Unnao rape case: Supreme Court seeks report on delay in placing victim's letter before CJI
New Delhi: Taking cognisance of Unnao rape victim's letter to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a report from its secretary general as to why it had not been brought to his notice.
In her letter to the CJI, the 19-year-old woman had expressed apprehension of threat to her life.
"Unfortunately, the letter is yet to see the light of the day and yet the newspapers flashed it as if I have read the letter," Justice Gogoi said.
The bench, also comprising justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, lamented that newspapers gave the impression that no action was taken by the CJI.
"We will do something about this highly volatile situation," the bench said.
The observations came when senior advocate V Giri, who is assisting the court in the suo motu case on alarming rise in child rapes, sought urgent hearing of the Unnao rape case.
The apex also asked the Uttar Pradesh authorities to file a status report by Thursday on the accident of the Unnao rape case victim. It listed the matter for hearing on Thursday.
The 19-year-old woman, who was allegedly raped two years ago by BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar at his residence in Unnao, was critically injured in a car crash on Sunday.
She was travelling with her family members and lawyer when their car was hit by a speeding truck in the northern state's Rae Bareli district.
Two of her family members were killed in the accident and her lawyer was seriously injured. The woman's family has filed a complaint alleging "conspiracy" behind the car crash.
A copy of the letter, written by the survivor and two of her family members, was also sent to the Allahabad High Court and Uttar Pradesh government authorities.
The letter claimed that some people, allegedly associated with Sengar, had threatened the victim's family with dire consequences on July 7-8.
It also sought a direction for registration of an FIR against those who allegedly intimidated the family.
The letter, signed by the girl, her mother and aunt, stated that on July 7 Naveen Singh, son of an accused in the case Shashi Singh, brother of another accused Kuldeep Singh and one Kunnu Mishra had visited their house and threatened them. The next day, another person came to their house.
Along with the letter, they said, they were also annexing the video of the car in which these people had come to their house.
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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.
