LGBT community members should be treated with love and affection like everyone else: Karnataka HC
Bengaluru, Aug 16: Dismissing a petition challenging the filing of a criminal case for alleged abetment to suicide of a person of the LGBT community, the High Court of Karnataka said that everyone, including the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexual orientations and genders), should be treated with love and care so that lives are not lost.
"The deceased in the case at hand is the one belonging to the LGBT community. The sensitivity of them being ostracised pervades their psyche. Therefore, such people must be treated with all love and affection... If every citizen would treat such citizens with all love and care, as is done to a normal human, precious lives would not be lost," Justice M Nagaprasanna said in his judgment.
Three colleagues of the deceased had approached the high court after the Whitefield police registered a case of abetment to suicide against them.
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The father of the deceased, who is from Uttar Pradesh, had complained that the three had constantly harassed his son for his sexual orientation, leading him to commit suicide. Among the accused, one is from Bengaluru, while the second and third accused are from Uttar Pradesh. All of them were colleagues in a company in Bengaluru.
The deceased person had worked in the company from 2014 to 2016. He rejoined the same company in 2022 as manager of visual merchandising.
It is alleged that his colleagues were "putting him down by cracking unsavoury jokes. All the team members are said to have teased the deceased on his sexual orientation." He resigned on February 28 but later withdrew his resignation. Allegedly he was given a position that he was not comfortable with.
He then complained to the Internal Complaints Committee constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act. He also registered a complaint under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He also approached the Assistant Commissioner of Police alleging harassment by the three colleagues.
The victim committed suicide on June 3, 2023.
His father registered a complaint the following day after which the accused filed a petition in the high court.
The Court in its judgment said, "Unfortunately, the precious life of a youth is lost in the case at hand, all for the prima facie allegations of pointing at sexual orientation of the deceased. Therefore, it is for every citizen to bear this in mind while interacting with sensitive people. It is necessary that every one of us introspects on this issue. After all, everyone of them is a human being and all are worthy of equality."
The HC also noted that the investigation is still in progress. "It is barely three days after registration of the FIR that the present petition is filed and, today, it is barely 49 days of registration of the FIR. The investigation is still in progress. It is not a case where there is no prima facie material or the allegations are made out of thin air," the HC said in its recent judgment.
Refusing to interfere in the criminal proceedings, the HC dismissed the petition saying, "Cases which involve death of a person and the accused are guilty of abetment to suicide of the said victim will have to be considered owing to the facts of each case. There cannot be any particular parameter, yardstick, or theorem for interference, particularly in cases of abetment to suicide."
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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.
