Pregnant woman forest guard beaten up by couple in Maharashtra's Satara, duo held
minister promises strict action
Pune (PTI): A former sarpanch and his wife allegedly thrashed a woman forest guard, who is three months pregnant, along with her husband at a village in Satara district of Maharashtra, following which the accused couple has been arrested, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday at Palsawade village in the western Maharashtra district, located around 120 kms from here, they said.
According to police, the accused man, who is a member of the local forest management committee, was angry with the woman forest guard for taking the contractual forest labourers along with her "without his permission".
A video of the assault incident has gone viral on social media.
Sharing the video on his Twitter handle on Thursday, Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said, "The accused has been arrested this morning and will face the law at its strictest. Such acts will not be tolerated."
Satara Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajay Kumar Bansal said the accused man is a former sarpanch of the village and a member of the local forest management committee.
"He and his wife allegedly beat up the woman forest guard, who is three months pregnant, as the accused was angry over the guard taking the contractual forest labourers along with her without his permission," he said.
A case has been registered against the duo at Satara taluka police station, he said.
"Since the forest guard is pregnant, a medical examination of her foetus will be carried out. If any foetus is found harmed, then relevant sections will be slapped against the accused," he said.
Talking to reporters, the woman forest guard said that her husband, who is also a forest guard, was also beaten up by the couple.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
