UP: Man gets death sentence for raping 7-yr-old, murdering her 5-yr-old sister
Shahjahanpur (UP) (PTI): A court here has sentenced a man to capital punishment after he was convicted of raping a seven-year-old girl and murdering her younger sister four years ago, an official said on Saturday.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.37 lakh on the convict.
Additional District and Sessions Judge, Shahjahanpur, Manoj Kumar Siddhu, in a verdict on Friday, held Anil alias Chameli guilty and ordered that the accused be hanged till death, Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Rajneesh Kumar Mishra told PTI on Saturday.
Sharing details about the case, Mishra said that on February 22, 2021, two sisters -- a seven-year-old and a five-year-old -- had gone to use the toilet at the primary school in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district.
The accused, Anil alias Chameli, lured them with biscuits and honey, and took them to the fields far from the village where he raped the elder sister and murdered the younger one, the officer said.
When the elder sister resisted, he hit her on the head with a sharp iron tool, he said, adding that the younger girl was murdered as she had told the accused she will go home and narrate the incident to her parents.
When the two girls did not return home, their family, along with locals, searched for them in the village and fields.
The younger sister's body was found outside the village, while the older sister was found in a mustard field 100 metres away, still breathing, the officer said.
An FIR was filed in the matter on February 23, 2021.
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
