Crime file: Three convicted for gang rape, cold blooded murder of girl; Hyd man sexually assaults 2 minor daughters, and more

Three convicted for gang rape, cold blooded murder of girl

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday convicted three youths for abducting, gang raping and murdering a 19-year-old girl whose mutilated and decomposed body was recovered after three days from a village in Haryana in 2012.

Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat held Rahul (27), Ravi (23) and Vinod (23) guilty of the offences, saying they had gratified their 'sexual lust upon the deceased by subjecting her to rape one by one'.

"All the circumstances proved by the prosecution in the present case unerringly point to one hypotheses i.e. the guilt of the accused. Nothing has been brought on record which would point towards innocence of the accused.

"Resultantly, I hold that prosecution has been successful in proving the charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. There remains no doubt that deceased 'K' was kidnapped, gang raped and killed in cold blood by there three accused," the judge said.

The court has fixed February 17 for arguments on quantum of sentence. Talking to the media after pronouncement of the verdict, parents of the victim said that the three deserved capital punishment for their acts.

The three youths were arrested and booked for offences of kidnapping, unnatural sex, gang rape and murder of a girl on intervening night of February 9 and 10, 2012. The court, however, acquitted the three of the charges of unnatural sex saying no such evidence was found against them.

According to the prosecution, the girl, who was working as a data entry operator in Gurgaon's Cyber City, was kidnapped by the three youths in a car near her house in Qutub Vihar here and was gang raped and murdered by them on February 9, 2012.

Additional public prosecutor Satwinder Kaur had informed the court that the victim's mutilated body was found three days after the incident from a mustard field in Rodhai village in Haryana's Rewari district.

Kaur had said the convicts had poured acid into victim's eyes and had inserted a broken liquor bottle into her private parts. She had also said that Ravi and Rahul, who were residing in that area as tenants, were real brothers and had planned to take revenge on the girl as she had rejected Ravi's advances.

The girl was kidnapped by the three youths when she along with three colleagues was coming back from her Gurgaon office, the prosecutor had said, adding they had dragged her into their car and had sped away.

The three had claimed innocence and that they have been falsely implicated in the case. Their counsel had also said that prosecution has failed to prove the motive behind the crime.

However, the court brushed aside their submissions and said, "With regards to this, it may be noted that the motive for committing the crime often remains embedded in the mind of the accused and he may or may not reveal the same.

"Only perpetrator of the crime knows, what circumstances prompted him to take a course of action leading to the commission of crime," it added.

The judge further said, "no specific motive is required to commit the offence of rape. It is a crime of passion and can be committed by an accused on the instant arousal of the desire for sexual gratification on seeing a girl".

While convicting the trio, the court also said that they have failed to give any explanation regarding their location of mobile around the area of Jhajjar in Haryana, at such late hours on February 9, 2012, during which the mobile of the girl was showing the same location.

"Their failure to do so only leads us to their complicity in the kidnapping, rape and murder of the deceased," it said.

"The deceased was kidnapped in a red colour Tata Indica Car, which was in possession of Rahul. Female hair strands were also found on the rear seat of the car and DNA generated from them was found similar to the DNA of the deceased implying that it was the hair of the deceased," the judge observed.

The court, in its over 60-page judgement, also relied on medical and forensic evidence produced before it to held the trio guilty of the offences.

Next: CRPF seizes 4,600kg Ammonium Nitrate in Bihar

CRPF seizes 4,600kg Ammonium Nitrate in Bihar

New Delhi: Security forces on Thursday seized a whopping 4,600 kgs of Ammonium Nitrate, used for making IEDs and bombs, from Bihar's Rohtas district.

According to sources, the recovery of the chemical was affected by a special team of paramilitary CRPF alongwith state police from the Gopi Bigha area of the district. Also, a senior official here said, copper wires, gun powder and a car was recovered in a raid which was conducted on a godown which was suspected to be pilfering the chemicals to Naxals and ultras.

The chemical was packed in 50kg bags, they said. In an another incident in neighbouring Jharkhand, the Central Reserve Police Force nabbed two Naxals from the Belatanar-Khukra area in Giridih district of the state.

The suspected Naxals have been identified by officials as Arjun Manjhi(22) and Ravilal Soren (20).

Next: Man loses Rs 40,000 in ATM fraud; bank refunds money

Man loses Rs 40,000 in ATM fraud; bank refunds money

Thane: An executive working with an electronics firm lost Rs 40,000 in an ATM fraud in Dombivali here, police said on Thursday.

Rahul Badgujar, customer of a top private bank, fell prey to a fraudster, who tampered with an ATM and siphoned off the money from his account after the victim unsuccessfully tried to withdraw cash on January 31.

The 33-year-old, who works with an electronics firm in Mumbai suburb of Andheri, inserted his debit card in an ATM at Dombivali but could not complete the transaction as the machine got stuck. He moved to another ATM machine in the same outlet from where he withdrew Rs 2,000.

The next day Badgujar saw a text message on his mobile phone which said he had withdrawn Rs 40,000, besides Rs 2,000 the previous day, said R.L. Kulkarni, Senior Inspector at Vishnu Nagar Police Station, quoting the complaint.

Badgujar told police he had withdrawn only Rs 2,000 from his account and not the additional Rs 40,000.

"After a written complaint, we began a preliminary enquiry. After we obtained the CCTV footage of the ATM and spoke to bank officials, we registered an FIR on February 8 against an unidentified man, who was seen withdrawing Rs 40,000 from the victim's bank account after tampering with the ATM machine," Kulkarni added.

The accused was aged between 25-30 years, the officer said, adding 'We are looking for him'.

Police could not give details of how the ATM machine was fiddled by the fraudster. Meanwhile, Badgujar told PTI that the private bank today refunded his lost money.

The bank said the customer erred by not cancelling his transaction at the ATM and someone took advantage of this. "However, as a goodwill gesture we have refunded the money to him. We advise customers to be vigilant while transacting at ATMs and always press the cancel button before walking out," a bank spokesperson said.

Next: Nashik college guard attacks staff with axe, one dead

Nashik college guard attacks staff with axe, one dead

Nashik: A lab assistant was killed and three senior staffers were seriously injured on Thursday after they were allegedly attacked with an axe by their college security guard here, police said.

The incident took place Thursday morning on the campus of Sonawane Arts and Science college at Satana, a tehsil town of Nashik district after accused - Bahadursingh Pal (42) - suddenly came charging in a fit of rage, they said.

Pal was apparently angry over the fact that he had not been confirmed as an employee even after serving the college for past many years, Satana police said.

The college staff - Professors Sunil Sagar and Prafulla Thakare, Principal Dr Dilip Shinde and lab assistant Deepak Magare - were severely injured in the attack.

Later, they were rushed to Dr Vasantrao Pawar Medical hospital, where Magare succumbed to his injuries while the condition of three others is said to be critical. Shinde was later shifted to a private hospital here.

Pal was arrested immediately after the attack.

Next: 14-year-old Delhi girl raped by neighbour

14-year-old Delhi girl raped by neighbour

New Delhi: A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her 24-year-old neighbour in the Anand Prabat area here, police said on Thursday.

Based on the girl's statement, a case has been registered against Mohammad Saifulla at the Paharganj police station and he was arrested. The incident took place on Tuesday morning when the girl was alone at her home, police said.

"Taking advantage of she being alone, the accused barged into her house and raped her. The girl didn't tell her parents about the rape that day. She just told them that a man molested her," said a senior police official.

Accordingly, an FIR for molestation was registered. But on Wednesday, the girl recorded her statement before an SDM, stating that she was raped by Saifulla. A medical examination has confirmed rape," the official said. After the girl's statement, Section 376 (rape) of IPC was added in the FIR.

Next - Mumbai: Man allegedly beats 80-year old mother to death

Mumbai: Man allegedly beats 80-year old mother to death

Mumbai: A 55-year-old drunk man beat his 80-year-old bedridden mother to death in Colaba in south Mumbai, police said on Thursday.

According to police, victim Saraswati Keer had been bedridden for the past several years due to bad health.

Wednesday night, accused Ram Keer reached his house in Shanidev building in Colaba in a drunken state and began arguing with his wife.

He began thrashing his ailing mother with a stick after his wife ran out of the house fearing his wrath, police said adding when the wife returned home along with neighbours, the old lady was in unconscious state.

The elderly woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead this morning, police said. Keer was on Thursday arrested on the murder charge.

Next: Indian-origin couple arrested; charged with visa scam in Australia

Indian-origin couple arrested; charged with visa scam in Australia

Melbourne: An Indian-origin couple has been arrested and charged with a visa scam in which clients paid for fake marriages to Australian women to enter the country.

The migration agent and his wedding celebrant wife - Chetan Mohanlal Mashru and Divya Krishne Gowda - were arrested two days ago at their Oxley home in Brisbane's southwest by Australian Federal Police.

Mumbai-born Mashru and his Australia-born wife Gowda were on Wednesday produced before the Brisbane Magistrates Court which granted them conditional bail. Mashru and his wife, whose alleged racket was exposed by a Courier-Mail probe in April last year, face up to 10 years in jail and also 170,000 dollars each in fines if convicted.

During the hearing, the court heard that over 30 men and women whose marriages were allegedly arranged by the couple were among the prosecution's witnesses.

Opposing the bail applications, Commonwealth Prosecutor Aimee Aisthorpe said the accused ran an "organised and ongoing operation" from March 2011 to March 2012 and they charged between USD 10,000 and USD 20,000 for each marriage. Bank statements and marriage certificates were part of the evidence against the couple, the court heard.

"The defendant (Gawda) profited significantly from the offences...," she said, adding "It's difficult to comprehend a more serious offence of this type."

The court heard that the couple had no ties to the community and their property portfolio has been retained by the police. Aisthorpe said the couple fled their Oxley home for India after they were questioned by a journalist in 2012 about the scam.

"They left the day after they we're confronted and were gone for six and a half months," she told the court. Mashru, a second year law student, did not renew his migration agent registration after it lapsed last year.

Magistrate John McGrath later granted them bail on several conditions which included to report to a local police station three times a week, do not come within 300m of an international departure point and do not contact the prosecution witnesses.

Gawda was also instructed to surrender her passport while the police had already seized Mashru's passport. Mashru faces 17 counts of attempting to arrange marriage for visa application; 14 counts of fraud to influence visa applications and 18 offences under the commonwealth criminal code of dishonestly influencing a public official.

Gawda has been charged with 17 counts of attempting to arrange a marriage for visa application. Their matters have been adjourned to the Commonwealth Callover Court in Brisbane on March 14.

Next: Three AP engineering students arrested for ragging

Three AP engineering students arrested for ragging

Hyderabad: Three engineering students were on Wednesday arrested for allegedly beating up and ragging a 21-year-old pharmacy student, who attempted suicide after the incident here, police said.

Y. Suresh Babu, M. Bhanu Prakash and M. Hemanth, all third-year engineering students at a private institute in Dundigal, were absconding after the incident on Friday.

The trio allegedly assaulted one Shravan Kumar, who is pursuing pharmacy course at the same institute, during a ragging session, they said. Reportedly depressed over the harassment and assault, Kumar consumed some tablets in a bid to end his life.

He was admitted to a hospital, where his health condition is improving, police said. Police have booked the trio, aged between 19 and 20, under relevant sections of Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Ragging Act and Indian Penal Code.

Next: Two tribal women raped and murdered in Jamshedpur

Two tribal women raped and murdered in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur: Two tribal women were allegedly raped and murdered in separate areas here, police said on Wednesday.

A mentally-challenged woman, missing since on Tuesday, was raped and later killed with heavy stones last night. Body of the 44-year-old woman was found in Domuhani area in the steel city this morning, police said.

In another incident, a 40-year-old tribal labourer, mother of six children, was raped and strangulated to death in the city yesterday. Her body, identified by her son, was recovered from bushes near Bamnadih area.

Next: Juvenile held for raping teenage girl colleague

Juvenile held for raping teenage girl colleague

Thane: A sixteen-year-old boy from Wagale Estate area here was taken into custody on Wednesday for allegedly raping his teenage girl colleague, police said.

"Both the accused and victim were employed at a ice-cream parlour at recently-opened Viviana Mall here," said sub-inspector V.A. Gole of Vartak Nagar police station.

Police said the incident occurred on Monday morning when the boy went to the parlour under the pretext of teaching the girl some work, and allegedlyraped her. The juvenile is charged under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and also under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment to Children Act 2012.

Next: Youth arrested on the charge of killing two minor boys

Youth arrested on the charge of killing two minor boys

Vadodara: A youth was arrested on the charge of killing two minor boys in Pratapgunj locality of the city in the last ten days, city police chief said.

"This Hindi-speaking 21-year-old youth has confessed to hiscrime and his involvement in killing of both the boys," Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said.

Sharma rushed to the site on Wednesday after the recovery of the body of a five-year-old boy had been sodomised and found murdered on the banks of a river. This is the second such incident reported from the area since January 31.

Prior to this, the dead body of a 10-year-old boy was found, who was also sodomimised and then murdered. "The arrested youth is mentally disturbed", the officer said.