BLO dies of stroke in Bengal, family links it to SIR work pressure
Kolkata (PTI): A booth-level officer (BLO) engaged by the Election Commission for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls died after suffering a brain stroke in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district, her husband claimed on Sunday, attributing the death indirectly to extreme mental stress caused by work pressure.
District officials said Namita Hansda (50) collapsed at her home in Memari late Saturday night due to "severe stress because of the mounting workload."
She was taken to Kalna Subdivisional Hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.
Madhab Hansda, her husband, said Namita, an ICDS worker assigned as the BLO for booth No. 278 in Chak Balarampur area of Memari, was "worried a lot about meeting the target of completing the SIR exercise over a stipulated time."
However, a district official clarified that her death was due to medical reasons and no direct link could be established with her SIR duty.
Swapan Mondal, general secretary of 'Vote Kormi and BLO Aikya Manch' (Vote worker and BLO unity group) shot off a letter to the CEO Manoj Agarwal demanding Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of the family of Hansda on humanitarian ground.
"She succumbed to death following excessive pressure of the assigned job. It is the responsibility off EC to stand by her family on compassionate ground," the forum said.
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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.
