‘There must be a system to ensure rape convicts are punished within 6 months’

Chief Minister reacts to verdict in Gandhi Nagar rape case

19/01/2020, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,NEW DELHI

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said a system needs to be developed to ensure that rape convicts are punished within six months.

Reacting to the verdict in the 2013 Gandhi Nagar rape case, Mr. Kejriwal said it took seven years to find the accused guilty.

“We need to all come together and correct this system. If we want to ensure that no one misbehaves with our sisters and daughters we need to develop a system that ensures that the accused are punished within six months,” he tweeted.

Two men accused of kidnapping and raping a five-year-old girl in Delhi in 2013 were held guilty on Saturday by a city court.

The girl was raped in April 2013, four months after a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, Nirbhaya, was raped on December 16, 2012, in a running bus in south Delhi’s Munirka.

Nirbhaya had succumbed to injuries in Singapore hospital. All four surviving convicts in the Nirbhaya case have been ordered to be hanged till death on February 1.

They were earlier ordered to be hanged on January 22 but the execution had been stayed by the Delhi High Court, pending disposal of the mercy petition to the president by one of them.

Railways told to pay passenger ₹5,000 for double-booking berth

He had to share berth with woman who had same seat

19/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

A District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission here has directed the Indian Railways to compensate a passenger by paying ₹5,000 for allotting a berth booked by the complainant to another passenger.

Complainant L.G. Dass from Delhi said despite reserving an AC III-tier berth by paying ₹450 for travel between Jalandhar to Ambala, he found that the berth was occupied by another passenger.

“He was shocked to see that a lady was sleeping on the berth and on being asked to vacate the same, she insulted the complainant. After much insistence, the lady showed two tickets to the complainant... issued by the Railways for allotting the same berth and coach,” the Bench observed while noting the allegations in the plea.

“In these peculiar circumstances, the complainant had no option but to accommodate the lady and allow her to use his berth which caused him physical and mental pain during the five-hour journey and the coach attendant even refused to provide the complaint book to the complainant,” the Bench added.

Holding the railways deficient in services, the Bench of the consumer forum said, “The allotting of same berth as already allotted to the complainant wrongfully to another passenger is indeed deficiency of services in our considered view.”


‘Within a month’

Directing the Railways to compensate the complainant, the consumer panel said the order has been carried out within 30 days.

Two convicted for 2013 rape of Delhi minor

19/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

A special court in Delhi on Saturday convicted two men of raping a five-year-old girl at Gandhi Nagar in East Delhi in 2013, observing that the victim had experienced exceptional depravity and extreme brutality at their hands. Arguments on the quantum of sentence will be heard on January 30.

Stating that the case had shaken the collective conscience of society, Additional sessions judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra of the Karkardooma court held Manoj Shah and Pradeep Kumar guilty.

The gruesome incident, which had triggered widespread protests, took place on April 15, 2013. Police said the two men were inebriated when Shah lured the girl into his room. They then subjected her to unnatural sex and also attempted to strangle her, as alleged.

The missing victim was located after about 40 hours in a room on the ground floor of the same building where her family lived on the first floor.

The police seized three candles and a hair-oil bottle that were inserted inside the girl.

Former V-C’s memoirs released

19/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER,CHENNAI

Releasing Oru Thunai Vendharin Kathai, the autobiography of former V-C of University of Madras S. Sathikh, Panruti S. Ramachandran, former Tamil Nadu Minister, said that Mr. Sathikh was an example of how a V-C should conduct himself.

Justice K.N. Basha, former judge, Madras High Court, highlighted the role played by Mr. Sathikh in getting girl students enrolled at Annamalai University for the first time.

Smriti Irani blames AAP, Arvind Kejriwal says let’s not politicise matter

TNN | Jan 18, 2020, 04.38 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani blamed the Aam Aadmi Party government on Friday for the delay in the hanging of the four men convicted in the Nirbhaya case. She accused Delhi government of slowing the process after the Supreme Court had rejected the convicts’ review petition in July 2018. In response, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal urged BJP not to politicise the case but to work together in ensuring that the sentencing in such incidents was carried out quickly.
Kejriwal tweeted, “I feel sad politics being done on such issue. Shudn’t v be working together to ensure guilty r hanged soonest? Shudn’t v join hands to ensure a system so that such beasts get hanged within 6 months? Pl don’t do politics on this. Let’s together create a safe city for our women (sic).”

The CM later asserted that his government had completed all its responsibilities with regard to the case “within a few hours”. He told reporters, “Delhi government has no role in delaying the hanging.”

In a video message released on Twitter, Kejriwal added, “The postponement of hanging of convicts has disappointed everyone. We all want them to be hanged as soon as possible. It is sad that such a sensitive issue has become the subject of politics.”

Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh were sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. The brutalised victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, had died in a Singapore hospital while undergoing treatment.

Irani claimed that when the entire country was united in seeking expeditious justice for Nirbhaya, Kejriwal had delayed the process of justice. She said the Supreme Court had rejected the review petitions of the convicts in July 2018, but the jail administration and Delhi government had suppressed the case. She asked the AAP government why the convicts hadn’t yet been hanged in the year and a half since their review petition was rejected.

The Union minister also noted that Delhi government had granted Rs 10,000 and a sewing kit on the release of the juvenile accused, who she described as the cruellest among the rapists. She welcomed Friday’s rejection of Singh’s mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Normalcy only after VC is sacked: JNU teachers

TNN | Jan 18, 2020, 04.43 AM IST

NEW DELHI: In its general body meeting (GBM) on Friday, JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) reiterated that to restore normalcy on the campus, the vice-chancellor should be sacked. It also decided not to cooperate with the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration on resuming classes, saying the authorities should first try to end the impasse with students.

JNUTA will seek a judicial inquiry into the January 5 violence on the campus as neither the “sham inquiry” of the VC-appointed committee nor Delhi Police’s investigation would bring to light the complete truth, the resolution claimed.

“No teaching for the winter semester can commence before the academic activities of the monsoon semester are completed in a manner consistent with the statutory provisions and the maintenance of academic standards,” GBM stated. The teachers will engage with students but will not “accept the diktats of an administration that cannot even perform its job of ensuring a conducive environment for regular academic activities”, it pointed out.

The teachers, who assembled in front of School of International Studies and raised slogans, alleged that as the administration didn’t not want a fair investigation, JNUTA demanded the sacking of the VC as a “necessary, though not sufficient, condition for teachers to feel secure. GBM... cautions MHRD that it will be held squarely responsible should the distinct possibility of any further untoward incidents becomes a reality because of the delay in relieving the VC”.

The resolution rejected the registrar’s January 13 advisory alleging that it had “admonished teachers and threatened them”. After the “chilling experience of January”, there’s no doubt the VC and the administration “do indeed pose a serious threat” to the teachers, it stated.

Demanding that the private security agency at JNU be held accountable for its failure on January 5 and be replaced, JNUTA sought “an urgent review of security arrangements, which must include the participation of teachers, students, staff and residents”. It also said the current security arrangements were causing inconveniences to every body.

Won’t forgive even if God asks: Nirbhaya’s mother

TNN | Jan 18, 2020, 04.48 AM IST

New Delhi: Asha Devi, Nirbhaya’s mother, on Saturday slammed senior advocate Indira Jaising for suggesting her that she should pardon her daughter’s rapists.

Earlier, in a tweet, Indira Jaising had urged Asha Devi to follow the example of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and pardon the Nirbhaya’s rapists. This triggered a controversy as Nirbhaya’s mother reacted to the tweet saying that Jaising had no authority to suggest anything to her. “It is because of such comments that justice is not done to the rape victims,” Nirbhaya’s mother said in reaction to the lawyer’s tweet.

In the tweet on Friday night, Jaising wrote: “While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn’t not want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty.”

The tweet was accompanying a video in which Nirbhaya’s mother was heard saying that “Till now, I never talked about politics, but now I want to say that those people who held protests on streets in 2012, today the same people are only playing with my daughter's death for political gains”.

While Jaising received both support and criticism for the tweet, Nirbhaya’s family members said that they were shocked by her reaction.

“Who is she to tell or suggest to me to forgive them. Even if God asks me, I won’t forgive them. I don’t have anything to do with such people. She too is a woman and should have at least felt for me while saying those. I am really sad,” said Nirbhaya’s mother.

Nirbhaya’s mother broke down during a television interview when questioned about the tweet. “People like her keep earning money under the garb of human rights. I do not need her suggestions. Just because of people who think like her incidents like rape keep happening. She is an insult to women,” Devi added.

A Delhi Court had on Friday issued fresh death warrants against the four convicts -- Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Satish Kumar Arora fixed February 1 as the date of execution of the four death row convicts. They will be hanged at 6am.