Supreme Court directs Unnao rape survivor to be airlifted to Delhi
New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed on Monday that the Unnao rape survivor, who suffered critical injuries when her car was hit by a truck last week, be airlifted from Lucknow and brought to New Delhi for better treatment at the AIIMS.
Minutes before the direction, the apex court had deferred the hearing on transfer of the woman and her injured lawyer, for further hearing on Friday as no one on behalf of their families appeared and sought the transfer.
However, the lawyer representing the family then appeared before a bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose and said the woman's mother now wanted her to be shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for better care as she continued to be critical.
The bench took note of the submissions of lawyer D Ramakrishna Reddy, appearing for the victim, and ordered that she be transferred from the King George's Medical College in Lucknow to the AIIMS.
Fixing the case on Friday, it also made clear that the family of the injured lawyer can also seek the same relief and approach it as and when they need.
The woman, allegedly raped by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor, is battling for life after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer. Two of her aunts died in the accident last Sunday.
The bench was informed that Mahesh Singh, uncle of the Unnao rape survivor had been transferred to the Tihar jail in Delhi from a jail in Uttar Pradesh in pursuance of its earlier direction to ensure his safety.
Singh's wife was in the ill fated car and had died in the accident. He participated in her cremation on Wednesday after the Allahabad High Court granted him parole for a day.
He has been convicted in a 19-year-old case and sentenced to 10-year jail term on a case filed by Sengar's brother, Atul Singh.
The top court had on Friday put on hold its earlier order transferring the case of the collision from a Lucknow court to Delhi to enable the CBI to complete its investigation.
The order was passed after the CBI told the apex court stating that due to shifting of the case, the local court was facing technical hurdle in passing orders of remand for the accused who are being arrested in course of the probe.
Besides the main rape case, the three other matters which were transferred to the national capital are the FIR which was lodged against victim's father under Arms Act, his custodial death and the gang rape of the victim.
The apex court had directed to hold trial on daily basis and completing it within 45-days along with a direction to all media houses not to disclose the identity of the victim directly, indirectly, or in any manner.
The top court had also directed that the victim, her mother, other members of the family and their lawyer will be provided security by the CRPF and an officer of the level of commandant will file a compliance report forthwith.
Sengar, a four-time legislator who represents Bangermau in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, is the main accused in the rape case and is lodged in jail since April, 2018.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
