UP: Lab technician held for 'raping' nurse over 21 years
Bhadohi (UP) (PTI): A 59-year-old man, employed as a laboratory technician in the health department in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi, was arrested on Friday for allegedly raping a nurse over a period of 21 years following a false promise of marriage, police said.
The case is related to a 36-year-old nurse who has filed a petition in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Sabiha Khatoon against Chintamani Sharma (59).
Hearing the petition, the CJM ordered police on Thursday to register a case against the accused. Subsequently, a case was lodged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 376 (rape), 427 (mischief) and 323 (causing hurt) at the Suryava police station on Friday and the accused arrested from Varanasi.
Bhadohi Superintendent of Police (SP) Meenakshi Katyayan said the accused, who lived in the same apartment as the complainant, got close to her when she was a 15-year-old student and was living with her family in Varanasi district on the pretext of helping her with her studies.
However, he allegedly raped her by threatening her and with the passage of time, continued to have physical relations with her, the officer said.
"Sharma, who sexually exploited her continuously by promising to marry her, secretly got married to someone else, but kept deceiving her and continued to have sexual relations with her," Katyayan added.
The SP said after finishing her studies, the complainant took up the job of a contract nurse. She was posted at a Community Health Centre and was also allotted a quarter.
Sharma, who was posted in Varanasi, would come to Bhadohi and have physical relations with the complainant. When the nurse spoke about getting married, he would allegedly abuse her, beat her and vandalise her house, the SP said.
"Sharma was arrested on Friday from his Varanasi apartment. The nurse has been sent for a medical examination and her written statement will soon be recorded in the court," Katyayan added.
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TMC MLA Humayun Kabir apologises for claiming 'coterie' influencing Mamata's decisions
Kolkata (PTI): Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir has apologised to the party's leadership for his recent comment that a "coterie" was influencing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's key decisions.
Kabir, the MLA of Bharatpur in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, expressed his apology on Friday in reply to a show cause notice issued by the party's disciplinary committee.
"Yes, I have sent a reply. I will certainly follow party discipline. But I think being a person from the rural belt, not conversant with the ways of the city, I faced this situation for speaking my mind. However, I had not said anything against my party or its leadership," he told reporters.
"Our CM epitomises the spirit of 'Maa-Mati-Manush' and being a person of the grassroots level, I always stay rooted to the ground. Maybe I should have been more careful about my way of expressing," he said.
A senior member of the TMC's legislative disciplinary committee said the reply to the show cause letter was received, and a decision on it will be communicated soon.
Kabir, however, said some other TMC MPs had on earlier occasions made comments against party colleagues but were not censured.
On Thursday, he met the CM in the assembly's lobby where she had asked him to reply to the show-cause notice first.
On November 26, Kabir had said a coterie within the party was taking certain decisions to cement their position and was influencing the CM's key decisions for their short-term gains.
He had said this a day after the TMC national executive meeting where the party had categorically asked its leaders not to make comments in public against any internal decision and formed disciplinary committees at different levels.
Kabir had earlier advocated for giving more responsibility to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, reiterating that the Diamond Harbour MP was undoubtedly the number two in the party's hierarchy and those trying to undermine his influence would not succeed.
