Shivamogga: Cases have been filed against four policemen after a 28-year-old manual worker, who was allegedly thrashed by the cops in full public view, committed suicide on Thursday by hanging himself at home in Holehonnur of Bhadravathi taluk.

The deceased worker has been identified as Manjunath, a native of Kannekoppa village in Holehonnur, who hanged himself on Thursday night.

The cases have been filed against policemen Billal, Lingegowdru, Sudarshan and Vishwanath based on the complaint filed by Manjunath’s wife, who told the police that the four policemen thrashed Manjunath on the evening of June 11, before taking him to the police station.

Manjunath’s father and brother, who learned of the matter, rushed to the police station and got the youngster freed. Manjunath, however, was visibly depressed due to the incident, remaining aloof from friends and family. He has now committed suicide, his wife has said in her complaint.

She added that on Thursday night, he told her to go to bed as he was watching cricket on TV. On Friday morning, Manjunath’s wife, not finding him awake, knocked on the door of his room to wake him up, and was alarmed as she got no response from her husband. She called the neighbours, who broke open the door of Manjunath’s room and found him having killed himself by hanging from an areca chute in the room, using a saree.

While Manjunath’s wife has accused the four policemen’s physical assault to have been the reason for her husband’s depression and suicide, the reason for the police assault is yet to be ascertained.

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.



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

===================

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.