Mangaluru: Polling commenced today for the State Assembly general elections across eight assembly constituencies in the district. From the early morning hours, voters were observed forming queues outside several polling booths. To ensure the smooth conduct of polling, over 4,500 police and paramilitary officers have been deployed in the district.
A total of 17,81,389 individuals have registered to exercise their voting rights in the district, including 9,10,314 females, 8,70,991males, and 84 individuals who identify as transgender. The district has set up 1,860 polling booths, with 1,184 located in rural areas and 676 in urban and semi-urban areas.
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For enhanced transparency, webcasting arrangements have been made in 939 polling booths as per the Election Commission's instructions. Additionally, micro observers have been assigned to 164 polling booths, while the remaining booths have been assigned to Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) for security.
The district administration has meticulously organized all necessary arrangements to ensure peaceful polling. Deputy Commissioner Ravikumar M R, who also serves as the district election officer, has stated that voting will continue until 6 pm.
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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.
