Nation must unite to protect children: Rahul on Mandsaur gang rape
New Delhi, June 30 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday voiced his angst against the brutal gang rape and assault of an eight-year-old schoolgirl in Madhya Pradesh and said the nation must come together to protect the children.
"In Mandsaur an eight-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang raped, and is battling for her life.
"The brutality this young child was subjected to sickens me. As a nation, we must come together to protect our children and bring the attackers to speedy justice," Gandhi tweeted.
The child was abducted while she was waiting for her father outside her school on Tuesday.
She was gang raped, her throat was slit and left to die. A day later, the Madhya Pradesh police arrested Irfan alias Bhaiyu, 20, a labourer, on the basis of CCTV footage.
On Friday, the police made another arrest of a construction worker, Asif, 24, after Irfan named him as an accomplice. Both were booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act even as the probe continued.
Doctors treating the victim in Indore said she was "severely assaulted". She has started showing signs of improvement, they said, adding that the minor might be out of danger physically but her mental trauma would last longer.
Several political leaders and eminent personalities have reacted to the horrific incident on the social media.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi said: "It's blood curdling. What's happening to this world? Culprits must be brought to book and given the strictest punishment."
AICC General Secretary and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the incident and said: "Such a horrific crime is a shame on humanity. We all are with the victim and her family members."
Commentator and right wing activist Rahul Easwar has applauded the Muslim community in Mandsaur for coming forward against the crime and asking for the strictest punishment to the accused.
"Applause and respect to our Muslim leaders in Mandsaur. No place for rape accused in muslim community graveyard and no prayers will be offered to him on his death - Muslim community leaders on Irfan, the rape accused of Mandsaur," tweeted Easwar tagging a media report on the same.
The incident has sparked protests in different cities across the region in Madhya Pradesh demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday condemned the incident and said that rapists were a "burden on the earth" and his government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the accused were hanged.
Chouhan has assured the best possible treatment to the victim and said his government would also take care of her education and future needs.
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Krunal's rare IPL fifty helps RCB beat DC and extend unbeaten away run
RCB jump to top of IPL 2025 points table
New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI): Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.
Krunal (73 not out of 47 balls), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51 off 47).
The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.
RCB bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.
For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.
At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.
In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
On Sunday night, Kohli played the perfect anchor as Krunal came up with timely hits on a difficult surface to deliver a fine win for his team. His straight hit through the line off Mukesh Kumar and an aerial drive over cover off the wily Kuldeep Yadav stood out among his four sixes.
Kohli's consistency has been remarkable this season and the knock against DC was his sixth 50-plus score in 10 innings. The highlight of his solid effort was the straight drive off Mitchell Starc.
The night, however, belonged to Krunal who collected only his second 50-plus score in 116 IPL innings.
Earlier, K L Rahul (41 off 39 balls) was the top-scorer for DC but it was Tristian Stubbs (34 off 18 balls) who helped the hosts post a fighting total.
RCB put the opposition in to bat, expecting better batting conditions during the run chase.
Faf du Plessis (22 off 26 balls) returned from injury to join Abhishek Porel (28 off 11) at the top of the order but it was the latter who ensured DC reached 52 for two in the powerplay.
The southpaw, who has been in fine form this season, came up with a couple of sizzling sixes in his entertaining cameo. Both came off Bhuvneshwar Kumar -- one was a left-handed hit over mid-wicket and the second was a pick-up shot over fine leg.
As veteran du Plessis struggled to get going at the other end, Porel found the ropes with relative ease.
Lead RCB pacer Hazlewood, who has been relentless with his hard lengths, took three balls to get the breakthrough as he cramped Porel to have him caught behind down the leg side.
Karun Nair, who began with a short arm pull off Hazlewood for a boundary, played an ordinary shot off Yash Dayal in the following over and his mishit was pouched at mid-wicket.
The spinners got into operation after the powerplay and overs 7-10 was the phase when RCB were able to stem the flow of runs, conceding just 20 runs off the four overs from Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya, who got rid of du Plessis in that period.
It was only towards the end of the innings that DC managed to get some momentum, all thanks to the blitzkrieg from Stubbs.
The 18th and 19th over from Hazlewood and Dayal yielded 17 and 19 runs, enabling DC to cross the 160-run mark.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 162 for 8 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 41; Bhuveshwar Kumar 3/33).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73, Virat Kohli 51; Axar Patel 2/19).
