Bengaluru, October 14: Kannada Development Authority chairman Prof S.G. Siddaramaiah said that anybody could get doctorate degree for a thousand rupees from a foreign university.

Speaking at the Ninth Kannada Sahitya Samskritika Samavesha organised by the Buddha Basava Gandhi Cultural Trust at Kannada Sahitya Parishad here on Sunday, he said that instead of getting a doctoral degree through payment, it was better to get it by working on a literary work. Those who involve in literary activities as multi-lingual personality would promote Kannada. Such writers would contribute for the exchange of literature and culture as they have knowledge of literature of other languages and writer Varada Srinivas was one among such writers, he said.

The competitive exams should be conducted in regional languages. As the Central government was conducting various competitive exams only in Hindi and English, the pluralism of regional languages does not have place in the federal system and it was anti-Constitutional. Poetess Varada Srinivas has raised voice against atrocity on women, dominance of male-dominated society and female equality in her poems, he opined.

Both are equal

Convention president and writer Varada Srinivas welcomed the Supreme Court decision of abolishing the IPC Section 486 which allowed man to have ownership over woman and removing the restriction on women to enter Sabarimala temple. The Supreme Court had upheld the Constitutional morality, according to which, husband was no longer a boss or owner and woman was no longer a slave. Both man and woman were equal in all aspects including sex and they were basic values. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court verdict, in a way, has given licence to husband to have illicit affair. Normally, the chances of wife having illicit affair were less. Many people opined that this verdict was like a licence given to have adultery. The verdict would create enmity between men and women individually. This would create an embarrassing situation in a society which has traditional mindset, she said.

Rapes, sexual harassment, use of contraceptive pills, removing uterus and other issues have already pushed women to ditch. Why should she be punished for the mistakes of others? She was not happy with the verdict given by the Supreme Court. No woman would think of having illicit affair if her husband had such relationship. It would be a rare case as some modern women could think of having such relationship, she said.

Sahitya Koota President Nanjappa Kalegowda, Buddha Basava Gandhi Cultural Trust President S. Ramalingeswara, K.V. Nagaraja Murthy of District Sharana Sahitya Parishat and others were present.



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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.