A 40-year-old man accused of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten to death by agitated locals in Alipurduar district located in West Bengal on Friday evening. Later, another man surrendered before the police claiming he was also involved in the crime, and was subsequently arrested.

A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by her distant relative at a village in Tirupati district, said a police official on Saturday.

India has protested in the strongest possible terms the references made by a Canadian minister about Union Home Minister Amit Shah and such "absurd and baseless" allegations will have serious consequences for bilateral ties between the two countries, the Minister of External Affairs said on Saturday.

Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar has dismissed the disqualification petition against eight MLAs who switched allegiance from Congress to the BJP in September 2022. Citing a recent Supreme Court ruling and a similar case, Dominic Noronha vs Digambar Kamat, the Speaker stated that since two-thirds of the Congress legislature party had supported the merger, the MLAs were protected under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution and would not face disqualification.

The residents of Sammoo village in Hamirpur district located in Himachal Pradesh are continuing a centuries-old tradition of not celebrating Diwali. No houses are lit during the festival, no special dishes are prepared, and no sounds of crackers are heard.

Out of the 36 assembly constituencies in Mumbai, Congress will contest in just 11 seats in the upcoming elections. In the 2019 assembly elections, the party fielded candidates in 30 constituencies, but this time, it has reduced its presence significantly following its alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT). Despite several rounds of discussions led by Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad and MLA Aslam Shaikh, Congress secured only a few seats under the MVA formula.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has strongly criticised Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant for his comment referring to Shaina NC as "imported maal." Shinde asserted that if Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray were alive, he "would have broken his mouth" for making such a remark. Calling Sawant's statement "unfortunate," Shinde condemned the disrespect toward women, saying, "Speaking ill of a woman is highly condemnable, and no amount of criticism is enough."

The Congress on Saturday called for a probe into alleged "blackmail" and "coercion" used to bring NCP leader Ajit Pawar into the NDA fold and said the BJP's "washing machine" was nowhere more powerful than in Maharashtra.