Heavy rains lash coastal, south Karnataka
Bengaluru, Aug 11: Heavy rains of up to 15 cm lashed coastal and southern Karnataka, causing rivers to overflow and creating a flood-like situation in villages and towns in the region, said an official on Saturday.
"Heavy rains are being received in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi, along with south interior districts of Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu and Shivamogga," the Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) G.S. Srinivasa Reddy told IANS here.
Dakshina Kannada received a maximum of 14.9 cm over the last 24 hours, Uttara Kannada 10.5 cm, Udupi district 7.8 cm, Shivamogga district 9.4 cm, and Kodagu 10.2 cm.
Schools and colleges in Dakshina Kannada remained shut on Saturday owing to the heavy rains, an official said.
Heavy rains are likely to continue in the region over the next three days, a weather advisory from the Bengaluru centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
With the state's reservoirs in the Cauvery basin being filled to their maximum capacity due to bountiful rains over the last two months, any additional rains are causing the rivers to overflow, Reddy said.
In the Cauvery basin, Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir across Cauvery river in Mandya district, Kabini reservoir in Mysuru district across Kabini river, one of the major tributaries of Cauvery, have been filled to their full capacity.
"Due to excessive rains in Wayanad district in north Kerala, Kabini reservoir has received excess water which had to be released with the dam already being full," Reddy added.
About 80,000 cusecs of rain water was released from Kabini reservoir, and 59,000 cusecs from KRS reservoir since Friday, Mysuru district Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Shankar said.
"People in the low-lying areas in the nearby villages and towns of the reservoirs have been shifted to safe locations with the water being released. Police, fire services and other district officials are on duty day and night to assist people," Shankar told IANS.
The released water has flooded several farmlands and roads in the villages and towns of Mysuru district.
There were reports of several houses being submerged in the district and roads being damaged as a result of the water flow.
The IMD, while advising farmers to be prepared for heavy rains in coastal and south interior districts over the next few days, has asked fishermen not to venture into the Arabian Sea due to heavy winds along the Karnataka coast.
Northern Karnataka, which continues to face deficit rainfall, is likely to receive rains over the next few days, according to the weather office.
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Mysuru: Man serves jail time for wife's 'murder'; she resurfaces alive in court
Mysuru, Apr 04 (PTI): A court here, taking serious note of lapses on the part of the police, has ordered the Superintendent of Police to submit a complete report before April 17 in connection with a case in which a woman, allegedly murdered by her husband in 2020, has now appeared before it—alive.
This comes even as Suresh, the husband of the woman named Mallige, had spent almost one-and-a-half years in jail on murder charges.
The case pertains to the arrest and imprisonment of Suresh, aged about 38, who had lodged a complaint in December 2020 stating that his wife Mallige had gone missing from Kushalnagar in the Kodagu district.
Subsequently, the police found the skeleton of a woman in Bettadarapura and filed a charge sheet in court, alleging that the skeleton belonged to Mallige and that Suresh had murdered her. He was then jailed.
On April 1, Mallige was found in Madikeri by a friend of Suresh, who saw her with another man.
The matter was brought to the notice of the Fifth Additional District and Sessions Court, and she was subsequently produced before the court.
Taking serious note of the police's lapses, the court on Thursday directed the SP to submit a complete report on the case by April 17.
Speaking to reporters, Suresh's advocate, Pandu Poojari said, "Suresh, who is from a village in Kushalnagar, had lodged a complaint in 2020 at the Kushalnagar Rural Police Station regarding his wife's disappearance. Around the same time, a skeleton was found within the Bettadarapura police station limits. A year later, Bettadarapura police arrested Suresh, alleging that he had killed his wife over an illicit affair. A case was registered against him."
The police had sent the skeleton for a DNA test along with blood samples from Mallige’s mother.
"Even before the DNA report came, the police filed the final charge sheet in court. Later, though he got bail, the DNA test report that eventually came showed a mismatch," he said.
When a discharge application was filed citing the DNA mismatch, the court did not accept it and asked for witness examination, including that of Mallige’s mother and villagers.
"Everyone deposed before the court that she was alive and had eloped with someone. The court questioned the Kushalnagar and Bettadarapura police about the loopholes in the charge sheet, but they defended their investigation and maintained that the skeleton belonged to Mallige and that Suresh had murdered her," the advocate said.
Meanwhile, on April 1, Mallige was found at a hotel in Madikeri, having a meal with a man. She was spotted by Suresh’s friend, who is also a witness named in the charge sheet.
She was taken to the Madikeri police station, following which an "advancement application" was filed before the district judge's court.
"The court, treating the matter seriously, asked police to produce her immediately. She was then presented in court. When questioned, she admitted to eloping and marrying another man. She said she was unaware of what had happened to Suresh. She had been living in a village named Shettyhalli, just 25–30 km from Madikeri, but police made no effort to trace her," he added.
Calling this a very serious and rare case, the advocate said the key questions before the court now are: whose skeleton was it, and why did the police file a false charge sheet?
"The court had summoned the SP and the investigating officers in the case, but they had no answers to offer. It has now directed the SP to file a complete report on the lapses before April 17 before delivering the judgment declaring Suresh innocent," he said.
Stating that he is awaiting the court’s final order, the advocate said that once it is issued, he will file a writ petition in the High Court regarding the trauma his client endured and against the police for filing a false case against him.
"I will seek justice and compensation for my client. We will also approach the Human Rights Commission and the ST Commission, as Suresh is a poor man from the ST community," he said.
Further, he added there should be a probe into the skeleton case and whether there was a conspiracy by the police to close both cases by naming Suresh as the accused.
