Will make sure perpetrators of gang rape of medical student get capital punishment: CM Bommai
Bengaluru, Sep 22: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said the government will make sure that the perpetrators of gang rape on a medical student in Mysuru on August 24 evening get capital punishment. "We will hire the best lawyer to prosecute the criminals and ensure that they get capital punishment," the Chief Minister said in the Assembly, replying to a debate initiated by the Leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah.
He was referring to the August 24 incident on the foothills of Chamundi hills in Mysuru, where six people from Tamil Nadu allegedly gang raped a medical student.
The gang had intercepted the couple on a bike, dragged them to secluded places, beat them up and perpetrated the offence.
They also made a video of the incident and tried to blackmail the girl to pay a ransom of Rs three lakh but when the couple expressed their inability, they were let go. They have since been arrested.
Dismissing Siddaramaiah's charge that the delay in registering an FIR by police gave rise to doubts that the government wanted to cover up the case, the Chief Minister said a police team went to Mumbai and convinced the victim and her parents to appear before the judge and record her statement.
On the charges about police 'inaction', Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said the accused were nabbed within 72 hours of the incident by the Mysuru police, "which is best in the state."
The government will fast track the case for speedy disposal and ensure that the accused get the maximum punishment, he said, adding that the police team had been given a Rs five lakh reward for having arrested the accused in a short time.
During the debate, Siddaramaiah came down heavily on the conduct of Mysuru police and the state government and alleged that they "miserably failed" and were not serious about the "inhuman incident".
The senior Congress leader also accused Jnanendra of taking the whole incident "very casually".
Pointing out that Mysuru is a cultural city, famous tourism centre and an education hub, he said such incidents will impact tourism, parents of students studying there and put a black spot on its cultural identity. "People are scared after the gang rape incident and parents of students studying in Mysuru are a worried lot," he said.
Noting that the spot where the gang rape took place was not deserted or a forest area, the former Chief Minister, who hails from the district, said there is a ring road 300 to 400 meters from there, as also a locality called Lalitaadripura nearby.
He said during his visit to the spot about a week after the incident, Mysuru Police Commissioner had told him that incidents have taken place there earlier too. "When police were aware that criminal activities were happening there, why did they stop the beat and other patrolling measures?" he asked.
The nearby police station, with 60 personnel and a Garuda patrol vehicle, is about two km away from the crime spot, he added.
Pointing out that there is 545 acre area around the place where the incident took place, Siddaramaiah said police are unaware as to whom the place belongs to, despite it coming under their jurisdiction.
"What kind of policing are they doing? This shows their alertness."
There is no proper patrolling, despite police being aware that criminal incidents were taking place in the city, he said as he pointed out that within a 30 day span, 16 extortions, murders, rape of a 12-year-old girl, bank robbery and shoot out incidents have taken place in Mysuru city.
"What are police for? Isn't controlling crime their duty? Punishing the perpetrators is their duty. There should be fear of police," Siddaramaiah said and pointed out that the six accused who have been arrested, are habitual offenders and from Tamil Nadu.
Listing out details of the incident, he said the private hospital where the victim and her male friend got admitted, after examining and confirming the rape, sent a report to police that it is a Medico-Legal Case.
Alleging that there was a 14-15 hours gap between hospital reporting a MLC and registering an FIR, he demanded to know why there a delay, why the case was first registered under Section 354 (a) of IPC (sexual harassment) and changed to 376(d) and 397 only after protest by people and Congress workers.
"Did police have plans to shut the case? Who was behind it?," he asked.
The Congress leader equated the incident to the Nirbhaya case in Delhi and a similar one Telangana, and said police still took it "lightly".
Police have not gone by the Justice J S Verma committee report as per which the victim should have been shifted to a government hospital. The officers also did not ensure that she got necessary counselling and help through 'Santwana Kendras. "It was mandatory for police to go by committee report," he said.
Observing that the victim was discharged on August 27 and her male friend on August 26, he said police have not take the victim's statement after giving her counselling or record her statement before the Magistrate, and let her go to Mumbai with her family.
Health Minister Sudhakar sought to know if the victim could have cooperated with police after what she had gone through. "Rape could have caused a big shock to the victim, but the following inquiry and legal process is another kind of rape on the women or victim."
The CM said the victim was now in Mysuru and has recorded her statement before the magistrate.
"The victim and her family were given counselling on that day also...today she gave her statement before the magistrate and police succeeded in giving her counselling, despite her going to Mumbai and getting her statement," he said.
Suggesting that if police had conducted regular patrolling, the incident would not have occurred, the LoP said it is a failure on part of police and delay in filing FIR is a defect in the investigation.
He said a separate FIR was not filed regarding the assault on the victim's male friend. "Is it not a lapse on part of the police?"
Taking a dig at Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, Siddaramaiah said he visited Mysuru subsequently, but first went to Chamundi hills and offered prayers there, then attended a police academy event and gave a "shooting pose" there and on his way back visited the spot. "This indicates how serious he is."
Jnanendra said he held meetings twice with officers on the issue before attending the pre-scheduled police academy event. Also several legal experts had advised him not to visit the spot, but he still did so.
Siddaramaiah said the accused had been arrested and he had no complaints on that, but sought to know if an identification parade of the accused was done before the victim and her male friend?."...police have miserably failed.
According to Mysuru police commissioner, there were only 3,000 policemen for the 15 lakh population in Mysuru city, he said.
"There should be regular patrolling and beat by police after recent crime in city. Instead of patrolling they go to liquor shops for collection. They have brought bad name to Mysuru city."
Siddaramaiah referred to the Home Minister's statement after the incident that the victim and her male friend should not have gone to the deserted place at dark, took strong exception to it and reminded him about Mahatma Gandhi's statement that women should be able to walk freely even at mid night.
Though Jnanendra tried to clarify his intention behind his statement,it received flak from the opposition.
During the debate, JD(S) MLA Sa Ra Mahesh demanded 'Andhra type justice', an apparent reference to the encounter of the perpetrators of gang rape in Hyderabad in December 2019.
He even warned that he would force the minister to resign if any gang rape happens in future and this type of justice was not done in the state.
In reply, Jnanendra said being a minister, he cannot say anything like that.
Participating in the debate, Congress MLA M Roopakala said the issue should not be taken lightly given the trauma a woman faces, socially, mentally and morally after the incident.
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EC role, Hindu vote consolidation among factors for BJP win in Bengal polls: J-K CM Omar
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday attributed the BJP's West Bengal win to a "significant role" played by the Election Commission (EC), alongside a consolidation of Hindu votes and a fractured minority mandate.
Abdullah also said the INDIA bloc needs to define its role in the political landscape of the country and make it clear whether the opposition alliance was limited to the parliamentary elections or extended to the state elections as well.
Talking to PTI Videos, Abdullah hinted that the EC has compromised its neutrality by conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal and linked it to the BJP's gains in the state, claiming large-scale deletion of legitimate voters.
On the performance of the BJP in the just concluded assembly elections, Abdullah said the saffron party has almost nothing to show in southern states.
"So then you look at West Bengal and Assam. Yes, the BJP improved its tally in Assam. There are various reasons for that. You know as well as I do, what those are. West Bengal, I think we need to look at the results very carefully," he said.
"The easiest explanation for the West Bengal result is the serious curtailing of voter list," Abdullah said.
"Voters found their names deleted. People who served in uniform and fought for this country on the borders, who were considered Indian citizens all their lives, were suddenly held to a higher standard and not allowed to vote. Something is not right," he said.
While alleging that the EC played a "significant part" in the results, the chief minister admitted the outcome was multifaceted and noted a consolidation of over 60 per cent of the Hindu vote towards the BJP and a "significant fracture" in the minority vote, particularly in seats where Muslims constitute over 50 per cent of the population.
"There is no doubt that the role of the Election Commission played a significant part in the results but we will also have to look at the other factors," he said.
He said the results of West Bengal cannot be compared to those in other states. "The situation was unique to West Bengal. The SIR that was done, the way in which the voter lists were changed, the sort of minute scrutiny that the Election Commission subjected West Bengal to, the role of the central investigative agencies.
"All of these are situations that at least in recent electoral history of India are unique to West Bengal. So to suggest that we can learn lessons from West Bengal and implement them in other parts of the country, I think would not be correct," he said.
Abdullah had recently said that if the West Bengal results throw a surprise, the role of EC will come under scrutiny.
However, during Tuesday's interview, the chief minister said he still maintains that electronic voting machines (EVMs) do not lead to vote theft.
"What we saw in West Bengal...I know there are a lot of people who believe that the EVMs themselves are flawed. I am not a proponent of that conspiracy theory.
"But I do believe that the Election Commission has done itself no favours in the way in which it has gone about both the process of delimitation and the process of finalisation of electoral rolls," he said and cited the example of delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir or Assam.
"These are clear examples of how the process was done to benefit one party or in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, one party and its allies. And the results speak for themselves. You created seven new seats in Jammu and Kashmir and out of those six seats were won by the BJP. You redrew assembly constituencies to benefit one particular party or its allies. And the same is true for West Bengal as well," he said.
Referring to the INIDA bloc, he said the election results were no new message for the alliance.
"We need to decide what the INDIA bloc is for. Is it only for Parliament or for state elections as well?" he asked.
"What happened in West Bengal is unfortunate. The Congress and TMC fought against each other. Now the Congress agrees with Mamata Banerjee that 100 seats were stolen, but the fact is they fought each other," he said.
Despite the friction, Abdullah reaffirmed the "pre-eminent position" of the Congress within the opposition alliance, dismissing the idea of any other party assuming the mantle.
"The Congress is the only party other than the BJP with a pan-India presence. All of us acknowledge this," he stated.
"To suggest someone else can assume a leadership role would be incorrect. Kharge Sahib is the president of the Congress, and by virtue of that, he assumes leadership of the INDIA bloc meetings. That is the way it should be," the chief minister said.
Abdullah said any 'Common Minimum Programme' would depend on whether the opposition alliance decides to fight state assembly elections collectively, noting that he would share his specific views with the bloc internally rather than through the media.
