Nitish Kumar raised issue of caste census, Rahul kept mum: JD(U)
New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday accused Rahul Gandhi of hypocrisy on the issue of caste census, charging him with maintaining silence when Bihar CM Nitish Kumar raised the matter in INDIA bloc meetings.
The party also asked why the Congress government in Karnataka has not released the state's caste data.
JD(U) working president and MP Sanjay Jha's attack on the Congress leader came a day after Gandhi slammed the caste survey carried out by the Kumar-led government as a fake exercise at an event in Patna, while pitching for a nationwide caste census.
Speaking to PTI, Jha said, "There cannot be a bigger hypocrisy than this. I was a witness to Gandhi maintaining silence while Kumar strongly and logically spoke in favour of caste census at INDIA bloc meetings in several places."
Kumar-led JD(U) was part of the INDIA bloc before he snapped ties with the opposition alliance and joined hands with the BJP.
Incidentally, Bihar's caste survey was carried out and its findings released when the Congress was a partner in the government led by Kumar.
Jha said Kumar was the only leader who raised the issue of caste census, and all INDIA bloc members were a witness.
Defending the caste survey in Bihar, he said Kumar is the only leader since 1931, when a nationwide caste census was held last, who decided to count the population of different castes in a scientific manner to further social justice.
Taking a swipe at Gandhi, he said the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha should be more specific and tell people if he believes that the Bihar's caste survey has overcounted some communities and undercounted some others.
He should not instead skirt the issue, Jha said, adding that Kumar has used the figures to expand the scope of reservation though the issue is currently sub-judice.
Slamming the Congress, he said its government in Karnataka has been sitting over the caste-wise population data in the state for several years.
Why does Gandhi not get it released, he asked.
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Indian national sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual exploitation of minors, child pornography
New York (PTI): A 31-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually exploiting several children through a social media app where he often posed as a teenage boy to gain their trust and threatened and extorted them with child pornography when they refused his requests.
Sai Kumar Kurremula, 31, an Indian national living in Edmond, Oklahoma on an immigrant visa, has been sentenced to serve 420 months in federal prison for the sexual exploitation of three children and transportation of child pornography, US Attorney Robert Troester said in a statement.
At the sentencing hearing last week, US District Judge Charles Goodwin sentenced Kurremula to serve 420 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.
In announcing his sentence, Goodwin noted that these offences are among those that society considers the most serious because they involve such vulnerable victims. Goodwin further highlighted that Kurremula inflicted trauma on his victims that will echo throughout their lives and their families’ lives, and his lengthy sentence of imprisonment reflects that trauma.
In April last year, Kurremula was charged with sexual exploitation of children and transportation of child pornography. According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, in October 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating an account on a social media messaging app involving a user who was sexually exploiting minor girls.
The Internet Protocol address used to create the account led federal authorities to Kurremula. Public documents and evidence at the sentencing hearing allege Kurremula had sexually exploited at least 19 minors through the social media messaging app, often posing as a 13-15-year-old boy to gain the trust of his victims. When the victims refused his requests, Kurremula would manipulate, threaten, and extort his victims to produce even more child pornography.
Kurremula had pleaded guilty and admitted to sexually exploiting three minor victims and knowingly transporting images of child pornography. Specifically, Kurremula admitted that to ensure the minor victims complied, he threatened one minor that he would drive to her house and show her parents sexually explicit images of her; threatened another victim that he would come to her home and shoot her family; and threatened a third young individual that he would publicly post sexually explicit images and videos of her.
“The appalling exploitation, manipulation, and coercion of multiple children by this defendant justly warranted the 35-year sentence imposed by the Court,” Troester said. “This case serves as a clear warning to others that the strongest of penalties await those who exploit and victimize our children.” FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater said Kurremula manipulated children into sending him explicit images for his perverse gratification. “These disgusting actions robbed the victims of their innocence and caused unthinkable harm,” Goodwater said.
