Mangaluru: Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Minister Baba Siddique visited Mangaluru to campaign for Congress candidate UT Khader ahead of the upcoming Karnataka state elections. In an interview with Vartha Bharati, Siddique praised Khader for his simplicity and expressed confidence that he will win from his constituency.
Siddique went on to praise the people of Karnataka, calling them wise voters who will rid the state of the BJP and its corrupt governance. He added that the Congress party is committed to working for the development of Karnataka and its people.
The former Maharashtra Minister also criticized the BJP, alleging that they have failed to deliver on their promises and have instead focused on divisive politics. He urged voters to choose the Congress party for a better future for Karnataka.
The Karnataka state elections have become a key battleground for both the BJP and Congress, with both parties vying for a victory that could have implications on national politics as well. The Congress party has been stepping up its campaign efforts in recent days, with leaders like Siddique joining the fray to rally support for their candidates.



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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.
