Louvre to remain closed one day after jewel heist
Paris(AP/PTI): The Louvre said on Monday it would remain closed a day after historic jewels were stolen from the world's most-visited museum in a daring daylight heist.
The museum's staff asked dozens of visitors who were queuing in front of the glass pyramid entrance to leave the site. In a message posted on the social media, the Louvre said visitors who have booked tickets will be refunded. It did not provide additional details.
On Sunday, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre's facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said.
The theft about 30 minutes after the museum opened, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory.
It unfolded just 250 meters from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional, four-minute-long operation.
French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged security failures on Monday.
“One can wonder about the fact that, for example, the windows hadn’t been secured, about the fact that a basket lift was on a public road,” he said on France Inter radio. “Having (previously) been interior minister, I know that we cannot completely secure all places, but what is certain is that we have failed.”
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said investigators are working on evidence found at the scene.
“We did find a motorcycle and it has a license plate,” Dati said on news broadcaster CNews. “I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire. One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee. This allowed us to recover evidence at the scene.”
Dati stressed that a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan that was launched earlier this year includes security improvements. “When the Louvre Museum was designed, it was not meant to accommodate 10 million visitors,” she said.
The plan calls for €700 million ($760 million), also intended to modernise infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.
Around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, several intruders forced a window, cut panes with a disc cutter and went straight for the glass display cases, officials said. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the crew entered from outside using a basket lift via the riverfront facade to reach the hall with the 23-item royal collection.
Their target was the gilded Apollon Gallery, where the Crown Diamonds are displayed. The thieves smashed two display cases and fled on motorbikes, Nunez said. No one was hurt. Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, but the theft was already done.
Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; and Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch, a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.
One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said.
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Acts preceding actual partial penetration without ejaculation is attempt to rape: Chhattisgarh HC
Bilaspur (PTI): Noting that the act of the convict preceded the actual partial penetration but without ejaculation, the Chhattisgarh High Court has reduced the seven-year sentence awarded by a trial court to a man in a 2004 rape case and convicted him for attempted rape instead.
Partially accepting the accused's appeal, the High Court has reduced the convict's sentence to three years and six months' rigorous imprisonment. A fine of Rs 200 was imposed.
"The proof of penetration, even if partial, is necessary to prove rape. The evidence available in the present case does not prove complete rape, but it does prove that the accused attempted rape. The evidence available in the present case does not prove complete rape, but it does prove that the accused attempted rape," Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas stated in the order on February 16.
Additional Sessions Judge, Dhamtari (Camp-Raipur), had convicted Vasudeo Gond on April 6, 2005, under section 376(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment.
He was also sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 342 IPC. Both sentences were to run concurrently.
Gond had lured the victim, a resident of Dhamtari district, to his house on May 21, 2004, under some pretext, and raped her.
He locked her in a room and tied her hands and feet. A case was registered at the Arjuni police station.
The prosecution examined 19 witnesses during the trial.
In her statement, the victim had claimed forced sexual intercourse by the accused. However, during cross-examination, she gave contradictory statements regarding penetration.
Medical examination revealed an intact hymen, but the possibility of partial penetration was raised. The FSL report also found human sperm in some samples.
The High Court noted that the victim's statement lacked clarity regarding penetration. The medical evidence also failed to establish complete penetration. Citing various Supreme Court decisions, the single-judge bench stated that proof of penetration, even if partial, is necessary to prove rape.
"The evidence of the victim is corroborated with the medical evidence brought on record by the prosecution and law on the subject. It is quite vivid that an offence of attempt to commit rape is made out against the appellant, as there is partial penetration by the appellant.
"As such, the act of the appellant forcibly taking the victim inside the room, closing the doors with the motive of carnal knowledge, was the end of ‘preparation’ to commit the offence. His following action of stripping the victim and himself, and rubbing his genitals against those of the victims and partial penetration, which was indeed an endeavour to commit sexual intercourse," the HC stated.
It said the acts of the appellant were deliberately done with manifest intention to commit the offence aimed at and were reasonably proximate to the consummation of the offence.
"Since the acts of the appellant exceeded the stage beyond preparation and preceded the actual partial penetration but without ejaculation, the appellant is guilty of attempting to commit rape as punishable within the ambit and scope of Section 511 read with Section 375 IPC as it stood in force at the time of occurrence," the HC stated.
The HC convicted Gond under sections 376 (1) and 511 of the IPC, instead of section 376, and sentenced him to three years and six months' rigorous imprisonment. The six-month sentence under Section 342 was upheld. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The bench ordered that the sentence already undergone by the accused be set off.
It cancelled the bail of the accused and directed him to surrender before the trial court within two months, failing which action for his arrest would be initiated.
