Autorickshaw driver detained, five being questioned in Ujjain minor rape survivor case
Ujjain (MP) (PTI): Police have taken into a custody an autorickshaw driver in connection with the rape of a girl, who was found bleeding on a street in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain city, and five others are also being questioned in the case, a senior official said on Thursday.
The police have also found some blood stains on the passenger seat of the autorickshaw of the detained man, he said.
According to Ujjain police, a counsellor interacted with the minor rape victim, and found that the latter belongs to Satna district.
However, police in Satna said whether she is the same girl about whom a missing person's report was filed will be confirmed after her family identifies her.
The girl, around 12 years of age, was found bleeding on a street located under the Mahakal police station area in Ujjain on Monday.
After being found, she was taken to a hospital, where her initial medical examination confirmed that she had been raped, police have said.
The girl was on Wednesday operated upon by a team of specialist doctors in Indore and her condition is said to be critical but stable, they said.
"The police have taken an autorickshaw driver into custody on the basis of a video footage. We also found some blood stains on the passenger seat of the autorickshaw, " Ujjain SP Sachin Sharma said.
"Five others are also being questioned," he said.
The girl's identity is yet to be established as she could not tell her name, age and address to the police properly.
"A counsellor interacted with the victim and found that she belongs to Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, where a report of a missing girl was filed at Jaitwara police station (in Satna) on September 25," he said.
Further probe into the incident is being carried out through a Special Investigation Team (SIT), he added.
Meanwhile, Satna's Additional Superintendent of Police Shivesh Singh Baghel said the missing person's report about a girl, aged around 13 years and wearing a school uniform, had been filed at Jaitwara police station.
The minor is a little cognitively-challenged as per the report filed by her family members, he said.
"After reading the news reports and seeing the images of the victim in a school uniform, police suspect that the rape survivor is the same missing girl. Accordingly, a team of police along with the victim's family members was sent to Ujjain for her identification," he said.
"If they identify the victim, further legal action will be taken in the matter," Baghel added.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh over the incident, alleging that girls, women, tribals and Dalits are not safe under the "misrule" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"The brutality meted out to a little girl in Ujjain, the city of Lord Mahakal, is soul-shattering. After the torture, she kept wandering from door to door for help for two-and-a-half hours and then fell unconscious on the road but could not get help," she said on X.
"Is this the state of law and order and women's safety in Madhya Pradesh? Girls, women, tribals and Dalits are not safe in the 20 years of BJP's misrule," the Congress general secretary said.
The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of being incapable of protecting the dignity of women and girls in the state after a video clip of the 12-year-old rape victim found bleeding on a street in Ujjain went viral on social media.
Amid massive public outrage, MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra announced on Wednesday that an SIT has been formed to probe the shocking crime.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
