Mangaluru, May 3: The 6th additional district and sessions court has convicted a youth on charges of cheating a woman after promising her to marry her and threatening her, here on Thursday.
The convicted is identified as Santosh (25) of Koiyur Hadeelu in Belthangadi taluk. He was working as a coordinator at Spandana Santwana Centre. After hearing the argument, justice DT Puttarangaswamy sentenced Santosh to eight months imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 and asked the convicted to give Rs 90,000 as compensation to the victim.
After introducing to a woman at a marriage party, they were in touch with each other through mobile. He had asked the woman to Belthangadi promising her to introduce her to his family on July 27, 2013. Santosh was working in night shift in the rehabilitation centre. He had taken her to film in the evening. Later, he had taken her to the rehabilitation centre after misleading her that there was no bus facility during night. In rehabilitation centre, he raped her. But as he did not take her to his home, she returned to her home. On January 11, 2014, once again he had invited her to rehabilitation centre and raped her again promising her of marrying her, it was alleged.
When she forced him to marry her, he had rejected her request and threatened her of killing her. After knowing the intension of Santosh, she had complained against him to rehabilitation centre head on March 29, 2014. But the rehabilitation head counseled them and made Santosh to marry her. But later, he did not agree. Against this, the girl lodged a complaint at Belthangadi police station on July 13, 2014. The police also convinced him to marry her and he had promised of marrying her after engagement on July 13. Later, he has postponed the marriage saying that his brother is in abroad and he would marry her after he came to India. Following this, the girl once again lodged a complaint against him alleging rape, cheating, life threat on December 29, 2015. On the next day, the police arrested Santosh.
Then sub-inspector B Lingappa filed the charge sheet against Santosh in the court. After hearing the argument, the judge convicted Santosh for eight month imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 and additional Rs 90,000 as compensation to the girl. If he failed, the convicted has to undergo two more months imprisonment. Public prosecutor Judith OM Crasta argued in favour of the victim.
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Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
