POCSO case: Accused journalist remanded to judicial custody
Udupi, Dec 3: The principal district and sessions court remanded journalist Chandra K Hemmadi who was arrested on charges of sexually abusing 21 minor boys under POCSO Act, to 14 days judicial custody.
He was in police custody for three days from November 29 and as his interrogation was completed and his custody was ended on December 2, investigating officer Byndoor circle inspector Parameshwar R. Gunaga produced him before the court on Monday. Judge Venkatesh Naik remanded the accused to 14 days judicial custody and later, he was taken to district jail situated at Hiriyadka.
Following complaints from 21 boys, 16 cases were filed in Byndoor police station, three cases in Gangolli police station and one case each was filed in Kundapura rural and Kollur police stations under the POCSO Act. It is said that few more boys are likely to give complaints against the accused.
Being a singer, Chandra Hemmadi used to visit schools and colleges for giving programmes and later, he used to publish the news of those programmes in newspapers and thus gained the confidence of the teachers, parents and students. Under the guise of journalist, he used to take the students on motorbikes to show him the places of news and sexually exploit them. If any students oppose his act, he was threatening them with knife points and it was disclosed in the interrogation, said SP Lakshman Nimbargi.
First case in state
It is the first case in the history of the state that 21 cases were filed against an accused under the POCSO Act. Now, the investigating officers have been investigating the case in different angles and there are chances of filing few more cases against him. If the charges are proved against the accused, there is an option to impose life imprisonment to the accused, district special public prosecutor Vijaya Vasu Poojary said.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
