Car catches fire on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan, five of family burnt alive
Jaipur (PTI): Five members of a family were burnt alive while the driver was seriously injured after a car caught fire on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place near Maujpur on Wednesday night when the victims were returning from a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir.
Additional Superintendent of Police Priyanka Raghuvanshi said fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control in 15 minutes, but by then the car was completely gutted.
The deceased have been identified as Santosh, his wife Shashi, mother Parvati and daughters Raghani and Sakshi, all residents of Chainpura in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Kailash Jindal said a short circuit is suspected to have triggered the blaze. As it was a CNG vehicle, the fire spread fast, leaving the occupants with no time to escape.
"Only skeletal remains were recovered from the vehicle, which have been preserved separately. DNA tests will be conducted to establish their identity," he said.
The car driver, identified as Vinod Kumar Mehar, managed to jump out of the vehicle but sustained around 80 per cent burn injuries. He was initially taken to a nearby health centre and later referred to Jaipur for advanced treatment, officials said.
Further investigation is underway.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
