Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government will launch on Wednesday a scheme offering Rs 2,000 monthly financial assistance to more than one crore women who are heads of their households, in the presence of AICC president M Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the district headquarters town of Mysuru, officials said on Monday.

According to officials, about 1.08 crore potential beneficiaries have enrolled for the 'Gruha Lakshmi' scheme, one of the five pre-poll 'guarantees' of the Congress, which ousted the BJP from power in the May Assembly elections.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru today that about one lakh people would gather at the function, where the scheme would be launched by Kharge, while he would preside over the event and Gandhi would be present.

He said it's government function and added that Kharge and Gandhi would attend the event in their capacity as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and as member of the Parliament, respectively. "It's not a party function".

The chief minister said the government has already implemented three of the five 'guarantees' (pre-poll promises) -- 'Shakti', 'Gruha Jyothi' and 'Annabhagya' -- and noted that 'Gruha Lakshmi' is the fourth one.

Siddaramaiah said last week that the government would directly transfer Rs 2,000 a month to the bank accounts of the enrolled 1.08 crore women.

The government has earmarked Rs 17,500 crore for the 'Gruha Lakshmi' programme in the current financial year, he had said.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



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.