Rape of 3 minor girls in Goa: Guest house owner and manager arrested; 4 held so far
Panaji (PTI): Police have arrested the owner and the manager of a guest house in North Goa district where three minor girls were allegedly raped by two men, taking the number of those held in the case to four, officials said on Thursday.
The girls, aged 11, 13 and 15 and residents of the same building, were allegedly raped by two men at the guest house located in Calangute area on June 7 and 8. The five had checked-in at the guest house together, they said.
The two older girls are sisters.
The girls' parents filed complaints on June 8 that they had gone missing a day earlier.
Police formed multiple teams, and rescued them on the same day from the guest house while arresting Altaf Mujawar (19) and Om Naik (21), an official earlier said.
Two more persons - guest house owner Rajat Chauhan (31) and manager Mansoor Peer (35) - were arrested on Wednesday night, Superintendent of Police (North) Rahul Gupta told PTI on Thursday.
They were arrested for accommodating the minor girls at the guest house without verification and consent of their parents, thus violating laws and abetting the crime, he said.
All the four accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Goa Children's Act, the police said.
"We are sealing the guest house and moving for cancellation of its license. The guest house management and owners will not be spared if they give room to a child in the absence of any family or relatives accompanying him or her," the SP said, cautioning all such facilities in the state.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
