9-Year-Old Gang-Raped, Strangled, Eyes Gouged Out In Kashmir: Police
SRINAGAR: A nine-year-old girl was gang-raped allegedly by her stepbrother and his friends, who were instigated by her stepmother, in Kashmir's Baramulla. The child's eyes were gouged out and her body was burnt with acid before being dumped in a forest near her home in Uri, said the police, revealing details of an unspeakable crime.
The child's stepmother, 14-year-old stepbrother and three others have been arrested. The police call it an open-and-shut case. The decomposed body of the girl was found in the forest on Sunday last.
"We started investigation immediately," said Mir Imtiyaz Hussain, a senior police officer at Baramulla. A special team formed to investigate the murder uncovered a horrifying story of jealousy and revenge within a family.
"It was found that the stepmother had been nursing a grudge against the non-local wife of her husband, and her children," said Mr Hussain.
During interrogation, the girl's stepmother allegedly said her husband would spend more time with his second wife and the nine-year-old was closest to him among all his children.
The police said tension had been rising in the family.
"The woman conspired to kill her stepdaughter. She took her to the nearby jungle where she asked her 14-year-old son to rape the girl," the police officer said. "The girl was gang-raped at the instance of her stepmother and in her presence," Mr Hussain said.
The stepmother strangled the girl and her son struck her head with an axe, killing her on the spot, the police officer said.
"After that one of the accused went back home and brought acid in a bottle. A 19-year-old man gouged out her eyes with a sharp knife and poured acid on her body," Mr Hussain said.
The friends of the woman's son dumped the body in the bushes and covered it with pine twigs and branches. "The axe and knife have been recovered on information from the accused," the police officer said.
A plastic can containing acid has also been found. The police said they are building a watertight case.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Minor protests reported in Kerala polling over bogus vote allegations
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Assembly polling across Kerala progressed largely peacefully, but protests were reported at several booths on Thursday over allegations of bogus voting.
A minor scuffle broke out between Congress and BJP activists at Manalur in Thrissur district after UDF candidate T N Prathapan arrived in the area.
According to police, BJP activists prevented people accompanying Prathapan from entering the booth premises, leading to the scuffle.
In Wadakkanchery, also in Thrissur district, a voter, Sajeev, was unable to cast his vote after election officials informed him that his vote had already been recorded as a postal ballot.
This triggered protests by BJP activists, prompting police intervention.
Although election officials offered to allow him to cast a tender vote, he declined.
BJP candidate T S Ullas Babu later arrived at the booth and staged a protest.
A similar incident occurred in Kuttiady, Kozhikode district, where a woman was denied the right to vote after it was found that her vote had already been cast as a postal ballot.
At Malampuzha and Shoranur in Palakkad district, Thrikkaripur in Kasaragod, and Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, complaints emerged that votes had been cast in the names of original voters, leading to protests.
The affected voters were later permitted to cast tender votes.
If a voter arrives at the polling station and finds someone has already voted in their name, they can inform the presiding officer. After satisfactorily proving their identity with valid documents, the voter is allowed to cast a tendered ballot instead of using the voting machine.
In Kalpetta, Wayanad, a polling agent was removed after it was found that she was simultaneously working as an ASHA worker.
In a separate incident in Uduma, Kasaragod, a Congress agent was caught using "smart spectacles" inside a polling booth.
At a polling booth in Badaje, Manjeshwar, Kasaragod, a defect was noticed in a voting machine that recorded more votes than were actually polled.
Polling in all 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala commenced at 7 am.
The crucial elections will decide whether the ruling LDF will secure a straight third term, whether the UDF will make a comeback, or whether the BJP will spring a surprise in an otherwise bipolar contest.
