Hubballi: Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad has termed the recent incident of honour killing of a young woman by her father for marrying a man of low caste in Inam-Veerpur village of the taluk as inhuman.

“Even after completing 80 years of gaining Independence, it is unfortunate that we are ruled by the caste system. We are yet to gain equality and humanitarian values in society,” he told reporters, after meeting the people injured in connection to the case.

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The district administration and medical officials’ quick action has saved the lives of the injured people, while the arrival of the police team at the scene prevented a major mishap, the minister said.

Lad assured that the government was taking necessary steps in the case. “We are in constant touch with the Superintendent of Police (SP) and Deputy Commissioner (DC). The Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) was suspended on Friday since the official had failed to fulfill his duties. We are also in support of the bereaved family,” he added.

“I paid a visit to the village yesterday (Friday) and told the locals that a round of counseling would be undertaken for them,” the minister said.

Referring to people helping the deceased woman’s husband, Lad said, “I was informed that the family received no help during such a situation, which is equivalent of a social boycott. The entire government, however, stands by the boy’s family."

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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.

Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.

The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.

On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.

Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.

India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.

The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.

Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.