New Delhi, Aug 31: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's mother Paola Maino passed away at her home in Italy on Saturday and her funeral took place on Sunday, the Congress said here.

The Congress president had left on August 23 to visit her ailing mother, who was in her 90s.

"Smt. Sonia Gandhi's mother, Mrs. Paola Maino passed away at her home in Italy on Saturday the 27th August 2022. The funeral took place yesterday," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are already abroad and visited her hometown.

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Ambikapur (PTI): Two tribal girls were raped allegedly by six persons, including three juveniles, in a village in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, a police official said on Thursday.

Three accused have been arrested and three minors were detained in connection with the incident that took place on the night of April 24 under Sitapur police station limits, he informed.

"The motorcycle-borne accused intercepted the victims when they, along with two other friends, were returning home on foot after attending a wedding. Two of the girls managed to escape. The two victims, one aged 15 years and another 13 years, were forced onto a motorcycle, taken to a secluded place and sexually assaulted," he said.

One of the victims returned home the same night and informed her family the next day, following which a case was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at Sitapur police station on April 26 for gangrape and other offences, he said.

Medical examinations of the victims were conducted at the Sitapur Community Health Centre on April 26 and 27, the official said.

"Initial medical reports did not confirm sexual assault. However, after the victims' families expressed dissatisfaction with the findings, the girls were sent for fresh medical examination at the district hospital in Ambikapur. Based on this medical report, all six accused were taken into custody by April 30," he said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Anand Bek (27), Vikas Tigga (24) and Manish Khalkho (18), all residents of the Sitapur area. The three juveniles, two of them aged 17 years, have been detained, he said.