Karnataka govt announces Rs 4 lakh compensation, to bear medical expenses of acid attack victims
Mangaluru (PTI): Karnataka government on Tuesday announced a compensation of Rs four lakh to each of the three female students who suffered burns following an acid attack at the Government Pre-University (PU) college at Kadaba in Dakshina Kannada district as Chairperson of the State Women's Commission (SWC) visited them in hospital.
The families of the students will be given an immediate compensation of Rs four lakh each, and the government will also bear their entire medical expenses, SWC Chairperson Nagalakshmi Chaudhary said after visiting the private hospital here, where they are being treated.
"The students are fine. I am only worried about the (ongoing) PUC exam, which I will sort out with a solution after talking to the education minister," she told reporters after speaking to the three students and their families.
The students expressed their concern over whether they would be able to take the exams being conducted by the PU Board in the current examination cycle itself, and requested that arrangements be made for them in this regard.
"I understand the worries and moods of the children. I also have a son studying in PUC. I will meet the education minister", Chaudhary said.
Doctors treating the three students said they will be fine, but two of them may have to undergo plastic surgery after normal treatment for two weeks.
The three second year PU students suffered burns injuries following the acid attack by a youth at the college in the taluka headquarters town on Monday, police said.
The youth has been identified as Abin Shibi (23), an MBA student hailing from Nilambur taluk in Malappuram district of Kerala, said a police official.
Shibi, who has been arrested, claimed during interrogation that one of the victims had spurned his amorous advances, and he took this "extreme step to show his disappointment in love". He threw acid on the 17-year-old girl who was with her classmates and it fell on two of them also.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
