Mandya: Bodies of lovers found in river; ‘honour killing’ suspected
Mandya, November 16: The bodies of a newly married couple found in Cauvery river separately near Shivanasamudra in Malavalli taluk. Police suspected that the couple might have been killed by the family members of the lady as it was an inter-caste marriage.
Last Wednesday, the body of a youth aged around 26 years was found in the Cauvery river near Shivanasamudra. When the Belakavadi police rushed and fished out the body, it was found that the youth was tied with the ropes and killed him by throwing him into the river. Close on the heels of this incident, the body of the woman was also found at the same spot and she was also tied with the ropes. Since they were lovers, they might have been killed by the family members, police suspected.
When the police investigated the incident, they found that both man and woman – named Nandeesh (26) and Swathi (19)- were from Chudagoundanahalli in Hosuru taluk in Tamil Nadu. But they were from different castes. Nandeesh who was working in a hardware company and Swathi who was studying her second B Com, were loving each other for the last two years. But the family members of the girl were strongly opposed their love affair. The family members of the girl quarreled with the father of the boy. After this incident, Swathi went out of her home saying that she would bring TC from Krishnagiri college and did not return home. But she has gone with Nandeesh and stayed at his house. Both of them married recently, police said.
Later, they were in unknown place. But a relative of Swathi noticed her when she had been to a programme at Hosur on November 10 and informed her parents. Her father and four others met the couple and forced them to come along with them to the police station and compromise there. They brought them in a car to the bank of Cauvery river near Shivanasamudra through NICE road at around 3 am. After alighting them from the car, they were thrashed black and blue. Later, the accused tied Nandeesh with ropes and dumped in the river. Later, Swathi was also assaulted, tied her legs and hands and dumped in the river, police said.
Belakavadi police registered a case against five persons including Swathi’s father and her uncle. They traced the whereabouts of the accused and they might arrest the accused by tomorrow, it is said.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
