Hubballi murder: Accused's father apologises to Neha's family
Hubballi (Karnataka) (PTI): Demanding maximum punishment for his son, the father of 23-year-old Fayaz, who allegedly killed the daughter of a Congress councillor inside a college campus in Hubballi, has apologised to the victim's family and said his son should be given strict punishment.
Baba Saheb Subani, a school teacher and Fayaz's father told media on Saturday that he came to know about the incident around 6 pm on Thursday and was completely shocked and shattered with his son's act.
"He (Fayaz) should be punished in a way that no one dares to do such a thing in future. With folded hands, I apologise to Neha's family members. She was like my daughter," he said with teary eyes.
Subani said that he and his wife have been living separately for the past six years and that Fayaz stayed with his mother and called him whenever he needed money. He last spoke to his son about three months ago.
Fayaz's father recalled that around eight months ago, Neha's family had called him to inform that his son was troubling their daughter.
Admitting that his son made a mistake, he said that Fayaz and Neha loved each other and were in a relationship.
"Fayaz told me he wanted to marry her but I refused it with folded hands," he added.
Condemning his son's act, Fayaz's father said that no one should commit any such atrocities against women.
"I request the people of Karnataka to forgive me. My son has done wrong. He will be punished by the law of the land and I welcome it. My town has got a black mark because of my son. People of Munavalli (Fayaz's hometown) please forgive me. You raised us. Please forgive me," he cried with folded hands.
However, the victim's family has been demanding that the accused be hanged to death and only then will their daughter's soul rest in peace. They maintained that their daughter was not in a relationship with Fayaz and said the accused stabbed Neha because she rejected his proposal.
There were protests in several parts of the state demanding capital punishment for Fayaz, who has been arrested in connection with the incident that occurred on April 18.
The alleged murder of the daughter of the city corporation councillor on her college campus has sparked widespread condemnation and protests.
The issue has snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP in Karnataka.Neha was allegedly stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College on Thursday.
The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently.
Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate.
According to a senior police officer, Fayaz allegedly stabbed her multiple times. During interrogation, he claimed that the two had been in a relationship but she had been avoiding him of late.
"It needs to be corroborated and verified, but he was arrested immediately," the officer said.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
