Indian mountaineer Baljeet Kaur found alive from Mt. Annapurna in Nepal
Kathmandu (PTI): Baljeet Kaur, a 27-year-old prominent Indian woman climber was found alive on Tuesday, a day after she went missing near Camp IV of Mt Annapurna while descending from the summit point, an official of the expedition organiser said.
An aerial search team located Kaur, who scaled the world's 10th highest peak without using supplemental oxygen on Monday, above Camp IV, Chairman at Pioneer Adventure Pasang Sherpa, was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times newspaper.
"We are preparing to conduct a long-line rescue to airlift her from above the high camp," he said.
Kaur has been seen descending alone towards Camp IV by the aerial search team, according to Sherpa.
The leading Indian woman climber, who was left alone below the summit point, remained out of radio contact till this morning, the report added.
An aerial search mission was initiated on Tuesday morning only after she managed to send a radio signal asking for 'immediate help'.
According to Sherpa, her GPS location has indicated an altitude of 7,375m (24,193ft). She climbed Mt Annapurna along with two Sherpa guides at around 5:15 pm on Monday. At least three helicopters were mobilised to trace her.
In May last year, Kaur, from Himachal Pradesh scaled Mt Lhotse and became the first Indian climber to have climbed four 8000-meter peaks in a single season.
On Monday, Anurag Malu, a resident of Kishangarh in Rajasthan, went missing while descending from Camp III of Mt. Annapurna.
Later, it was found that Malu died after falling from 6,000m into a crevasse while descending from Camp IV on Monday, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.
According to Mingma Sherpa, chairman at Seven Summit Treks, Noel Hanna, the first person from Ireland to reach the summit of K2 during the winter season, breathed his last in Camp IV last night. Efforts are underway to bring their bodies back to base camp, organisers said.
Annapurna is the tenth-highest mountain in the world, standing at 8,091 metres above sea level.
It is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its ascent.
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19-yr-old woman found hanging from tree in UP village; juvenile held
Lucknow/Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Police have apprehended a 16-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village here, officials said on Monday.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, said that the body of a 19-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an orchard in the Manikpur police station area on Sunday morning. A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she had been raped.
Police registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 70(1) (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and initiated an investigation.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the deceased was in contact with a juvenile who was also her relative.
Acting on this information, during a joint checking operation, sub-inspector Amit Kumar Singh of Manikpur police station and SOG In-charge Amit Kumar Chaurasia, along with their team, apprehended the 16-year-old near the Lehdari Ganga River bridge.
The search for other accused persons is ongoing, police said.
According to the police, the woman had gone to sleep after dinner on Saturday night but was found hanging in an orchard nearly 400 metres away from her home the following morning.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, had earlier said that the circumstances suggest foul play.
"The victim's slippers and undergarments were recovered 50 metres away from the spot where the body was found. There are visible injury marks on her body," Rai said.
While locals have alleged that the woman was murdered after being raped, the ASP said that it is "prima facie a case of murder."
"Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons," the officer added.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, "The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable."
"The question remains: why does the spate of murders of 'PDA daughters' continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government's claims regarding women's safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?" he said.
"Whenever the 'wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)' finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you," Yadav added.
