Rahul, Priyanka among 5 allowed to proceed to Hathras: Noida Police
Noida (UP): Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra left for Hathras from Delhi on Saturday evening after the Uttar Pradesh Police allowed only five party representatives to proceed, citing CrPC Section 144 restrictions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Congress leaders are headed to Hathras in western UP to meet the family of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who died on Tuesday in a Delhi hospital, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped by four men outside her village.
"CrPC Section 144 has been imposed in Noida, Greater Noida as well as in Hathras and some other districts in Uttar Pradesh due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Considering the social distancing and other related norms, permission has been granted for five people, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra," Police Commissioner Alok Singh told PTI.
Meanwhile, UP Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi, who was in Hathras on Saturday, also told reporters that any group with no more than five people" is allowed to meet the victim's family.
Earlier, the DND toll plaza at the Delhi-Noida border had virtually turned into a fortress with heavy police deployment in anti-riot gear ahead of the movement of Congress representatives.
Hundreds of Congress and Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers had also gathered at the DND, raising slogans against the BJP government in UP over the Hathras case and for allegedly preventing their party leaders from meeting the victim's family.
Some party workers also alleged that policemen had hit them with batons during skirmish while Congress leaders were trying to cross over to the UP side from Delhi to proceed for Hathras, some 180 km away from here.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
