Nation must unite to protect children: Rahul on Mandsaur gang rape
New Delhi, June 30: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday voiced his angst against the brutal gang rape and assault of an eight-year-old schoolgirl in Madhya Pradesh and said the nation must come together to protect the children.
"In Mandsaur an eight-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang raped, and is battling for her life.
"The brutality this young child was subjected to sickens me. As a nation, we must come together to protect our children and bring the attackers to speedy justice," Gandhi tweeted.
The child was abducted while she was waiting for her father outside her school on Tuesday.
She was gang raped, her throat was slit and left to die. A day later, the Madhya Pradesh police arrested Irfan alias Bhaiyu, 20, a labourer, on the basis of CCTV footage.
On Friday, the police made another arrest of a construction worker, Asif, 24, after Irfan named him as an accomplice. Both were booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act even as the probe continued.
Doctors treating the victim in Indore said she was "severely assaulted". She has started showing signs of improvement, they said, adding that the minor might be out of danger physically but her mental trauma would last longer.
Several political leaders and eminent personalities have reacted to the horrific incident on the social media.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi said: "It's blood curdling. What's happening to this world? Culprits must be brought to book and given the strictest punishment."
AICC General Secretary and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot condemned the incident and said: "Such a horrific crime is a shame on humanity. We all are with the victim and her family members."
Commentator and right wing activist Rahul Easwar has applauded the Muslim community in Mandsaur for coming forward against the crime and asking for the strictest punishment to the accused.
"Applause and respect to our Muslim leaders in Mandsaur. No place for rape accused in muslim community graveyard and no prayers will be offered to him on his death - Muslim community leaders on Irfan, the rape accused of Mandsaur," tweeted Easwar tagging a media report on the same.
The incident has sparked protests in different cities across the region in Madhya Pradesh demanding capital punishment for the accused.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday condemned the incident and said that rapists were a "burden on the earth" and his government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the accused were hanged.
Chouhan has assured the best possible treatment to the victim and said his government would also take care of her education and future needs.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
