Hima Das named in World Championships team as relay runner
New Delhi: World junior champion Hima Das was on Monday named as 4x400m relay runner in India's 25-member squad for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Doha from September 27.
The number of athletes announced after a meeting of AFI selection committee will, however, increase after the international body (IAAF) gives confirmation of the likes of World University 100m champion Dutee Chand, who did not meet the qualification mark but is within the required number of competitors for the event.
Hima could not qualify for her pet event 400m but she has been named to run in the women's 4x400m relay and the mixed 4x400m relay races. The AFI is even hoping that the mixed 4x400m relay team can come in the medal bracket or at least close to it.
The name of star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who is undergoing rehabilitation after an elbow surgery, was also discussed but was not named in the team.
"The selectors decided to discuss the case of javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who is undergoing rehabilitation programme after an elbow surgery at a later stage," a press release from the AFI said.
Sources in the AFI, however, said that Neeraj, who has qualified for the World Championships before his surgery, is more or less ruled out of the marquee event.
"Neeraj is unlikely to make it to Doha Worlds as he is undergoing rehabilitation. We think it is better for Neeraj to recover properly as we see him as a bright prospect for the Tokyo Olympics," the source told PTI.
"The selection committee also approved the names of sprinters Dutee Chand (100m women), Archana Suseentran (200m women) and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar subject to invitation from the IAAF.
"The committee also decided to conduct confirmatory trial for quarter miler Anjali Devi for selection in the team in individual women's 400m. The trial will be conducted on September 21st at the NIS Patiala," the AFI release added.
An AFI official said that Tejaswin will be asked to come to India and undergo a trial if he wants to take part in the World Championships.
"If the IAAF sends an invite for Tejaswin, we will ask him to at least jump 2.25m if not the World Championships qualification standard of 2.30m," the official said.
The personal best for Tejaswin is 2.29m, which is also the national record.
The selection committee meeting, chaired by Olympian Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, was attended by AFI President Adille Sumariwalla, chief coach Bahadur Singh, Bahadur Singh Saggu, Krishna Poonia, Praveen Jolly, Uday Prabhu, Paramjit Singh.
Former chief coach JS Saini and current deputy chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair were special invitees. The AFI said that the 4x400m relay teams will perform better than they did in the World Relays in Yokohama in May last.
"We have invested a lot of time in the 400m runners, getting them to train under renowned coach Galina Bukharina. We believe that the squad has been well prepared to deliver the best results on the world stage," AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said.
The team:
Men: Jabir MP (400m Hurdles), Jinson Johnson (1500m), Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase), KT Irfan and Devender Singh (20km Race Walk), Gopi T (Marathon), Sreeshankar M (Long Jump), Tajinder Pal Singh Toor (Shot Put), Shivpal Singh (Javelin Throw), Muhammed Anas, Nirmal Noah Tom, Alex Antony, Amoj Jacob, KS Jeevan, Dharun Ayyasamy and Harsh Kumar (4x400m Men's & Mixed Relay).
Women: PU Chitra (1500m), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw), Hima Das, Vismaya VK, Poovamma MR, Jisna Mathew, Revathi V, Subha Venkatsan, Vithya R (4x400m Women & Mixed Relay).
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Broken relationships don't automatically amount to abetment of suicide: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Broken relationships, while emotionally distressing, do not automatically amount to abetment of suicide in the absence of intention leading to the criminal offence, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
The observations came from a bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ujjal Bhuyan in a judgement, which overturned the conviction of one Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi by the Karnataka High Court for the offences of cheating and abetment of suicide under the IPC.
"This is a case of a broken relationship, not criminal conduct," the judgment said.
Sanadi was initially charged under Sections 417 (cheating), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
While the trial court acquitted him of all the charges, the Karnataka High Court, on the state's appeal, convicted him of cheating and abetment of suicide, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and imposing Rs 25,000 in fine.
According to the FIR registered at the mother's instance, her 21-year-old daughter was in love with the accused for the past eight years and died by suicide in August, 2007, after he refused to keep his promise to marry.
Writing a 17-page judgement, Justice Mithal analysed the two dying declarations of the woman and noted that neither was there any allegation of a physical relationship between the couple nor there was any intentional act leading to the suicide.
The judgement therefore underlined broken relationships were emotionally distressing, but did not automatically amount to criminal offences.
"Even in cases where the victim dies by suicide, which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, the courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that the commission of such an offence largely depends upon the mental state of the victim," said the apex court.
The court further said, "Surely, until and unless some guilty intention on the part of the accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for an offence under Section 306 IPC.”
The judgement said there was no evidence to suggest that the man instigated or provoked the woman to die by suicide and underscored a mere refusal to marry, even after a long relationship, did not constitute abetment.
