IIT Bombay student's death: Note naming hostel mate recovered a month after he died
Mumbai, Mar 27: The special investigation team (SIT) of Mumbai police probing the death of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay student Darshan Solanki has recovered a note that mentions the name of his hostel mate, an official said on Monday.
The purported suicide note, written on a piece of paper, was recovered from Solanki's hostel room some days ago, he added.
Solanki, a resident of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, had allegedly committed suicide on February 12 by jumping off the seventh floor of the hostel building.
The official said the note mentions harassment meted out by the engineering student who has been named.
This student stays on the same floor of the hostel and had allegedly threatened Solanki after a dispute, the official said quoting the note.
The process of registering an abetment of suicide case was underway, he added.
Solanki's parents and some student organisations had alleged caste discrimination as the cause of his death.
The Maharashtra government had formed an SIT headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam to probe the case.
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Separate nodal officer in all districts to prevent female foeticides in Karnataka: Minister
Belagavi (PTI): Accepting that the female foeticide has not stopped in the state, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday said that the government is taking strict measures to prevent it.
The minister said the government is appointing separate nodal officers in all districts and tightening measures to prevent foeticide, which he called a "social evil".
He also assured that the government will consider strengthening legislation to control such activities.
The minister was responding to a question by BJP MLC C T Ravi in the Legislative Council.
"Female foeticides have certainly not stopped. If you look at the sex ratio, there is a lot of difference. I accept that this is happening," Rao said.
"Foeticides are not happening under pressure; voluntarily, it is happening, for not wanting a girl child. These things are happening based on the sex determination of the foetus at some hospitals. Sex determination is illegal, but with the advancement in technology, portable ultrasound machines have been developed, which can be easily carried anywhere, and scans and tests can be done. This needs to be controlled. We will bring it to the notice of the central government," he said.
In some districts and in a few hospitals, a higher number of male child births is happening. It is found with the help of intelligence input, the minister said.
"Information is being gathered on the taluk in which the male-female ratio is worsening, what is happening in which hospital, and appropriate action is being taken to crack down on such a network, after proper evaluation."
Decoy operations have been done at seven places in the last two years, to identify those involved in illegal activities linked to female foeticides, and actions have been taken against officials and hospitals involved, he said, adding that more needs to be done on priority.
Responding to a question by Ravi about whether any stringent legislation is being brought, Rao said, the government will consider strengthening the legislation and making it stricter to control this.
"Some amendments have been made to the existing laws in the last two years....advanced technology and the internet is being used to carry out such things, also oral medicines for abortions are available over the counter.
We need to look into bringing legislation to control them. The Food and Drug Administration has issued instructions to pharmacists that the sale of such drugs should be documented."
The minister also said that measures are also being taken for the effective implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act, and awareness is being created against the identification of female foetuses and female foeticide.
