Scolded for studies, teenaged girl strangles mother with belt
Thane: A 15-year-old girl allegedly strangulated her mother to death with a karate belt after being scolded over her studies in Navi Mumbai, police said on Tuesday.
The girl later tried to pass it off as a case of accidental death, they said. The incident took place at their home in Airoli area of Navi Mumbai township on July 30.
The girl's parents wanted her to become a doctor and had enrolled her for the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) classes.
But, the girl did not want to pursue a medical course and because of this she and her 40-year-old mother used to have frequent quarrels, an official at Rabale police station said.
On July 27, the girl's father had scolded her for playing with her mobile phone, following which she left the house and went to her uncle's place nearby.
The official said her mother went there and called her back, after which the girl told her she was fed up of the harassment over studies and would go to police station to file a complaint against her parents.
The woman then took her daughter to a police station where the police personnel counselled both of them, he said. On July 30, the woman again scolded the girl over the issue of her studies.
During their fight, the woman allegedly threatened the girl with a knife, the official said.
Fearing that her mother was going to kill her, the girl pushed her following which woman fell and injured her head from the corner of a cot.
The woman, who was in a semi-conscious state, tried to grab a karate belt lying nearby. On seeing that, the girl grabbed the belt and allegedly strangulated her mother to death with it, the official said.
The girl later sent a WhatsApp message to her father and uncle from her mother's phone, saying "I tried everything I quit", according to the police.
She then locked the house and went outside. She called her father over phone and told him that her mother was not opening the door.
Her father informed her uncle who went to their house. He broke open the door and found the woman lying dead on the bed with the karate belt around her neck, the official said.
The police doubted the girl's version, he said, adding that they sent the body for postmortem and the report revealed that the woman died due to the head injury and strangulation.
During questioning of the family members, the police suspected the girl's role into the incident, he said.
"We took her into confidence and she narrated what happened (the sequence of events)," the official said.
The teenager was detained on Monday and a case was registered under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder), he said.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
