Ramanath Rai announces retirement from electoral politics
Mangaluru: Former state minister and veteran Congress leader B Ramanath Rai on Tuesday announced his retirement from electoral politics, adding that he would remain an active member of the Congress.
Addressing a press meet at the Congress Bhavan in Mallikatte, Mangaluru, Rai gave a word of thanks to all Kannadigas who had worked hard for the landslide victory of the Congress in the Karnataka Assembly elections. “I also thank all citizens who voted for me in the polls,” he said.
Stating that he had always followed the party rules, Rai said that, henceforth too, he would duly fulfil the duties he was assigned by the party leadership.
“The Congress has seen a setback in Dakshina Kannada, but the victory in the state is stupendous, which should inspire the Congress workers in our district to work harder for the party,” said Rai, asking of the workers, “We must all strive to ensure victory of the Congress in the Panchayat elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”
The leader pointed out that he had, no doubt, lost the elections from Bantwal constituency this year, but received a greater number of votes than the last elections. He added that the Congress would analyse the party performance, especially in the case of defeat, in the elections.
When asked about the selection of the Chief Minister of the state, Rai said, “There is no problem within the Congress. The party high command and the legislators will decide who will be the Chief Minister,” and added, “The Congress government will also implement the schemes it promised to the people of Karnataka while campaigning for the polls.”
Congress leader Ibrahim Kodijal and office-bearers Rakshith Shivaram, Shashidhar Hegde, Lancelot Pinto, Shahul Hamid, Ashraf K, Navin D’Souza, Sudarshan, Umesh Dandakeri, Salim, Prithviraj, Chittaranjan Shetty, Musthafa and Honnaiah were among those present at the press meet.
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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.
