Tuition teacher, husband held under Pocso Act

19/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,CHENNAI

The All-Women police, Avadi, on Saturday arrested a 37-year-old man for aggravated sexual assault on a six-year-old girl. His wife, a tuition teacher, was arrested for abetting the crime.

According to police sources, the victim was studying in second standard at a private school. On the day of the crime, the victim’s mother left her, along with her five-year-old brother, at a home tuition centre.

When the mother returned, the boy told her that his sister was crying during the tuition. The child did not immediately tell her mother what had happened, and revealed the incident only 10 days later, the police said.

Based on the mother’s complaint, the police interrogated the tuition teacher, Vijayalakshmi, 33, and her husband, H. Naresh, 37. The police said that Naresh committed aggravated sexual assault on the child and his wife abetted the crime.

The All-Women police, Avadi, booked a case against them under sections 9 (aggravated sexual assault) and 10 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012, and arrested them.

We buried our differences, couple inform HC Bench

19/01/2020, STAFF REPORTER ,MADURAI

Taking cognisance of the fact that a married couple from Nagercoil had buried their differences and were living together, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court closed a divorce application pending before the Additional District Judge, Nagercoil.

It was hearing the appeal filed by the husband, Solomon Banerji from Nagercoil, who challenged the trial court’s order granting ₹ 8,000 towards maintenance to his wife and children. During the course of the hearing, it was informed that the couple had settled their differences amicably and were living together.

Taking note of the submission made by the couple who were present before the court, Justice N. Sathish Kumar said since the matter was settled, the divorce application pending before the lower court could be closed. Additional District Judge, Nagercoil, is required to close the divorce petition as infructuous as the matter had been amicably settled between the parties, the court said.

The court said that as far as the appeal was concerned, the trial court had taken note of the factual scenario then and awarded the maintenance. Since both parties were residing together, the question of executing the order does not arise. However, the court said that if the husband in future neglects to maintain his wife and children, the trial court order can be put in execution and enforceable by the wife. The appeal was disposed of.

‘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.