Karur: A tragic stampede occurred on Saturday during a public rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and popular actor Vijay in Karur, leaving at least 29 people dead and more than 50 others injured, according to reports.

Among the deceased are three children. Initial reports had placed the death toll at 10, but the number has since risen. Over 50 people are currently receiving treatment at various hospitals, police confirmed.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said, “So far, at least 29 people have died, and more than 50 have been admitted to hospitals. Twenty-four doctors from Tiruchirappalli and 20 doctors from Salem have been urgently deployed to Karur.”

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Lucknow/Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Police have apprehended a 16-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village here, officials said on Monday.

Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, said that the body of a 19-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an orchard in the Manikpur police station area on Sunday morning. A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she had been raped.

Police registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 70(1) (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and initiated an investigation.

During the course of the investigation, the police found that the deceased was in contact with a juvenile who was also her relative.

Acting on this information, during a joint checking operation, sub-inspector Amit Kumar Singh of Manikpur police station and SOG In-charge Amit Kumar Chaurasia, along with their team, apprehended the 16-year-old near the Lehdari Ganga River bridge.

The search for other accused persons is ongoing, police said.

According to the police, the woman had gone to sleep after dinner on Saturday night but was found hanging in an orchard nearly 400 metres away from her home the following morning.

Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, had earlier said that the circumstances suggest foul play.

"The victim's slippers and undergarments were recovered 50 metres away from the spot where the body was found. There are visible injury marks on her body," Rai said.

While locals have alleged that the woman was murdered after being raped, the ASP said that it is "prima facie a case of murder."

"Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons," the officer added.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, "The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable."

"The question remains: why does the spate of murders of 'PDA daughters' continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government's claims regarding women's safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?" he said.

"Whenever the 'wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)' finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you," Yadav added.