Delhi court orders immediate security reinstatement for wrestler in harassment case
New Delhi, Aug 22: A Delhi court directed the city police on Thursday to immediately reinstate the security of a female wrestler who has accused former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot passed the interim order, noting that the wrestler has to appear before the court on Friday to get her statement recorded in the matter.
The court was hearing applications filed by senior advocate Rebecca John for three wrestlers, claiming that their security was withdrawn on Wednesday night.
The court directed police to file a detailed report by Friday regarding the reasons for the withdrawal of the applicants' security.
"In the meantime, as an interim measure to ensure the safety of the complainant/victim no.4 (as per the list of witnesses), the DCP concerned is directed to make immediate and appropriate arrangements for her security until her deposition is complete and until further orders from this court. Accordingly, let a notice be issued to the DCP concerned with a direction to file a compliance report on the next date," the magistrate said and posted the matter for Friday.
On Thursday evening, top Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat claimed on X that police have withdrawn the security of the women wrestlers who are set to testify against Singh in court.
"Delhi Police has withdrawn the security of the women wrestlers who are going to testify against Brij Bhushan in the court," Phogat said in a post on the microblogging platform and tagged the Delhi Police as well as the National Commission for Women and the Delhi Commission for Women.
Phogat had reached the Paris Olympics final in her weight category but was disqualified from the Games for being overweight ahead of the gold medal bout.
According to the Supreme Court's directions, security arrangements were made for the complainants after assessing their threat perception, one of the applications said.
"It is also stated that since then, the complainants have been provided with PSOs for their protection. However, the complainants have recently been informed by their PSOs that as per the directions received from higher officials, their security has been withdrawn just one day before the date of hearing before this court, when complainant no.4 is required to appear before the court to testify," it claimed.
The application urged the court to pass necessary directions to ensure the safety and security of the applicants, "so that they may testify without fear or intimidation".
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Austrian police detain suspect in case of rat poison found in baby food jars on supermarket shelves
Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
