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Harassment
Three out of the four persons arrested in connection with the alleged gang-rape of a female student at a city-based law college had pre-planned the assault, a police officer said on Monday. Sleuths of the nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the incident also found that the three accused Monojit Mishra, Pratim Mukherjee and Zaid Ahmed had a history of sexually harassing female students of the college. The fourth accused is the college's security guard. According to the officer, the trio would record such episodes on their mobile phones and later use the footage to blackmail the victims. "The entire matter was premeditated. The trio had been plotting for several days to carry out this torture on the victim. We have found that the victim was targeted by the prime accused from the very first day she got admission to the college," the police officer said. Kolkata Police has launched a search for mobile videos allegedly filmed by the trio. "Searches were conducted at
A city civil court here on Saturday granted bail to engineer Atul Subhash's wife Nikita Singhania, her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania in suicide abetment case. The 34-year-old techie ended his life on December 9 in Bengaluru, alleging harassment at the hands of his estranged wife and her family. According to the prosecution, the three accused appeared before the court. Subhash had alleged that his in-laws had pressurised him to pay Rs three crore for divorse. Based on his 40-page suicide note and a one-and-half hour video explaining the situation that drove him to take the drastic step, the police booked the trio, arrested them and brought them from Uttar Pradesh to Bengaluru.
A 40-year-old man allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence in Kalyan Vihar area of northwest Delhi, an official said on Wednesday. The family members of the deceased identified as Puneet Khurana, a businessman, have levelled allegations against his wife and in-laws. "Khurana's father Trilok Nath has produced his mobile phone and other related articles. The mobile phone of the deceased and other related articles were taken in police possession. The body will be handed over to the family members after post-mortem," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Northwest, Bhisham Singh. The DCP further said that the incident was reported at approximately 4:18 pm on December 31. "Soon after information, a team was immediately rushed to the spot. The team found Khurana unresponsive on his bed with a ligature mark around his neck, indicating death by hanging," he said, adding further investigation is underway. The body was transported to the BJRM Hosp
Mere harassment is not sufficient to hold someone guilty of the offence of abetting suicide, and there must be clear evidence of direct or indirect incitement, the Supreme Court has said. The observations came from a bench of justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale which delivered its verdict on an appeal challenging a Gujarat High Court order which refused to discharge a woman's husband and her two in-laws for allegedly harassing her and driving her to suicide. The case was registered in 2021 for the alleged offences including under sections 498-A (subjecting a married woman to cruelty) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with the offence of abetment of suicide and prescribes jail term of up to 10 years and fine. "For a conviction under section 306 of the IPC, it is a well-established legal principle that the presence of clear mens rea - the intention to abet the act - is essential. Mere harassment, by itself, is not sufficient to find an accused guilty of abetting suicide," t
Emphasizing that there is nothing to hide over the Justice Hema Committee report, which exposed the shocking harassment and sexual exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry, Kerala Culture Minister Saji Cherian on Saturday said the government is implementing its recommendations. Addressing the media, he stated that the government had adhered strictly to court directives, omitting only the portions the State Information Commission recommended not to release. The matter is currently before the High Court, and there are no objections if the court or the information commission instructs that these portions be made public, Cherian clarified. He underscored the government's commitment to addressing issues faced by women in cinema, highlighting that this is the first time such a committee has been constituted in India. We have disclosed all information directed by the State Information Commission regarding the report and everything is transparent." The minister further s
The father of the IIMA student who died allegedly by suicide has claimed that someone from the institute was harassing his son over an event that was to be sponsored by a private organisation, police said on Saturday. The student, Akshit Hemant Bhukya (24), who was studying in the second year of the MBA programme at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), was found hanging from the metal grille of the ventilator in his hostel room on Thursday. Bhukya's father has claimed that someone from IIMA was harassing his son over the use of the IIMA logo by a private institute for an event, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Himanshu Verma said. Prima facie, this does not appear to be the reason why the student took the extreme step, but police will register an offence if something comes up in the ongoing investigation, he said. A Vastrapur police station official said that the matter related to the use of the IIMA logo was resolved on September 20. The private institute eve
One of the main litigants from the Hindu side Jitendra Singh Visen has announced that he and his family are withdrawing from all cases related Gynavapi issue due to alleged "harassment". His lawyer Shivam Gaur had earlier also withdrawn from the cases. "I and my family (wife Kiran Singh and niece Rakhi Singh) are withdrawing from all Gyanvapi-related cases that we had filed in the interest of the country and religion in various courts," Visen, who heads the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, said in a statement issued here on Saturday. He alleged that they were facing harassment from various quarters including from the Hindu side and felt humiliated. "In such a situation, due to limited strength and resources, I cannot fight this battle for 'dharma' anymore and that's why I am leaving this. "Perhaps the biggest mistake I made in my life was by starting this 'dharmayudh'. This society is only with those who mislead by playing gimmicks in the name of religion," he said. Visen's lawyer Gau
Delhi University on Monday constituted a five-member committee to inquire into alleged harassment of Indraprastha College for Women students during a cultural festival last week. The committee will be headed by Prakash Singh, director of South Delhi Campus, and has been asked to submit its report within a week, a notification issued by Delhi University Registrar Vikas Gupta stated. Students at Indraprastha College for Women alleged that some men scaled the walls of the college during a fest last week and "harassed several students". "The Competent Authority has constituted the committee to inquire into the incident that happened on 29th March, 2023 in the Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi during the college cultural festival," the registrar said. The committee was also asked to suggest measures to curb such incidents in future. Members of the committee are Proctor Rajni Abbi, Dean of Students Welfare Pankaj Arora, Joint Proctor Geeta Sahare and Professor, Departm