Regional

Chitradurga, Sep 1 (IANS) Six days after a FIR was lodged under the POCSO Act and the SC, ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, the Karnataka police finally swung into action on Thursday in connection with the sex scandal involving the Lingayat seer in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Parashuram on Thursday stated that accused number 2, women's hostel warden Rashmi is being questioned in the case of sexual assault on minor girls. "We have started investigating the accused persons in the case one after the other," he said.

There is no rule as such that the accused should be arrested, if it is necessary the accused seer will be questioned, he maintained. The NCPCR has sought a report from Parashuram on the incident.

Meanwhile, a local court in Chitradurga has granted bail to former MLA S K Basavarajan and his wife Soubhagya in connection with the attempt to rape case and the sexual harassment case filed by the women's hostel warden Rashmi in the Chitradurga Rural police station.

Rashmi, who is an accused in the POCSO case, has alleged kidnapping of two minor girls, sexual assault on her. She lodged her complaint after the FIR against the Lingayat seer.

S K Basavarajan stated after obtaining bail that he is not conspiring against the mutt. "I only protected children. After coming to know that the minor girls are in Bengaluru I, my wife and son went to Bengaluru and tried to bring back the girls to Chitradurga Mutt. But they refused to stay and later they were sent with their family members," he said.

"The minor victims were in a bad condition and I gave them shelter. If the minor girls are truthful they will get justice, if they are not, they will be exposed," Basavarajan stated.

Meanwhile, Dalit organizations laid siege to the vehicle of the district commissioner of Chitradurga and demanded the arrest of the seer. They warned that if the seer is not arrested, they would give a call to their workers from all over the state to come to Chitradurga and protest against the accused seer.

The court has adjourned the bail petition of the seer to Friday.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 1 (IANS) Heavy rainfall lashed Chennai and its surrounding areas on Thursday leaving several low-lying areas in the state capital inundated.

The rainfall, which commenced at 12 p.m., is continuing unabated and has thrown normal life out of gear.

The IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in many parts of Tamil Nadu for the next four to five days. It has also predicted heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu and parts of Puducherry including Mahe.

The district administrations of Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Myladuthurai and Tanjavur have declared holidays for all educational institutions following heavy to very heavy rainfall.

The Greater Chennai Police and the State Disaster Response Force are geared up for any eventuality.

--IANS
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Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka), Sep 1 (IANS) Karnataka police have arrested nine students in connection with thrashing of a Muslim student for developing friendship with a Hindu girl in Sullia Police station limits in Dakshina Kannada district, police said on Thursday.

Mohammad Sanif, 19-year-old B.com student of First Grade College at Sullia, was beaten up by a group of Hindu students on August 30 for being friends with a Hindu girl student.

Sanif, a resident of Jalsoor Village, was talking to his Hindu friend. The accused did not like Sanif talking to Hindu girl and took him to the college playground. The accused had pulled the shirt of the victim and assaulted him with a wooden log.

The accused questioned him why he was talking to Hindu girl and threatened him that he won't be spared if he continued to talk to her. He was also pushed to the ground and kicked.

The victim had informed the matter to his family members who lodged a police complaint in this regard. Sanif is being treated at the Sullia Government hospital, police said.

The police have arrested five students for assaulting Sanif and four students for supporting the assault. The photos of the assault have gone viral on social media and created public outrage. Police have taken up further investigations.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 1 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu police have constituted a special police team to investigate into the attack on AIADMK headquarters on July 11.

According to the complaint filed by the Edappadi K. Palaniswami faction of the party, a group led by O. Panneerselvam had ransacked the office and taken away several valuable documents.

The EPS faction also complained that the attack took place precisely when the party general council was meeting at Vangaram to elect the new party office bearers.

The complainant said that the O. Panneerselvam faction was disgruntled that majority of the AIADMK cadres and local level leaders had migrated to the EPS faction.

The Tamil Nadu DGP has constituted a special CB-CID team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Venkitesan and will have inspectors, Latha, Ramya, Renuka and Selvin Sandhakumar as members.

In the clash on July 11 between the supporters of EPS and OPS, 47 people, including two policemen, were injured. Several buses, cars, and two-wheelers were damaged and police had taken control of the situation and sealed the office after arresting a few of the protesters.

The Madras High Court had in a landmark order hearing the petition of O. Panneerselvam declared the General Council meeting of the AIADMK, null and void.

--IANS
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Kochi, Sep 1 (IANS) While looking into a divorce petition filed by a man who has been separated from his wife since 2018, the Kerala High Court observed that the state was once famous for its well-knit family ties.

"But the present trend seems to break the nuptial tie on flimsy or selfish reasons, or for extra-marital relationships, even unmindful of their children. The wails and screams coming out of disturbed and destroyed families are liable to shake the conscience of the society as a whole. When warring couples, deserted children and desperate divorcees occupy the majority of our population, no doubt it will adversely affect the tranquillity of our social life, and our society will have a stunted growth," the division bench of Justices Muhamed Mustaque and Sophy Thomas observed.

They went on to point out that these days, the younger generation think that marriage is an evil that could be avoided to enjoy life without any liabilities or obligations.

"They would expand the word 'wife' as 'worry invited forever' substituting the old concept of 'wise investment forever'. The consumer culture of 'use and throw' seems to have influenced our matrimonial relationships also," added the judges.

Another remark that came was that live-in-relationships are on the rise.

"The law and religion consider marriage as an institution by itself and parties to the marriage are not permitted to walk away from that relationship unilaterally, unless and until they satisfy the legal requirements to dissolve their marriage through a court of law or in accordance with the personal law which govern them. Mere quarrels, ordinary wear and tear of matrimonial relationships or casual outburst of some emotional feelings cannot be treated as cruelties warranting a divorce," the Justices further said.

Dismissing the petition, the division bench pointed out that from the facts of the case on hand, it is obvious that the "unholy alliance" of the husband with some other lady has caused some disturbances in the family life of the appellant and respondent, which they were sailing smoothly with their three girl children.

The couple came to know one another while they were working in Delhi in 2006. They tied the knot in 2009.

Till 2017, their relationship was fine, after which things started going haywire and the husband first approached the Family Court in Alappuzha seeking divorce.

When the Alappuzha court dismissed his petition, he moved the High Court.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 31 (IANS) Dalit and student organizations and others have given a statewide protest call against the ruling BJP and the Karnataka police on September 2, condemning the inaction against rape accused Lingayat seer Murugha Shivamurthy Sharanaru of Murugha mutt in Chitradurga of Karnataka.

Posters have been released by various groups on social media calling for the immediate arrest of Murugha who is facing a sexual assault case by minor girls. The protesters will gather near the Freedom Park in Bengaluru at 10.30 a.m.

The posters announced that the protest will be backed by women's organizations, labour unions, farmer and daily wage workers' unions, minority institutions, NGOs, advocates associations and sexual minority groups.

The rape accused seer is holding a meeting with close aides including 4th accused Paramashivaiah at the mutt on Wednesday. The District and Sessions court is taking up the bail petition of the accused seer on Thursday.

Sources in the mutt said that the meeting will decide on the future course of action in case the court rejects the bail plea of the accused seer.

The officials of the Child Welfare Committee have shifted most of the girl students from the Murugha mutt hostel following the development.

Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy stated on Wednesday that it is wrong to accuse politicians of being silent on the POCSO case against the seer. "There is no chance that we chose to ignore the incident. The concerned authorities should be deciding on this and initiating action. Politics should not be mixed with this incident and care should be taken not to hurt religious feelings at the same time," he added.

Posts slamming the political parties and prominent leaders over the issue have also gone viral. "Do not sympathize with rape accused seer. Siddaramaiah who claims himself as a socialist and progressive should have raised his voice for poor victim girls who are minors belonging to oppressed classes."

The posts also chided former CM B S Yediyurappa, saying that morals should prevail over caste.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 31 (IANS) Karnataka Police on Wednesday deployed about 1,500 police personnel in the premises of the Idgah Maidan in Bengaluru following the Supreme Court's order not to allow Ganeshotsav celebrations in the controversial site.

The personnel include 21 ACP's, 47 inspectors, 130 sub-inspectors, 126 assistant sub-inspectors and 900 constables who will be monitored by DCPs.

A total of Rapid Action Force (RAF) 120 personnel, a team of 100 special ammunition experts, 10 platoons of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) were also put in place to avoid any untoward incidents.

The police have already taken rowdy elements in the area into custody and also conducted flag marches and a series of meetings with religious leaders.

Meanwhile, the Chamarajanagar Citizens' Forum, which was fighting a legal battle and urging the authorities to allow them to celebrate Ganeshotsav, has stated that it will abide by the Supreme Court order.

Hindu organisations have chosen to abide by the order. However, the police are not taking any chances.

Rame Gowda, the Forum's President, stated that the organisation will continue to wage its legal battle and he is confident of emerging victorious in the coming days and celebrate Ganeshotsav at the Idgah Maidan in a grand manner later.

The police have also made tight security arrangements at the Idgah Maidan in Hubballi city where the Karnataka High Court has allowed Ganeshotsav celebrations.

--IANS
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Puri, Aug 31 (IANS) On the eve of Ganesh puja, renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a sand sculpture of Lord Ganesh using 3,425 sand ladoos at the Puri beach in Odisha.

Sudarsan has created a six-feet-high sand sculpture of Lord Ganesh by using the sand ladoos with two elephants, and with a message "Happy Ganesh Puja". He shows two elephants in his sculpture praying for the environment.

"Every year we do something different in the sand. This year, we try to give a message to save our environment through our sculpture," said the sand artist.

The two-time world champion and Padma awardee artist Sudarsan always tries to spread awareness through his sculptures. His sand arts, created for public awareness, were appreciated by the UN Environment Programme and the World Health Organisation.

He has participated in more than 60 international sand art festivals and championships around the world and won many prizes for the country.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Aug 30 (IANS) Yoga Guru Ramdev called on Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and solemnly touched his feet, even as the Shiv Sena questioned the latter's credentials, here on Tuesday.

The duo also held discussions during what was described as a 'courtesy visit' by officials. Earlier he also met the Bharatiya Janata Party's Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Briefly interacting with mediapersons later, Ramdev said that CM Shinde is a beacon of 'Sanatan Hindutva' who has been following the ideals of the Shiv Sena founder, the late Balasaheb Thackeray, with whom he enjoyed cordial relations.

"Now, Eknath Shinde is the true heir to Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy of Hindutva," declared Ramdev, whose nephew Ravi Rana is an independent MLA from Amravati. Rana's wife Navneet Kaur-Rana is an independent MP from the same district.

Ramdev's comments raised eyebrows in Sena circles with spokesperson Kishore Tiwari wondering what "is the locus standi" of Ramdev to comment on Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy.

"Ramdev himself is a tainted person. He is giving a suo moto certificate to the unholy alliance of Shinde-Fadnavis which has still not earned credibility or respect of the people of the state, and the matter is pending before the courts," said Tiwari.

The Rana couple had shot to fame in April when they spearheaded an aggressive agitation to chant the Hanuman Chalisa outside the private residence of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi's ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray.

Following a sudden rebellion by Shinde and 50 other MLAs supporting the Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress MVA regime, Thackeray quit in end-June.

--IANS
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