"I overheard a cop telling someone to dump me in Gundya gorge"
Victim of alleged police atrocity at Subrahmanya speaks out
Mangaluru: "You Muslims always need Hindu girls ? Didn't you intend to take her to Ponnani for conversion ? Beef eaters like you should not be believed... Police abused me this way and then pushed me into the station godown where they stripped me and thrashed me indiscriminately. They gagged me with socks and plastered my mouth, in the process three of their lathis broke, they also tortured by giving me electric shock."
This is how Farveez alias Pachhu Bellare who was reportedly subject to atrocities by Subrahmanya police station personnel on December 21, narrated his plight to this reporter at a private hospital in Mangaluru where he is admitted for treatment .
"No one should suffer the way I have suffered. Those who tortured me are unfit to serve the Department. Along with the cops two auto drivers too tortured me. All of them must get stern punishment," demanded Farveez.
Speaking to Vartha Bharathi, he said he produces regional language albums and was in Tamil film industry since two years. He also said that he knew the Mysuru based actress with whom he was seen in a lead role in the film "Veruvathuli" set to be released soon. Farveez claims that the actress had asked him to come to Subrahmanya where she had to offer a Harake on December 20. "There is no affair between us. As she was a guest, I had picked her up from the Subrahmanya Railway Station and took her to the temple. Though she intended to return the same day, as the pooja was not complete she decided to stay back. I asked an elderly couple at the temple premises to take care of her and returned home," says Farveez.
"The next morning she telephoned me at 6.30 am, her voice was feeble and she asked me to come near the temple. However, when I went there she was nowhere, but an auto stopped near me and took me to the station where I was tortured and attempts made to project me and the actress as lovers," he said.
He also alleged that he overheard a cop speaking over mobile phone and telling the person on the other end to dump him in a gorge in Gundya.
"The police asked me to keep my mouth shut regarding the torture lest I would be projected as a terrorist who had come to plant a bomb in Subrahmanya. After I was released, I returned home and remained silent. When the video went viral the SP has suspended three but all of the accused must be permanently suspended," he demanded.
"As I faced severe pain in my waist and leg I got myself admitted to the hospital," he said and demanded stern action against those who tortured him.
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Over 77 per cent of India's children lack WHO-suggested diversity in diet, study finds
New Delhi, Oct 23: About 77 per cent of children in India aged 6-23 months lack diversity in diet as suggested by the WHO, with the country's central region showing the highest prevalence of minimum dietary failure, a study has found.
The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh reported the highest levels of inadequate diversity in children's diets -- all above 80 per cent -- while Sikkim and Meghalaya were the only two to report an under-50 per cent prevalence.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests using the Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) score to evaluate the quality of a child's diet -- it is considered to be diverse if it contains five or more food groups, including breastmilk, eggs, legumes and nuts, and fruits and vegetables.
Analysing National Family and Health Survey data from 2019-21 (NFHS-5), researchers, including those from the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, found that the country's overall rate of minimum dietary diversity failure has dropped from 87.4 per cent, which was calculated using data from 2005-06 (NFHS-3).
However, "our study shows that the prevalence of minimum dietary diversity failure remains high (above 75 per cent) in India," the authors wrote in the study published in the National Medical Journal of India.
The team also looked at children's dietary habits across various food groups like proteins and vitamins, comparing data from 2019-21 with that from 2005-06.
The consumption of eggs registered an "impressive" rise, from around 5 per cent in NFHS-3 to over 17 per cent in NFHS-5 while that of legumes and nuts increased from nearly 14 per cent during 2005-06 to over 17 per cent during 2019-21.
"The consumption of vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables increased by 7.3 percentage points, whereas the consumption of fruits and vegetables increased by 13 percentage points over the same time. For flesh foods, the consumption increased by 4 percentage points," the authors wrote.
However, the consumption of breastmilk and dairy products was found to drop from 87 per cent in NFHS-3 to 85 per cent in NFHS-5 and 54 per cent to 52 per cent, respectively.
The authors also found that the children of illiterate and rural-residing mothers having no exposure to mass media, those born first and not exposed to counselling and health check-ups at Anganwadi or Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centres were more likely to be consuming diets deficient in diversity.
Anaemic children and those having a low birth weight were also found to have a higher chance of consuming a non-diverse diet.
To tackle the issue of inadequate diversity in children's diets, the authors called for a holistic approach from the government, including an improved public distribution system, intensified ICDS programme, use of social media and nutrition counselling through local self-governance.
