Pregnant woman dies after recovery agent drives tractor over her in Jharkhand
Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) (PTI): A 27-year-old pregnant woman in Hazaribagh district was crushed to death under a tractor allegedly by a recovery agent when he was forcibly taking the vehicle away for non-payment of dues, a senior police official said.
The incident took place on Thursday and the victim, a daughter of a farmer, Mithilesh Mehta of Bariyanath under Ichak Police Station, was three months pregnant.
District Superintendent of Police Manoj Ratan Chothe said a case of murder has been registered against four people, including the recovery agent and the manager of the private finance company. A special investigation team headed by the deputy superintendent of police (HQ) Rajeev Kumar was formed to arrest those involved, the SP told reporters.
According to police, Mehta, a person with disability, had received a message on his mobile phone on Thursday from Mahindra Finance Company asking him to pay Rs 1.3 lakh, outstanding from a loan he had taken from the firm to buy the tractor. The company had also threatened Mehta to confiscate the tractor, which was parked at a nearby petrol pump on NH-33, if the money was not paid.
Mehta immediately rushed to the spot to save his tractor and found the recovery agent already driving it away, the SP said.
He ran after the moving tractor and told the recovery agent that he was willing to pay Rs 1.2 lakh immediately but the man insisted that Mehta clear the entire due if he wanted the possession of the tractor.
As the recovery agent refused to listen to the man's pleas and kept driving away the tractor, Mehta’s pregnant daughter, who had reached the spot, ran after it and was crushed to death under its wheels, the SP said.
A large number of villagers, mostly women, demonstrated in front of the Hazaribagh collectorate with the body on Friday and demanded the immediate arrest of the manager and the recovery agent of the finance company.
They also demanded Rs 20 lakh compensation to the victim's family.
The agitation was lifted two hours after the police assured them that all culprits will be arrested soon.
The managing director and chief executive officer of Mahindra group, Anish Shah in a statement on Friday said, "We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the Hazaribagh incident ... We stand with the family in this moment of grief."
He assured to investigate the incident from all aspects and also undertake an examination of the practice of using third party collection agencies that has been in existence.
"We will extend all possible support to the authorities during the investigation into this tragic incident," the statement added.
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UP man gets life term for electrocuting mentally challenged wife to death in Bareilly
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
