Indian-American awarded at White House for combating human trafficking
Houston, Oct 19: An Indian-American woman has been honoured with a Presidential award by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for her extraordinary contribution towards combatting human trafficking in Houston.
Minal Patel Davis, Special Advisor on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, received the 'Presidential Medal for Combating Human Trafficking' in the White House last week at a ceremony also attended by President Donald Trump.
"It was unbelievable," said Davis after winning the award, the country's highest honour in the field.
"My parents came here from India. I was the first one in my family born in the United States, so to end up in the Mayor's office a few years ago, and then to now end up in the White House, it was unbelievable," she said.
Appointed in July 2015, Davis has made a local impact on human trafficking in America's fourth largest city from a policy-level perspective and by helped in advancing systems change.
She is currently implementing Mayor Turner's Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Plan, which is the first comprehensive municipal response to human trafficking by a US city.
Davis has spoken at several local, national and international panels and presented Houston city's approach.
She is a past speaker at the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit and recently travelled to India and Canada at the request of the State Department to discuss municipal leadership in trafficking with the government officials.
Davis did her MBA from the University of Connecticut and BA from New York University.
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CMO orders inquiry, constable suspended following assault on Cafe owner in Bhatkal
Bhatkal: A constable from Bhatkal Town Police Station has been suspended following assaulting of a café owner late Sunday night. The suspension was ordered by Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police, Narayana M, IPS, after the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) called for an inquiry into the incident.
The suspended officer, identified as Navin Naik, had been posted at the Bhatkal Town Police Station for the past four months.
The incident reportedly occurred during Naik’s beat patrol late on Sunday. According to witnesses, a heated argument broke out between the constable and a local cafe owner over the late-night closing hours of the establishment. The verbal altercation escalated into a physical scuffle, which was eventually broken up by bystanders.
The cafe owner has alleged that during the confrontation, the constable assaulted him with a baton while he was requesting for 10 minutes to shut down his establishment.
Following the complaint, the Chief Minister’s Office intervened on Tuesday, ordering a thorough inquiry into the matter. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Bhatkal Town Police Station has also been included in the investigation as the café owner alleged that the SHO was in the know of the thing when the incident took place.
Until the inquiry is completed and a report is submitted, Constable Navin Naik has been suspended from duty.
