NCW team meets Mumbai rape victim's kin, visits crime spot
Mumbai, Sep 12: A team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Sunday met the family members of a woman, who died after being brutally raped in Mumbai, and also visited the crime spot as well as the hospital where she was treated, an police official said.
The 34-year-old woman was raped and brutalised with a rod by a man inside a stationary tempo in suburban Sakinaka in the wee hours of Friday. She died at a hospital during treatment in the early hours of Saturday, police earlier said.
The crime bore similarity to the 2012 `Nirbhaya' gang-rape case of Delhi.
The 45-year-old suspect, arrested within a few hours of the incident, was later charged with murder.
According to a police official, four-five members of the women's commission first went to the victim's house in Sakinaka area and met her family members on Sunday. The team later went to the spot where the crime took place inside the tempo. The panel members later also went to the Sakinaka police station to seek details of the case.
The team also went to the city-based Rajawadi Hospital where the woman died after a nearly 36-hour battle for life, and collected details pertaining to the case, the official said.
The commission members then visited the office of the state Director General of Police (DGP) here in connection with the case, he said.
Vice-chairman of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes, Arun Haldar, also visited the victim's family and discussed the case with the police officials.
Talking to reporters here, Haldar said the accused should be given capital punishment.
"We have been assured that the charge sheet will be filed in a month and the trial will be done on fast track. I met the victim's family and they will get all - financial aid, home and assistance for education and job as per the laid-down rules," he said.
Meanwhile, opposition BJP held a protest against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, demanding strict punishment for the accused and saying that the Sakinaka rape and murder had happened as the ruling dispensation's priorities were different, which were not letting the police do their work.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Pravin Darekar, who led the protest said the national women's commission representatives visited the family and the place of crime and expressed displeasure over the state government's steps to ensure women's safety. He said the state women's commission chairperson post has been kept vacant.
Besides being raped, the victim was assaulted with an iron rod in her private parts and lost a lot of blood, a police official earlier said, adding that she was also stabbed with a knife.
The accused, Mohan Chouhan (45), hailing from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, worked as a driver and lived on the pavement in the same area. He was identified with the help of CCTV footage of the area and traced within a few hours of the incident.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale earlier told reporters that the crime came to light when the watchman of a company located on Khairani Road in Sakinaka called the police control room and said a man was seen thrashing a woman.
Police reached the spot within 10 minutes and found the victim inside a parked tempo. As her condition was serious, they decided to take her to hospital in the same vehicle so as to save time. They got the key of the tempo from the watchman and drove her to Rajawadi hospital in suburban Ghatkopar, the official had said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had termed the incident as a "blot on humanity", and ordered that a charge sheet in the case must be filed within a month. He had also directed that measures should be taken to make the city safer for women.
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
