Kerala woman alleges rape inside CPI(M)'s local office, probe on
Palakkad: A 21-year-old woman has filed a police complaint alleging she was raped inside the ruling CPI(M)'s area committee office at Cheruplassery in Kerala, following which a probe has been started.
A case was registered after police found a newborn girl last Saturday abandoned on a roadside. They traced her mother, who said the baby was born after she was allegedly raped by a student activist inside the party office 10 months ago, police sources said.
The woman claimed in her complaint that she went to the party office for preparation of a college magazine, when the incident happened.
A local CPI(M) leader said the woman is a SFI activist and her family has close links with the party.
The party would probe if such an incident has taken place in its office and police also should conduct a "truthful" and "scientific" probe, he added.
Police officials are yet to record statement of the man, who is being accused. The woman and the newborn have been hospitalised, police said.
Attacking the CPI(M), senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala told reporters that it was unfortunate that party offices of the CPI(M) have become "rape centres. I have regret in saying this. But that is the fact".
"Women are unsafe in Kerala in the LDF regime," Chennithala alleged.
Palakkad's MP, M B Rajesh, who is seeking a reelection on LDF ticket in the April 23 Lok Sabha polls, has demanded that truth should come out as early as possible.
Protesting against the incident, Youth Congress workers took out a march to the CPI(M)'s Cheruplassery area committee office and raised slogans.
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
