LIVE! Vet rape accused lodged in high-security cells

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Sun, 01 December 2019

Vet rape accused lodged in high-security cells

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21:09 Vet rape accused lodged in high-security cells

The four accused in the brutal rape and murder of a 25-year-old woman veterinarian have been kept in solitary confinement in high-security cells in the Cherlapally Central Prison in Hyderabad and put under heightened surveillance to ensure their safety, a senior jail official said on Sunday.

The four men, all lorry workers, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on Friday for allegedly raping and killing the woman near here last week and had been remanded to judicial custody by a court for 14 days on Saturday.

As the gory incident in which the woman was burnt to death after being raped triggered outrage, public had staged protests and a section of them hurled stones at a police vehicle when the four were escorted to the prison from a police station on Friday.

They have been lodged in high-security cells. They have been isolated from other prisoners.

We are keeping a close watch on these four so that they might not do anything (self injury) to themselves and also other inmates should not attack them because of the gruesome act, the official told PTI.

There was high security and they have absolutely no contact with others including among themselves, the official said.

An executive magistrate had passed the remand order at the Shadnagar police station, where they accused were lodged, as they could not be produced in court due to the presence of the large number of protesters in front of the police station.

Police had used mild force to control the agitating crowd on Saturday and additional forces were deployed while the four accused were being shifted to the jail as a precautionary measure and to avoid any untoward incident. -- PTI

20:41 TN BJP leader praises Stalin, says he'll be CM

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Tamil Nadu on Sunday caused a flutter in political circles, saying a ripe time would come when Dravida Munntera Kazhagam president M K Stalin would become chief minister of the state.

B T Arasa Kumar, BJP state vice-president was in Pudukottai district to attend the wedding ceremony of a DMK cadre presided by Stalin, where a host of party leaders from DMK and Congress were present.

In his brief speech at the function, which has gone viral in the social media, Kumar said after late All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo and former chief minister M G Ramachandran, it was a leader like Stalin that he would look up to.

Kumar went on to say that if the DMK leader wanted to become chief minister it would have happened over night.

"He would have gone to Koovathur and have become chief minister in one night," he said in an apparent reference to private beach resort in Koovathur near Chennai, where over 100 AIADMK MLAs supporting then AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala were put up, ahead of a floor test in 2017.

"Ripe time will come, things will take place automatically. Thalapathi (as Stalin is called by his followers) will ascend the (Chief Minister's) throne," he said.

Reacting to the remarks made by Kumar, a senior BJP leader said the BJP leadership was aware of his speech.

"Party high command knows about it", the leader told PTI on condition of anonymity. -- PTI

19:22 Pankaja Munde's FB post raises eyebrows

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pankaja Munde's social media post on her 'future journey' in view of changed political scenario in Maharashtra caused a flutter on Sunday.

Pankaja, who had served as a minister in the erstwhile BJP-led Maharashtra government, has also invited her followers to Gopinathgad on December 12 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of her late father Gopinath Munde, a BJP stalwart.

Gopinathgad is a memorial of Gopinath Munde in Beed district.

'Looking at the changed political scenario in state, there is a need to think and decide the way ahead. I need time for some 8-10 days to communicate with myself. Our future journey need to be decided against the backdrop of current political changes.

'What to do next? Which path to be taken? What can we give to people? What is our strength? What are expectations of people? I will think about all these aspects and come before you on December 12,' Pankaja wrote in her post, which is in Marathi.

In the assembly elections held on October 21, Pankaja lost to her cousin and Nationalist Congress Party rival Dhananjay Munde in a bitter contest from Parli seat in Beed district.

Pankaja wrote that she had accepted her defeat in the polls and moved on.

"I had attended the meetings of the party (BJP)," the former Parli MLA wrote.

Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Shirish Boralkar told PTI on Sunday that Pankaja will continue her work to make the BJP stronger in the state.

"I have read the Facebook post of Pankaja Munde. This post nowhere conveys that Pankaja is not happy with the BJP. She attended the core committee meetings of the BJP.

"She is a daughter of Gopinath Munde who had contributed immensely in building the BJP in the state," he said. Boralkar said Pankaja is with the BJP.

Pankaja could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. -- PTI

18:36 CM orders fast-track trial of vet rape-murder

JUST IN: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao orders setting up of fast track court for expeditious trial in woman veterinarian rape and murder case.

More details awaited. -- PTI

The Pakistani Army on Sunday targeted forward posts and villages in two sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.

This was the third ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the border district in as many days but there was no report of any damage or casualty, he said.

"At about 4 pm, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing small arms and shelling with mortars in Shahpur and Qasba sectors," the spokesman said.

He said the Indian army retaliated befittingly and cross-border shelling from both sides was going on when last reports were received.

On Saturday, Pakistan targeted Shahpur and Kirni sectors, while a day earlier it fired mortars and small arms for nearly an hour in Balakote sector. -- PTI

17:30 Modi, Shah are also migrants: Cong LS leader

Leader of Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were themselves 'migrants'.

"I can say that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah Ji are themselves the migrants. Their homes are in Gujarat but they have come to Delhi," Chowdhury told ANI in New Delhi.

"India is for everyone -- for Hindus, for Muslims and for everyone else. They are creating the fear that they will throw out Muslims.

"They do not have the capability to do that. But what they want to show is Hindus will be allowed to stay, while Muslims will be sent away," added Chowdhury, while opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Chowdhury's comment comes at a time when Union Minister Shah is discussing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill with the members of political parties and the civil society organisations from the northeastern states.

The Union Home Minister met them on Friday and Saturday while the third meeting is scheduled for December 3.

Further attacking the Bill, Chowdhury said that Home Minister Shah should learn about the number of migrants from India, who were working and living in the rest of the world and their contribution to the Indian economy.

"In the entire world, the maximum number of migrants are from India. All the Indians living and working abroad send crores of rupees back to India. But no other country thinks about the issue other than Modiji and Amit Shah," Chowdhury said.

He also warned Shah of the consequences of passing the Bill.

"Amit Shah has the numbers needed to pass the (Citizenship) Bill -- it is one thing but what will happen after the Bill is passed is another matter altogether. If the BJP thinks it can improve India by clearing the Citizenship Bill, then it is nothing more than their wishful thinking."

"It is because of the issue of Citizenship Bill that they have been swept away in West Bengal (assembly by-elections). If they continue with it, they will be swept away from the rest of India too," added Chowdhury. -- ANI

Security forces have busted a terrorist hideout in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir and seized a cache of arms, ammunition and other items, including a satellite phone, police said on Sunday.

The hideout was busted in Rafiabad area of Sopore in north Kashmir, a police official said.

He said the recovery includes two AK rifles, 2000 AK rounds, three RPG rounds, two wireless sets and a satellite phone.

A case has been registered, the official said, adding that the incriminating material has been seized by the police and taken into records for further investigation.

Investigation in the matter is in progress, he added. -- PTI

17:13 Shift metro car shed to Goregaon, suggests NCP

Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik on Sunday said that he has given a suggestion to the Maharashtra chief minister to build a car shed in Goregaon's RPF Parade ground, which was earlier constructed in Aarey colony that had led to massive protests.

"We have given a suggestion in Vidhan Sabha and to the Chief Minister to build a car shed in Goregaon's RPF Parade ground. Uddhavji has given assurance to discuss this in a meeting and resolve this matter," Malik told media.

Malik said, "The car shed was decided by the earlier government to be built in Aarey Colony. Uddhav Thackeray stopped the work of car shed. When Uddhavji took this decision then the Opposition was saying that the development work is stopped. The work of the metro is stopped. I want to say that the development work is not stopped."

"The question is where the car shed is to be made. So I suggested Uddhavji that in Goregaon there is parade ground of 102 hectares which is mostly used for marriage functions. The 60-hectare car shed should be made there."

On being asked about whether the cases against the protestors in Aarey will be withdrawn, Malik said, "I am hopeful that the government will withdraw cases registered against students who participated in the protest in Aarey."

"I have ordered to stop the work of Aarey metro car shed project today. Metro work will not stop but till next decision, not a single leaf of Aarey will be cut," Uddhav had said at a press conference.

Back in October, the felling of trees in the Aarey Colony had drawn a wedge between former allies Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, with then chief minister Fadnavis pushing for the project and Thackeray-led party protesting against the proposed car shed project. -- ANI

17:09 Politicians turned away from Hyd vet's colony

Mounting public anger over the rape and murder of the woman veterinarian in Hyderabad saw residents of the colony where she stayed turning away political leaders and others who wanted to call on her family on Sunday to express their sympathies.

The residents locked the gates of the colony at Shamshabad on the outskirts of the city and held aloft placards that read No Media, No Police, No Outsiders, -- No sympathy, only action, justice.

Condemning the incident, a woman asked why Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had so far not reacted to the incident, which occurred on Thursday.

"Police have said they nabbed the four accused who have confessed to their crime. Why is the chief minister not ensuring quick justice? Why is the same treatment not being meted out to them (accused) for what they have done to the girl?" she asked.

Another woman asked why the prime minister has not yet tweeted on the incident.

Former Communist Party of India-Marxist MLA J Ranga Reddy and his party workers, who were asked by the residents to go back, told PTI that he and his colleagues squatted at the gates of the colony for some time, expressing support for the family.

He demanded that the chief minister take steps to ensure a quick response by police to prevent crimes against women.

A number of politicians and others, including some film actors had called on the victims family members since the tragic incident occurred on Thursday.

The charred body of the woman, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital,was found under a culvert in Shadnagar near Hyderabad on November 28 morning, a day after she went missing. -- PTI

Women organisations and students hold placards during a protest demanding justice for the rape and murder of a 25-year-old veterinarian, in Hyderabad, on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

15:47 Centre to import onion from Turkey, Egypt

The government will import 11000 Metric Ton (MT) of onion from Turkey in addition to 6090 MT from Egypt, in the backdrop of soaring onion prices in the Indian retail market.

According to Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India has placed the order, which will begin arriving in India later this month, while from Egypt the consignment will start reaching in mid-December.

On Thursday, Imran Hussain, the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in the Delhi government, wrote to Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan requesting him to direct National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to continue supplying onions at Rs 15.60 per kilogram in the national capital in the larger public interest.

On the other hand in Uttar Pradesh, the retail price of the staple food has shot up to Rs 100 per kg, leaving many consumers with the hole in their pockets.

On November 20, the Union Cabinet had approved the import of 1.2 lakh metric tonnes onion to ease the price in the retail market. -- ANI

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' haste to attain power and 'childish comments' sank the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra and the latter became the opposition leader.

With the coming together of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, what has happened in Maharashtra is acceptable to the country as well, Raut claimed in his column 'Rokhthok' in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

In a veiled attack on the central BJP leaders without naming anyone, he said Maharashtra did not bow down to the 'mob-rule' like functioning of Delhi.

What is significant is that Uddhav Thackeray came to power by dethroning the powerful 'Modi-Shah hold', remarked Raut, who is the executive editor of 'Saamana'.

He also expressed confidence that 'this government (of Sena-NCP-Congress alliance) will survive for five years'.

"I find it amusing that the people who dubbed Ajit Pawar's tie-up with Fadnavis as a 'scripted' plan of Sharad Pawar, are now bowing before the NCP chief after formation of the (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government," Raut said.

Ahead of the assembly polls, Fadnavis made 'childish comments' like there would be no opposition party left in the state, the era of Sharad Pawar was ending and Prakash Ambedkar's Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi would be main opposition.

"But he (Fadnavis) himself became the opposition leader," the Rajya Sabha member quipped.

Fadnavis said he would come back, but his haste to attain power sank the BJP within 80 hours, he commented.

"Over-confidence and his (Fadnavis') reliance on Delhi-based senior leaders destroyed his politics. The developments of last month look like a new script of the film 'Sinhasan' (throne)," Raut said.

He was referring to the 1979 Marathi film of the same name, which was loosely based on late author Arun Sadhu's novels 'Sinhasan' and 'Mumbai Dinank'.

Raut further said the Maharashtra Governor's office played the role of a 'villain' in the 80-hour-long government of Fadnavis and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

"Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari once told me he would not do anything beyond the Constitution's framework. But he later administered oath to Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in a haste. The order from the 'top' (apparently referring to the Centre) seems to have played a bigger role," he said.

Ajit Pawar's 'desperate act' (to support the BJP) brought the Sena, NCP and Congress closer and cemented their alliance, he said.

It also created pressure on other NCP MLAs, who rebelled, and as everyone went back to Sharad Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar also returned, he said.

"Had Sharad Pawar not taken the initiative, this alliance would not have materialised," Raut stated.

Everyone in the Congress was doubtful of joining hands with the Shiv Sena. It was Sharad Pawar who told Sonia Gandhi that late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had cordial relations with former prime minister Indira Gandhi, he said.

The Sena did not field its candidates against the Congress in the state Assembly polls held after the Emergency in the country, Raut pointed out, adding that his party also supported the candidature of Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee for the President's post.

"The Hindi-speaking community in Mumbai also votes for the Sena, hence the party continued to win elections of the city civic body. Sharad Pawar also informed this to Sonia Gandhi," the Sena leader added. -- PTI

15:12 Lawyers not to represent Vet rape accused

A district bar association in Telangana on Sunday decided not to represent the four accused in the rape and murder of the woman veterinary doctor in Hyderabad.

Mattapally Srinivas, president of the Ranga Reddy Bar Association, said they had taken the decision as 'a moral and social responsibility against the heinous crime committed by the accused'.

"We have decided not to offer any legal services to the accused.

"In such cases, the court may direct the District Legal Services Authority to appoint a lawyer for them.

"When the authority directs any advocate to represent the accused we cannot refuse it," he told PTI.

Srinivas further said that some of the sections under which the four were booked by police may carry the death sentence, considering the gravity of the case.

The four men, all lorry workers, were booked under Sections 376D (gang rape), 302 (murder),201 (destroying evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.

Srinivas said the Association also demanded that the government establish a separate special court to expedite the trial of the case for instant justice.

They would organise a protest on December 2 at the main entrance of the court building 'to condemn the inhuman attack', he said. -- PTI

14:12 I'm still with Hindutva: Uddhav in assembly

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray speaks in the assembly:

"I am a lucky CM because those who opposed me are now with me and those who I was with are now on the opposite side. I am here with my luck and blessings of people.

"I have never told anyone that I will be coming here but I came," he said, apparently taking a swipe at Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis's campaign slogan saying he will be CM again.

About Fadnavis, who was elected the Leader of Opposition earlier, Thackeray said, "I have learnt a lot of things from Devendra Fadvanis and I will always be friends with him."

"I am still with the ideology of 'Hindutva' and won't ever leave it. In the past five years, I've never betrayed the government," he said.

"I won't call you (Devendra Fadnavis) an 'Opposition leader', but I will call you a 'responsible leader'. If you would have been good to us then, all this (BJP-Shiv Sena split) would have not happened," Thackeray said. -- ANI

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Sunday asserted that 99 per cent of Muslims in the country want a review of the unanimous Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.

The AIMPLB, which was not a party to the law suit, has previously said a review petition will be filed by December 9.

A five-judge bench had ruled on November 9 that a temple should be built through a trust set up by the government on the disputed site, where the mosque was demolished in 1992.

"Muslims trust judiciary that is why a review petition is being filed. However, the trust has weakened after the SC verdict on Ayodhya," AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani told PTI.

"Ninety-nine per cent of Muslims of the country are in favour of a review petition. If it it understood that a big section is against this, it is wrong," he said.

Rahmani, however, said they 'suspect our petition will be dismissed'.

"(But) it does not mean we don't file it. It's our legal right. There are many contradictory things in the verdict," he added.

Asked about the suggestion that the decades-long dispute should end after the SC judgment, Rahmani said, "They are those who did not have any interest in the mosque. They live in fear and want others to do so.

"Intellectuals raise this issue but they did not have any practical scheme to resolve issues of the Muslim community. They should be asked what they have done for the community."

The Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the main litigants in the case, has decided to not file a review petition, but is yet to take a call on whether to accept a five-acre alternative plot for a mosque. -- PTI

13:17 Fadnavis elected LoP in Maha assembly

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Devendra Fadnavis was on Sunday named Leader of Opposition in the state assembly.

Speaker Nana Patole made the announcement in the House.

Patole said that the BJP is being accorded the status of opposition party in the assembly and Fadnavis would be the new Leader of Opposition.

CM Uddhav Thackeray and some ministers greeted Fadnavis, former CM, after Patole made the announcement. -- PTI

13:06 Tamil Nadu: Actress Namitha joins BJP

South Indian actress Namitha joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of party working president Jagat Prakash Nadda in Chennai on Saturday.

Earlier the day, Tamil film and television actor Radha Ravi also joined BJP in presence of Nadda in Chennai.

Nadda was in the city to review the functioning of the party's state unit. -- ANI

Madhya Pradesh Police along with the Indore district authorities raided the home, media firm and three other establishments of an Indore businessman in connection with the honey-trap case, an official said on Sunday.

The raids were conducted at businessman Jitendra Soni's home, hotel, restaurant and night club in Indore late on Saturday night, he said.

"Soni also owns a local eveninger. The investigators also went to his newspaper's office," the official said.

The authorities have so far not shared any details of the searches conducted at Soni's premises.

His media firm was of late publishing news about some audio-video clips allegedly linked to the honey-trap case.

Meanwhile, some local organisations of journalists condemned the raid on Soni's media firm, saying the exercise was aimed at 'intimidating' the fourth pillar of democracy.

Five women and a man were arrested from Indore and Bhopal in September for allegedly running the honey-trap and blackmailing racket.

The racket was busted after an engineer of the Indore Municipal Corporation approached the police, claiming he was being blackmailed over some objectionable video clips by the accused who were trying to extort about Rs 3 crore from him.

The accused -- Aarti Dayal, 29, Monika Yadav, 18, Shweta Vijay Jain, 39, Shweta Swapnil Jain, 48, Barkha Soni, 34, and Omprakash Kori, 45 -- are currently in judicial custody. -- PTI

11:47 Hyd rape: 3 cops axed for delay in filing FIR

Three policemen have been suspended for alleged delay in registering an first information report in the case in connection with the 'missing' woman veterinarian, who was later found raped and murdered.

They were suspended after an inquiry following allegations levelled by the family that police had cited jurisdictional reasons and not acted on time on their complaint on the missing woman, said Cyberabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar.

He said a detailed inquiry was conducted following which a sub-inspector and two constables were suspended on Saturday.

All police officers have once again been instructed to register cases, irrespective of jurisdiction whenever a complaint related to cognisable offence is received in the police station, the Commissioner said.

The charred body of the woman, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital,was found under a culvert in Shadnagar on Thursday morning a day after she went missing.

Four lorry workers were arrested on Friday in connection with the case and sent to 14 days judicial custody.

The National Commission for Women, which sent a fact finding team to the city had said in its report that prima facie police officials delayed taking action.

National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma said the family had told NCW member Shyamal S Kunder who met them on Friday that police played a 'negative role' in the case.

The family members also told her the police even alleged she had eloped with someone.

Kundar said she had recommended action against policemen, after inquiry, who allegedly did not respond on time to the family's complaint.

She found fault with the policemen who allegedly told the victim's sister, who had gone to lodge a complaint, that the case did not fall under their jurisdiction.

Public anger over the rape and murder of the woman was evident on Saturday as a restive crowd pelted stones at a police vehicle carrying them to jail.

Protests were also held by different student groups and others at various places in the state, demanding capital punishment to the accused. -- PTI

10:39 Actor Dimple Kapadia's mother passes away

Actor Dimple Kapadia's mother Betty Kapadia passed away late last night at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai at the age of 80.

The veteran actor's mother who turned 80 this year was recently spotted celebrating her birthday with her family and friends, including her granddaughter, Twinkle Khanna and her husband Akshay Kumar.

Twinkle had also shared a few sweet snaps from the celebrations on her Instagram handle and wrote, " Grandmother's 80th with family, friends and loads of laughter #ShilimDiaries."

Betty was married to a Gujarati entrepreneur Chunnibhai Kapadia and together had four children including the 62-year-old actor, her late sister, who was also an actor, Simple Kapadia, another sister, Reem and a brother, Munna. -- ANI

The Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance's nominee Nana Patole will be elected as Maharashtra Assembly Speaker unopposed after the Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew its candidate Kisan Kathore from the race.

"Earlier, Opposition also filled the form for the post of Assembly Speaker. But after request by other MLAs and to keep dignity of assembly intact, they have taken back the name. Now, election of Speaker to happen unopposed," NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal told reporters.

Congress's Patole is in his fourth term as MLA.

Patole, who was with the Congress earlier, quit the party and won 2014 Lok Sabha election on the BJP's ticket.

However, he quit the BJP following differences with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in December 2017, and returned to the Congress.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said she was deeply disturbed over the rape and murder of a 25-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad and a teenager in UP's Sambhal.

She also said as a society, we have to do far more than just speak up when such incidents happen.

"Our mindsets have to be jolted into changing, into rejecting violence, into refusing to accept the abhorrent manner in which women are being brutalised on a daily basis," Priyanka Gandhi said on Twitter.

"I have been so deeply disturbed by the savage rape and murder of the young veterinarian in Hyderabad and the teenage girl in Sambhal that no words are enough to express my outrage. As a society, we have to do far more than just speak up when these horrific incidents take place," she added.

The veterinarian, who was on her way home after a medical check-up at Gachibowli in Hyderabad on Wednesday night, was raped and killed by four lorry workers, police said.

The accused set her body ablaze after killing her, they added.

The 16-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and set ablaze by her neighbour in UP's Sambhal last week, succumbed to serious burns in a Delhi hospital on Saturday.

The girl, who was battling for life in the Safdarjung hospital in Delhi since the past nine days, died this morning, SP Yamuna Prasad said. -- PTI

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday assured the family of the 25-year-old veterinarian, who was gangraped and killed, that "constitutionally and legally" she would do everything to ensure that they got justice soon with the setting up of a fast-track court and the trial being held on a daily basis.

The police would be asked to conclude the probe and file the chargesheet against the accused at the earliest, she said.

Talking to PTI over phone from Hyderabad after meeting the family at their Shamshabad residence for about half-an-hour, Soundararajan described the incident as "tragic and shocking" and said it had lowered the morale of girls and women, who were feeling unsafe.

"We will rectify the lapses in the system with regard to women's safety," she said.

Soundararajan shared her grief with the family and said the girl's mother wept uncontrollably after seeing her. The family was satisfied that the governor herself visited them to console, she said.

The governor appealed to women and girls to develop courage and not to get demoralised.

She said she had also sent a note to the Telangana government on setting up of a fast-track court to try the case, detecting the lapses in the policing system and rectifying them, working out more safety measures for women and regularly running an awareness campaign on women's safety. -- PTI

The Islamic States has claimed responsibility for the London Bridge attack in which two persons were killed and deemed the attacker, Usman Khan, as its 'fighter'.

28-year-old Khan stabbed five persons at London Bridge on Friday.

He was shot dead at the scene.

However, the IS did not provide any evidence.

It claimed that the attack was made in response to IS' call to target countries that have been part of the coalition fighting the terrorist organisation, Sputnik reported.

London Police said that they were treating the attack as an act of terror.

Khan was convicted in 2012 of terrorism offences and released in December 2018 "on the license," which means he had to meet certain conditions or face recall to prison.

Neil Basu, the London police counter-terrorism head, said the suspect appeared to be wearing a bomb vest but it turned out to be "a hoax explosive device." -- ANI

Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the government and Bharatiya Janata Party strongly condemn remarks of its Lok Sabha member Pragya Singh Thakur on Nathuram Godse.

Replying to comments made by veteran industrialist Rahul Bajaj at the Economic Times award function here, Shah said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has already condemned her remarks and the party has taken action against her.

"Neither the government, nor the BJP supports such remarks. We strongly condemn it," he said.

Thakur created a controversy on Wednesday with her remarks in the Lower House of Parliament during DMK member A Raja's narration of a statement by Nathuram Godse before a court on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi.

The BJP barred Thakur from attending its parliamentary party meeting in the ongoing session and removed her from the consultative committee on defence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that he would never forgive Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot.

Bajaj said there is an atmosphere of fear, and people are afraid to criticise the government and do not have the confidence that the government will appreciate any criticism.

The home ministry denied allegation that there was an atmosphere of fear in the country.

"No need to fear about anything. The Narendra Modi-government has been criticised continuously in media. But, if you are saying that there is such an environment, we need to work to improve this," he said.

Shah said that the government is working in a most transparent manner and if there is any criticism -- depending on its merit we try to improve on that.

On the situation in Kashmir, the home minister asked the industry community to visit the Valley with family and assess the real situation there. -- PTI

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