Polish woman tweets child's letter to PM, seeks return to Goa
Panaji: A Polish woman has tweeted a letter written by her 11-year-old daughter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, seeking help to return to Goa.
Alicja Wanatko and her daughter of Marta Kotlarska were staying in Goa, where the latter attended school, before they were sent back to their country due to non-renewal of visa.
On March 24 this year, Alicja's mother, on her return to India from Sri Lanka, was turned away from Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru when she went to renew her Indian visa.
Marta had to wait in Thailand before she could return to India to pick up her daughter from Goa and leave the country. Both are right now in Cambodia.
"Please help us @narendramodi my daughter is very distressed and she is only 11 years old," the mother tweeted, attaching her child's hand written letter.
In a series of tweets, she said for her daughter "India is the place we call home". Alicja, in the handwritten letter, expressed love for Goa.
"I love my school in Goa, the beautiful nature and I am missing my volunteering in the animal rescue centre there where I was helping to take care of cows. My mum could not re-enter India on 24th March 2019 after a short trip out and we were told we were blacklisted due to our overstay," the daughter said in the letter.
"I am now with my mum, but am missing my old life in my favourite country more than ever. I feel so alone away from everything I have always known in India. I know my animals will be so confused without me and I cannot sleep without feeling angry or upset, she has said.
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Nashik TCS case: Accused Nida Khan held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Nashik (PTI): Weeks after she went into hiding, a female employee of the TCS unit in Nashik, accused in a case related to alleged religious conversion and sexual harassment of some women colleagues, has been arrested, police said.
Nida Khan was held on Thursday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said.
Khan is an accused in the Deolali Camp police station crime register number 156/26 here, he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police is probing nine cases of molestation and harassment at the IT major’s Nashik unit.
It had arrested eight persons, including a female operations manager, by registering nine FIRs after allegations of exploitation, attempt of forceful conversion, hurting religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment of female employees at the TCS unit came to light.
The SIT had launched a search for Khan in different parts of Maharashtra. She is accused of targeting employees in a WhatsApp group, pressuring them to pray and eat non-vegetarian food.
According to the FIR, Khan allegedly advised women employees to dress and behave in accordance with Islamic traditions.
Some complainants have also alleged that they were coerced or pressured into adopting religious practices, including praying, changing dietary habits, and adopting religious symbols.
Besides Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions for sexual harassment and defamation, Khan has also been booked under relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the complainant belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
On April 18, she had moved the Nashik court seeking anticipatory bail and interim protection from arrest pending the plea hearing, citing her pregnancy. Her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a court here on May 2.
TCS has clarified that it has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form for a long time, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
