Congress used Muslims only as vote bank, alleges H D Kumaraswamy
Mangaluru (PTI): The Congress had only used the Muslim community as a vote-bank, while doing nothing concrete for their welfare, Janata Dal (S) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has said.
Addressing a campaign meeting for his party's Mangaluru North candidate Mohiuddin Bava at Krishnapura near here Sunday evening, he also charged that the Congress was welcoming hardcore Hindu leaders into the party and accusing JD(S) of having an understanding with the BJP.
Kumaraswamy said the two national parties are taking undue advantage of the youth for their political advantage. The BJP government has announced a Billawa development corporation on the eve of elections with an eye on the community's votes, he said.
He expressed the hope that people will repose faith in the JD(S).
Party working president B M Farooq, B A Mohiuddin Bava, party leaders Akshit Suvarna and M B Sadashiva were among those present.
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Malaysian Indian sentenced to jail and caning for raping Indonesian woman in Singapore
Singapore (PTI): An Indian-origin Malaysian man was sentenced in Singapore to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for raping a domestic worker outside a train station after tricking her into thinking that he was a police officer.
Sharveen Chetty, 48, pleaded guilty on February 4 to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman in the bushes outside Exit F of a subway, Little India Mass Rapid Transit station, at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
The victim was with her friends at the time, but Chetty lured her away before he sexually assaulted her, according to a report by The Straits Times on Thursday.
Two other charges – a second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer – were taken into consideration during sentencing on Wednesday.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor from Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
Chetty had initially contested the charges in a High Court trial that began on February 3. But he changed his mind and pleaded guilty on what would have been the second day of the trial, according to the daily report.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill considered it aggravating that Chetty had targeted the victim because she was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with the local authorities.
The judge rejected the defence's arguments that the rape was not premeditated.
The judge, however, noted that Chetty had pleaded guilty before the victim and key prosecution witnesses testified, thus sparing her and her friends from going through cross-examination.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of between 11 and 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, noting Chetty’s extensive efforts to disguise himself, and his predatory act of leading the victim away from the rest of the group.
Chetty admitted that he became sexually attracted to the victim.
