Donate my body for teaching anatomy: Elderly’s suicide note

Donate my body for teaching anatomy: Elderly’s suicide note

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:31.01.2021

A computer-typed suicide note with a hand-scribbled signature, neatly placed under a bundle of currency notes, was found on a table in the bedroom, where an elderly couple clothed in starched white was found hanging from the ceiling in an upscale Aliganj neighbourhood on Saturday.

The businessman, who could not pay Rs 1crore in debt, allegedly ended his life with his wife, leaving behind the note, willing that his body be donated to a medical education institute for teaching “human anatomy” and his wife be given a decent cremation with Rs 15,000 in cash kept atop the suicide note.

Identified as Mathew Joseph, 60, and Lucy Joseph, 58, the couple’s bodies for taken for autopsy from their Sector Q, Aliganj, residence. Hailing from Kerala, Josephs had settled in Lucknow in 1986 and made the city their home, but for over past few years, they were wallowing in loneliness with their only daughter settled in London, said police.

Owner of a firm dealing in electronic goods and solar panels, Mathew was struggling in his business since 2016 and had taken loans of around Rs 1 crore from several banks and private money lenders, which he couldn’t repay due to heavy losses, said additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), North, Rajesh Srivastava.

Bizman leaves ₹15k in cash atop suicide note for wife’s cremation

A printed suicide note had Joseph's name scribbled at the bottom, stating he was ending his life because of debt and left instructions that his body be donated to medical students and the money be used for last rites of his wife, Lucy,” said Srivastava.

Bodies in medical institutes are used to teach human anatomy to MBBS first year students. Most educational institutes are reeling under scarcity of bodies and using dummies and 3D models for teaching purpose.

“The note did not specify anything about medical education, but as it said the body should be donated to medical students, we presume that it is meant for teaching anatomy at MBBS level,” said the ADCP. “Our probe revealed the couple had been away for a fortnight and had returned two days back,” he added.

The incident came to light in the morning when the couple’s next-door neighbour, Pankaj Arora, came to their house to take Mathew along for morning walk, but did not get response to calls. Arora peeped inside and was shocked to see the couple hanging from the ceiling of the room and informed police.

Private university in HP sold 45,000 fake degrees, reveals SIT probe

The fake degree scam was unearthed in February this year after the University Grants Commission (UGC) received an anonymous complaint about the alleged sale of more than five lakh degrees by two private universities in HP, MBU in Solan and APG in Shimla

CHANDIGARH NEWS

Private university in HP sold 45,000 fake degrees, reveals SIT probe

Each degree related to technical subjects was sold to students within and outside Himachal Pradesh for ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh, says crime investigation department official

By Gaurav Bisht, Shimla

PUBLISHED ON DEC 24, 2020 06:56 PM IST

A special investigating team (SIT) comprising officials from the income tax department, enforcement directorate, Himachal Police and crime investigation department (CID) have unearthed evidence in an education scam of Solan- based private university, Manav Bharti (MBU), selling more than 45,000 fake degrees.

“The number of fake degrees can vary. We presume it’s much higher. It’s a very well organised racket which was being run for the last one decade,” said additional director general (ADG) of police,” CID, N Venugopal, on Thursday.

The probe revealed that each degree related to technical subjects was sold to students within and outside Himachal Pradesh (HP) for ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh, he added.

The SIT team also rounded up a Jammu based agent of the university who struck deals locally for selling the fake degrees.

The sleuths found that the manager of MBU sold degrees outside the state through ‘agents’ who in return got handsome commissions. In a majority of cases the buyers paid cash for degrees to these agents who provided details of the candidates to the university for making the fake degrees.

SIT sent sleuths to seven different states, including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Visits were also made to Jammu, Delhi, Chandigarh and Kashmir to trace the whereabouts of the agents.

MBU, the probe found, enrolled more than 95,000 students in different courses.

Arrests made

The SIT in June arrested MBU chairman Raj Kumar Rana after the HP high court refused to grant him anticipatory bail. ​

​Rana was arrested on the court premises as soon as his bail plea was rejected. ​

He was taken to Solan for interrogation. Earlier in that week,SIT had arrested a former registrar of the university, KK Singh. Two university officials, registrar Anupama Thakur and assistant registrar Munish Goel, were arrested in March. ​

The fake degree scam was unearthed in February this year after the University Grants Commission (UGC) received an anonymous complaint about the alleged sale of more than five lakh degrees by two private universities in HP, MBU in Solan and APG in Shimla. ​

The UGC then apprised the state government of the matter and sought appropriate action against the institutes.

A case under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the university officials for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy on March 3.

MBU was established in 2009 under the HP Private University (Establishment & Regulation) Act and is owned by the Manav Bharti Charitable Trust.​

Sexual crimes against kids impact society, observes HC

Sexual crimes against kids impact society, observes HC

Slams Father For Entering Into Compromise In Sodomy Case

Abhinav.Garg@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 31.01.2021 

At a time when a few controversial verdicts have been given in cases of sexual offences against children, Delhi High Court has set the record straight. Observing that sexual crimes against children shock the value system and have a serious impact on the society, the court on Friday cleared decks for trial of a man who sodomised a 7-year-old boy.

Justice Subramonium Prasad highlighted that the POCSO Act was meant to “provide protection to children from sexual assault and harassment, and for safeguarding the interest and wellbeing of children.”

The court was aghast to come across a joint plea by the father of the survivor and the accused saying they had reached a compromise, and that the FIR should be quashed. Tossing out the plea, the court noted, “The father of the child cannot be permitted to settle the dispute with the accused. He is not the victim, and the courts have to safeguard and protect the interest of children against onslaught by bad forces.”

The bench added that it could not lose sight of the fact that the accused was being prosecuted for an offence that shook the value system of the society. “This is not a matter that can be permitted to be settled as a compoundable minor offence. Deterrence to others committing similar offences is a must, and they cannot get a signal that anything and everything can be compromised,” it observed.

Justice Prasad said he was refraining from slapping costs on the parties for seeking to compromise such a heinous offence and observed, “The survivor is a child of seven years. The offence alleged against the petitioner is grave. The POCSO Act was enacted only because sexual offences against children were not being adequately addressed by the existing laws... permitting such offences to be compromised and quashing FIRs will not secure the interest of justice.”

The court underlined that the child was subjected to penetrative sexual assault resulting in FIR under not just POCSO Act, but also IPC Section 377, which showed the “mental depravity of the offender, and cannot be said to be private in nature. It has serious impact on the society.”

The court said it could not permit quashing of the FIR because the father of the child had decided to enter into a compromise with the accused.

According to the complaint by the father, a mason, on November 11, 2019, he returned home after work at 8pm and found his son crying. When questioned, his son told him that after he left for work, the accused, who stays in the same building, came and sodomised him.

THE HIGH COURT BENCH SAYS

The father of the child cannot be permitted to settle the dispute with the accused. He is not the victim, and the courts have to safeguard and protect the interest of children against onslaught by bad forces

Kerala files RTI plea, seeks probe details from Customs

Kerala files RTI plea, seeks probe details from Customs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thiruvananthapuram:  31.01.2021

In an extraordinary move, the Kerala government has filed an RTI application with the Customs preventive commissioner office here, seeking clarifications on the general procedures binding on the agency in duty evasion cases and the details of the ongoing probe into the import of dates by the UAE consulate from the Middle East.

The RTI query, in general, seeks clarifications from the Customs’ side on the basic procedures the agency might follow while dealing with cases pertaining to violation of conditions under which it gives duty exemption for import of goods.

It asked the agency, in particular, to reveal the progress of the ongoing investigation (into the dates import case), persons involved in it and their organizational affiliations in detail.

HC: Demanding cash from wife not harassment

HC: Demanding cash from wife not harassment

Vaibhav.Ganjapure@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:31.01.2021

Demanding money from wife is a “vague term” and can’t be considered harassment as per Section 498A of the IPC, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has ruled while acquitting a man who was accused of abetting wife’s suicide nine years after their marriage.

“The evidence is with regard to quarrel between husband and wife where he used to beat her for money. The demand of money is a vague term and in absence of other particulars to establish the link, the offence of harassment, as contemplated under Section 498A, isn’t made out,” Justice Pushpa Ganediwala said, while allowing petitioner Prashant Jare’s appeal for acquittal earlier this month.

Relying on his conduct, Justice Ganediwala inferred that he was more interested in his wife’s company than letting go of her. “From time to time, he brought her back from her father’s place (after their fights) and also issued notices for restitution of conjugal rights. Moreover, he took her to hospital and refused to hand over her body to her father for the funeral,” she said.

Justice Ganediwala’s recent verdicts have courted controversy with the Supreme Court staying one of the orders and also withdrawing recommendation to the Centre, proposing her elevation as a permanent judge.

She had ruled that groping breasts of minor without removing her clothes isn’t a sexual offence. She then held that opening the zip of pants by a man in front of a minor, holding her hands and asking her to sleep in bed with him also did not amount to sexual offence. In another case, she held that a man on his own cannot rape a woman without any scuffle. In all these cases, she acquitted the accused from charges framed under the Pocso Act.

The marriage between the couple was solemnized in 1995. However, she died by suicide on November 12, 2004. The deceased’s father lodged a complaint at Darwha police station alleging that his daughter was harassed by the husband and inlaws for not getting dowry.

The Yavatmal sessions court convicted Jare on April 2, 2008, under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC. He was awarded three years behind bars for the first offence and one year for the second, which he challenged in the HC.

His family members were acquitted by the court. Justice Ganediwala pointed out that their minor daughter deposed before police that she was present when the incident took place and Jare had beaten her mother and also forced her to consume poison. “However, the prosecution, surprisingly, registered the case as suicide,” she wrote in the order.

Russia resumes visa processing for Indians

Russia resumes visa processing for Indians

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:31.01.2021

Russia has resumed accepting all visa applications, including student and tourist visas, in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata from January 27. A Covid negative test is required to apply for visas and e-visas are suspended for now, the Russian embassy in Delhi tweeted on Saturday.

India and Russia are in talks to form an air bubble that will allow airlines of both countries to operate flights. So far, Dubai and Maldives are among the few countries open for tourists from abroad, including India; travellers have to test negative before departure for these two places. The UAE has testing on arrival facility for tourists.

Take action against doctors, cops for delay in medical reports in criminal cases: HC

Take action against doctors, cops for delay in medical reports in criminal cases: HC

Ajay.Sura@timesgroup.com

Chandigarh:  31.01.2021

In an order with wide ramifications on criminal cases being registered on basis of medical reports of victims, the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the heads of Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh health departments to ensure that medical opinion in criminal cases is given to police by concerned doctors without any delay.

The DGPs of both the states and UT Chandigarh have also been directed to issue instructions to concerned investigating officers (IOs) to obtain copies of medical reports immediately and make such reports part of their investigation record immediately on receipt thereof.

“Needless to say such instructions should also have the provision that in case of any undue, unreasonable and unexplained delay on the part of the concerned doctor or investigating officer appropriate departmental action shall be taken against them by the competent authorities,” the high court ordered.

The HC has also ordered all sessions judges and others to ask for production of such reports if already prepared at the time of decision of bail application and before commencement of trial.

A single-judge bench of Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi passed the order while exercising its inherent powers during the hearing of a bail plea filed by Sunil Kumar and another resident of Mahendergarh district of Haryana.

The petitioners were booked on April 17, 2020 for the offences under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (causing hurt with deadly weapon) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC at Kanina police station of Mahendergarh district.

A day after their arrest, the accused were granted bail by the local court as the charges were mild in nature. However, five months after the incident, the medical report of the victim pointed towards serious injuries after which the police slapped serious charges under Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) against the accused.

The accused then approached the HC seeking bail on the ground that they had already been granted bail in the case and the liberty of bail should be continued as they had not misused the condition of bail.

Considering the high number of such instances being received by the HC from both the states and UT Chandigarh reflecting unexplained delay in obtaining medical reports, the judge expanded the scope of the petition and passed the orders exercising inherent powers. The judge has also asked both the states of Punjab and Haryana and the Chandigarh administration to file replies on the issue by February 2 on the issue.

COURT OBSERVATION

There is undue unreasonable and unexplained delay in obtaining copies of X-ray report and medical opinion regarding nature of the injuries with the consequence that the accused are arrested and granted bail and thereafter remain on bail for lesser offences for a long time and subsequently when the charges for graver offences are added, plea is taken by the accused regarding the accused having already been granted bail… The courts would not have granted bail and the accused would have remained in custody for longer periods if the facts regarding commission of graver offences by them were brought to the notice of the court at the time of arrest of the accused and filing of bail application by them