact-finding committee of the case revealed the name of the molested victim. She was subsequently removed from the committee. 

Then came the statement by chairperson Mamta Sharma suggesting that women should dress carefully. A group created on Facebook on Friday and a petition by www.change.org now demands her sacking from the post on the ground that her statements account to blaming the victim rather than condemning the assaulters; a stand that is clearly contrary for a body claiming to protect women's rights. 

However, the actions of a few members cannot raise doubts about the existence of the body as a whole. Time and again gender insensitive statements have unfortunately been made by officials across ranks. We cannot after all do away with the police force because one Andhra Pradesh DGP, Dinesh Reddy in another incident had passed insensitive statements regarding attacks on women. 

A review of the NCW however, is certainly in order. Experts have time and again recommended changes in the structure of the NCW and it might be a good time to revisit some of the suggestions made. One of the most pressing of which has been revising the process of appointing members to the Commission. With no independent powers, NCW members are appointed by the Centre; this could translate to political appointees getting preference over true calibre. A restructuring of the organisation might be a good start. 

It has also been suggested that the body should be wrested with more powers; as its role is largely recommendatory in function. This means its reports are not necessarily binding on government agencies. 

Giving the body more teeth and finances might elevate its worth as well as attract more passion-driven involvement of members.
Link: National Commission for Women should be scrutinised, not scrapped

Jul 20, 2012: Acid attack on woman near police station in Belgaum

R Uday Kumar, TNN | Jul 19, 2012, 08.53PM IST

BELGAUM: A 33- year- old woman sustained severe burn injuries after an unidentified person poured acid on her in Yamakanmardi police station limits. 

This came to light during the weekly Janata Darshan conducted by Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil at his office here on Thursday. A 33 year old Ujwala Jinappa of Hosur village of Hukkeri taluk is a victim, she is an social worker in the village. 

On July 17 early morning at around 3am some miscreants pelted stone on her house, when she opened the door to see the miscreants, unidentified person poured acid and ran away. She couldn't notice the person as it was pitch dark. Immediately she was rushed to local hospital for treatment. 

According to Ujwala, some unknown person used to call and pester her using abusing language. He threatened the lady of dire consequences like flashing up of acid on her face in the last Nagarapanchami. But it is surprised that the threat became reality before Nagapanchami this year. 

For the past one year he is pestering Ujwala over phone and on November 24, 2011, she also files a complaint at Yamakanmardi Police station. The police failed to take any serious action and Ujwala had to face the consequences on July 17. "I want justice the guilty should be arrested at the earliest" adds Ujwala. His son Prajwal, who was also present during the Janatha Darshan who is studying in tenth standard in government school, was very upset and shattered with the incident. "The police should give justice to my mother by arresting the culprit at the earliest" said shattered Prajwal. 

Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil who has taken the case very seriously said "few months back similar case was registered in Shapur Police limits and we were successful in arresting the culprit, so in this case also we are very much confident that the guilty will be nabbed in couple of days". Nearly 50 petitions were received during the Janatha Darshan here on Thursday.
Link: Acid attack on woman near police station in Belgaum

Jul 20, 2012: Jawan held for raping officer's minor daughter in Ooty

TNN | Jul 21, 2012, 04.39AM IST

UDHAGAMANDALAM: An Army jawan attached to the Defence Service Staff College, located inside the Wellington cantonment in the Nilgiris district, was arrested on Friday for allegedly raping his superior officer's minor daughter on Thursday. The jawan, Bupender Singh (28) was working as an orderly in the house of the eight-year-old girl's father, a colonel.

The girl's father, a native of Madhya Pradesh, and his wife, also a defence officer in the rank of major, were working in Punjab. They were transferred to Wellington 20 days ago. The jawan, a native of Uttarakhand who was working in the officer's house in Punjab, also got a transfer and came to Wellington, police said.

Singh was arrested based on a complaint filed by the girl's mother. "Based on the complaint, an enquiry was conducted. Subsequently, Bupender Singh was arrested in the evening," police inspector Chennakesavan said. He was charged under IPC Section 376 (rape) and remanded in judicial custody. The girl was sent to Ooty government hospital for medical examination on Friday and the doctors confirmed rape, police said.

The couple was staying in a house in the army quarters. The alleged incident took place on Thursday when the girl's parents had gone for work. The girl had not gone to school as she was sick and was alone at home. She shouted for help and neighbours rushed to the house and caught the orderly red-handed.

"We charged the jawan with rape only after the getting the doctor's report. He has been lodged in Coimbatore central prison. We are conducting a detail inquiry," Chennakesavan said.
Link: Jawan held for raping officer's minor daughter in Ooty

Jul 20, 2012: Woman teacher beaten to death in Patna

PTI | Jul 20, 2012, 05.01PM IST

PATNA: A lady teacher of a private school was beaten to death by unidentified persons in Patna today, police said. 

Unidentified persons stormed the house of Nilam Singh and beat her to death in Indirapuri colony, city SP Jayant Kant said. 

She was a teacher of Ankur Public School here. 

Her body was brought to a hospital for postmortem, he said adding an investigation was on.
Link: Woman teacher beaten to death in Patna

Jul 19, 2012: Man arrested for piercing wife's genitals in Indore

Kundan Pandey, Ankur Sirothia & Suchandana Gupta, TNN | Jul 19, 2012, 03.18AM IST

INDORE/BHOPAL: The brutal tale of a mechanic in Indore piercing the genitals of his wife and inserting a lock there in order to prevent her from having an affair is such a barbaric act that it belies the fact that we're living in the 21st century. The mechanic Sohan Lal was arrested on Tuesday.

The incident came to light when the woman consumed poison and was admitted to MY Hospital for treatment late on Monday night. She took poison when her husband Sohan got her drunk so that he could rape his elder daughter.

During the treatment, the doctors were horrified when they found a lock in her genitals. They noticed it when they were trying to insert a tube to discharge the poison. They informed the police about the incident.

Later, in her complaint, the victim said that Sohan, a resident of Musakhedi in the city, locked her in a room in the night in 2008 and pierced her genitals with a spiky instrument when she was sleeping.

The victim said that she was married to Sohan when she was 16-years-old and since then her husband has been torturing her some way or the other. She said that her husband was now trying to rape their elder daughter.

After drinking poison, the woman informed her sister about it. Her sister's son admitted her to the hospital and it led to the unfolding of the entire act. Police arrested the accused and registered an offence under Sections 326 and 498 A of the IPC. MY Hospital superintendent V S Bhatia said that the condition of the woman was under control.

The head of crime against women cell, additional director general (ADG) of police, Aruna Mohan Rao told TOI, "The process to appoint women protection officers is still underway and it is likely to be completed within the next few months. There is no women protection officer in Bhopal as of now", she added.
Link: Man arrested for piercing wife's genitals in Indore

Jul 18, 2012: Man kills wife, drives with her in front seat for 3 hours

Saurabh Prashar, TNN | Jul 18, 2012, 04.15AM IST

CHANDIGARH: A Chandigarh businessman strangulated his wife, put the dead body in the front seat of a car, fastened the seat belt, and drove for over three hours, covering a distance of over 100 kms, to dump the body in Hoshiarpur in Punjab.

And to be doubly-sure that she was dead he and his lover poured petrol over her body and set it afire before throwing the body in a ditch alongside a highway. The police have arrested Vajinder Singh, who they said had an extramarital relationship with Renu and wanted to move his wife out of the way. Renu has also been arrested for allegedly being an accomplice to the crime.

The body of Suresh Kumari alias Pooja has been recovered from a deserted forest area in Hoshiarpur district on Thursday. Vajinder is a manager with a franchise of Nik & Bakers in Sector 35 and was having an affair with Renu for the past three years. Vajinder and Pooja were married for around six years.

The murder took place on July 13 and the father-in-law of the deceased, Balwinder Pal, lodged a missing person complaint on the same day at the Sector 19 police station in Chandigarh.

The needle of suspicion turned towards Vajinder when Prem Chand, brother of Pooja, reported to the police that Vajinder had an affair with another woman and he suspected that Vajinder killed his sister. Chandigarh SSP Nau Nihal Singh said after getting the complaint Vajinder was picked up for questioning and he broke down and confessed his crime.
Link: Man kills wife, drives with her in front seat for 3 hours

Jul 18, 2012: Cop arrested, suspended for molesting woman in moving bus

Shyam P V, TNN | Jul 18, 2012, 07.11PM IST

THRISSUR: Wadakanchery police today arrested a circle inspector attached to the Rapid Action Force for allegedly trying to molest a woman inside a running private bus.

According to Wadakanchery police, Pandikkad Rapid Action Force CI TV Subrahmanian, a 38-year-old resident of Pallam in Thrissur district, was arrested when he allegedly tried to molest a 48-year-old woman in private bus heading to Thrissur. The woman boarded the bus on way back to home after bali tharpanam performed at Cheruthuruthy. Hearing the cry for help, passengers and locals blockaded Subrahmanian inside the bus and later handed over to the Wadakanchery police.

The police registered a case on the basis of the complaint by the woman under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 377 (unnatural offences) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

Meanwhile, soon after the arrested was recorded, IGP (Thrissur Range) S Gopinath IPS suspended Subrahmanian from service on orders from DGP Jacob Punnoose IPS.
Link: Cop arrested, suspended for molesting woman in moving bus

Jul 17, 2012: Fake rape victims a danger to society: Court

PTI | Jul 17, 2012, 08.53PM IST

NEW DELHI: Women who file false rape cases are a danger to the society as the courts and public would start disbelieving the real victims, a Delhi court has said. 

Additional Sessions Judge R Tewari made the remark while acquitting a woman and discharging a man from a false case of gang-rape, lodged by another woman working as a district court employee. 

"Such alleged (fake) victims of rape are potentially dangerous to the society in the sense that from tomorrow onwards the general public as well as the courts will start disbelieving the version given by even the real victims of rape," the judge said while acquitting the woman. 

The court acquitted her of the charges of hatching the criminal conspiracy with four men to abduct and rape the complainant saying "right from the beginning till the end she (complainant) narrated a story, the facts of which could not be reconciled at all." 

While one of the four men, accused of abducting and raping the woman, was discharged earlier, three others were declared proclaimed offenders. 

The court further observed that the "alleged (fake) victim" is not afraid of the consequences of falsely implicating someone in a rape case as she works in one of the district courts here and added that she is a "cold-blooded thinker" as she does not repent the allegations made by her. 

"Prosecutrix (alleged victim) admittedly working in a district court has no fear or by virtue of her said job her fear has gone out of her mind towards the law and she can play with the law and legal procedures as a master juggler and she can go to any extent by levelling allegations against anyone.. 

"I have no hesitation in drawing an inference that she is a cold-blooded thinker whereby she can implicate any person, having inadvertence towards the consequences and at the same time, she has no repentance over her said false allegations," the court said.
Link: Fake rape victims a danger to society: Court

Jul 17, 2012: Ayurveda doctors accused of raping trainee nurse

TNN | Jul 17, 2012, 04.13AM IST

CHENNAI: Two ayurvedic doctors are on the run after allegedly raping a nurse from Kerala at an apartment in Anna Nagar. The doctors, also hailing from Kerala but employed in an ayurveda hospital in Tamil Nadu, brought the 19-year-old woman to Chennai on the pretext of giving her training in the city. 

Police said Aajil Kumar, 42, a chief doctor with Kerala Ayurveda Hospital in Trichy, employed Nisha (name changed), a native of Thodupuzha in Kerala, on May 12 as a trainee nurse. Saying she needs to undergo training in Chennai, he brought her here on July 8. They were picked up by Shreejith (35), a doctor employed with the hospital's Chennai centre, from the railway station and taken to an apartment complex in Anna Nagar. 

While she was given one of the two bedrooms, the two doctors occupied the other. The same day she was allegedly raped by the duo. Police said the duo threatened her to not to reveal the incident to anyone. But later she told her friend about it and they decided to lodge a complaint at the Thirumangalam police station. But police kept the matter pending. Meanwhile, the doctors filed an anticipatory bail petition in the Madras high court. But their plea was rejected and Thirumangalam police asked Nisha to approach J J Nagar police. Finally, a case was registered under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) on Monday after a medical examination of the girl. 

Narrating the incident, Nisha told TOI: "I locked my room before going for a bath, but was shocked to see Aajil inside the room when I came out. Before I could question him, I was dragged to the bed. Later he called in Shreejith." She said: "I took up the job to support my family. Though my parents were reluctant to send me off, I was stubborn. So, I didn't want to reveal the matter to my family members and further traumatize them." 

Unable to bear the trauma, she stopped going to work and quit the job. Police said the duo even asked her to get her friend to agree to have sex with them. Police have former team to hunt for the accused. 

The duo brought the 19-yr-old to Chennai on the pretext of giving her training in the city
Link: Ayurveda doctors accused of raping trainee nurse