Hot weather not behind EVM/VVPAT malfunction in Kairana, says government
New Delhi, July 30: Contrary to the claims made by the Election Commission that excessive heat and light was among the factors behind the large-scale malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs in Kairana Lok Sabha by-polls held in May this year, the government on Monday said that hot weather was not the reason.
In a written reply to the question in Rajya Sabha whether as per the Election Commission, malfunctioning in EVM machines was due to hot weather, Minister of State for Law and Justice P.P. Chaudhary said: "No sir".
The Minister also ruled out any possibility of adopting any alternative method other than using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which are scheduled to be held in April-May 2019.
The MPs - Neeraj Shekhar, Javed Ali Khan and Ravi Prakash Verma - had asked if the Election Commission proposes to conduct next general election in any other manner as April-May are peak hot months.
The Minister said in the reply that such a possibility "does not arise".
Chaudhary said that as per the ECI data, during the bye-elections to Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur Legislative Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh held on May 28, out of a total of 2056 EVMs/VVPAT units used, seven EVMs and 388 VVPAT units malfunctioned.
An EC report had in June said that in Kairana, 355 VVPATs (20.82 per cent) were reported malfunctioning which needed to be changed. In Noorpur, 29 paper trail machines (8.25 per cent) had to be replaced due to malfunctioning.
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Delhi: Father, son held for killing 19-year-old woman in suspected honour killing
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a man and his son for allegedly murdering his 19-year-old daughter in west Delhi's Hari Nagar area, an official said on Friday.
The case first came to light on April 1 after a PCR call was received around 2 pm, alleging that a woman had been killed by her family members and her body was being taken for last rites, he said.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Maneer (55), a vegetable vendor, and his son Meraj Ali (19), were arrested in connection with the case, the officer said.
The victim had been in a relationship with a man from her native place for the past two years, which was opposed by her father, Maneer and brother Meraj, he said.
"When the girl did not end the relationship despite objections, the family killed her," the officer said.
On April 1, the police said that when their team reached the spot, they found that the woman's body was being taken for burial.
Acting on the input, the burial process was stopped over suspicion of honour killing.
"Police intercepted the family members and took possession of the body," he said.
Police said that the man who had made the PCR told them that the woman was in love with his cousin.
During the inquiry, police also interacted with the PCR caller, who said his cousin, a friend of the deceased, had informed him about the situation and suspected foul play, prompting him to alert the police control room.
The body of the woman was subsequently shifted to the mortuary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for preservation and postmortem.
Police said that both the crime team and the forensic science laboratory (FSL) team were called to inspect the scene and collect evidence.
Police said that, as per the postmortem report, the cause of death was identified as smothering, indicating that the woman was suffocated.
A preliminary inquiry also revealed that the family had initiated preparations for the last rites soon after the woman's death, raising suspicion about the circumstances.
Initial investigation pointed to the family's opposition to the woman's relationship.
"The family members of the woman saw her with the man, and she was taken back home. We got to know that she was beaten up and even locked inside the house for some days," a source said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, police added.
