Gujrat: Tribals from around villages of Statue of Unity stage protest
Rajpipla (Guj): Hundreds of tribals from 14 villages in the vicinity of the Statue of Unity on Sunday formed human chains and held posters and placards demanding that the Gujarat government stop taking away their lands in the name of development.
It was on this day in 2007 that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
The protesters, from 50 tribal-dominated talukas spread over 16 districts in the eastern part of the state, sought cancellation of the recently-enacted Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Act, which empowers the government to acquire land in the villages for development projects around the SoU, the tallest structure of its kind in the world.
The protest, organised by the Adivasi Samanvay Manch, was peaceful, said activist Praful Vasava, who claimed the state government was forcibly acquiring land, in the process displacing tribals, and posing grave danger to indigenous culture.
"We demand that the government grant us rights under the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act," he said.
Narmada district Superintendent of Police Himkar Singh said the event near the SoU was part of similar ones held in other areas of the state by tribals to mark the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Day.
"It was organised all over the district and other parts of Gujarat. They wanted to present their point. They just came out of their houses on the road to protest and they did so peacefully," he said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
