Assam village where just one family lives
Nalbari (PTI): A village in Assam's Nalbari district, which had the road leading to it inaugurated by a former chief minister many years ago, is now almost deserted barring a single family.
From being a prosperous village in the last century to just 16 people in the 2011 census, No 2 Bardhanara village currently has a single family with five members, due to lack of a proper road.
Bimal Deka, his wife Anima and their three children Naren, Dipali and Seuti are the only dwellers of this village in Ghograpara circle, around 12 km from the headquarters town Nalbari.
"We have to travel 2 km through water and muddy paths to reach the nearest motorable road to attend our school and college. During monsoons, we commute through a country boat," Dipali said.
Anima rows the boat to ferry her children back and forth, but despite such tough conditions, the family has ensured proper education for all three.
While Dipali and Naren are graduates, Seuti is doing her higher secondary.
With no electricity, the children study under the light of kerosene lamps. The boat becomes the sole mode of transportation for the family when it rains as all the paths within the village get submerged.
The condition of this revenue village spread across 162 hectares was not so pathetic till a few decades ago, people of nearby areas claimed.
Known for high agricultural yield, former chief minister Bishnuram Medhi had visited No 2 Bardhanara a few decades ago to inaugurate a road leading to the village.
Anima said the apathy of local authorities has worsened the condition, which led villagers to abandon it.
"Local agencies like the Zilla parishad, gaon panchayat or the block development office are not interested in carrying out any work here," she claimed, adding agriculture and animal rearing is their mainstay.
With an NGO, Gramya Vikash Mancha, recently setting up an agricultural farm in the village, the family now gets to interact with other people more often.
Farm's chairman Prithi Bhusan Deka said the village was once prosperous, but recurring floods have deserted it.
"If the government constructs a road and provides basic amenities, the agricultural potential can again be realised and people will return to the village," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
