Hyderabad scientist arrested for sexually harassing Dalit student
Hyderabad, June 2: Hyderabad Police on Saturday arrested a senior scientist at the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) here for sexually harassing a Dalit student.
K. Bhaskarachary (58), who was suspended by NIN last month, was arrested by police and later produced before a court, which sent him to judicial custody.
Police said the scientist was booked on May 18 on a complaint by a second year student of MSc (Nutrition), who hails from West Bengal. He was arrested after police conducted an investigation and collected the evidence.
Bhaskarachary, who was the student's guide on dissertation, allegedly harassed her with obscene messages and threatened her.
Assistant Commissioner of Police J. Narsiah told reporters that Bhaskarachary was booked under the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
NIN had suspended the scientist after the student complained along with the messages sent to her by Bhaskarachary on WhatsApp. Director of NIN, R. Hemalatha, had constituted an enquiry committee to examine and recommend punishment.
Bhaskarachary, who has been associated with NIN for over three decades, was recently made head of a newly created department called Dietitics, which specialises in defining customised health foods to fight various lifestyle diseases and maintaining a healthy life.
A Masters in Life Sciences and Ph.D. in Biochemistry, he is a Grade E scientist in NIN's Food Chemistry Division.
Several nutritionists, dieticians, students of nutrition sciences and women rights activists had been demanding the arrest of the accused. They had also signed an online petition seeking his dismissal.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
