What Nadda has to say on UP BJP MLA being convicted for raping minor, asks Siddaramaiah
Hubballi, Dec 16: Accusing the BJP of politicising the incident of stripping and parading a tribal woman naked in Belagavi, Karnataka Chief Minister on Saturday asked BJP president J P Nadda what would he say about an Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Ramdular Gond being convicted for raping a nine-year-old girl.
The Chief Minister's outburst was against the BJP sending a five-member BJP central team including four MPs visiting and meeting the survivor and staging statewide demonstrations on Saturday against the December 11 incident where the tribal woman was stripped, paraded naked and tied to a pole after her son eloped with a girl from the same community in Vantamuri village in Belagavi district.
"Are you aware that a BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh was jailed for 25 years yesterday? He had raped a nine-year-old girl. What Nadda has to say (on this incident)?" Siddaramaiah sought to know.
ALSO READ: BJP MLA in UP gets 25 years in jail for raping minor, faces disqualification from Assembly
He said one should check the National Crime Records Bureau to find out how many cases of atrocities on girls and women have taken place during the BJP rule.
ALSO READ: JP Nadda issues statement condemning Belagavi incident, netizens ask "What about Manipur?"
The Chief Minister said he strongly condemns the atrocity on the tribal woman and wanted strict punishment should be given to the perpetrators because it makes the society hang its head in shame.Siddaramaiah said the state government has taken all the measures to offer relief to the survivor right from the minister visiting and consoling her, offering her compensation and arrest of the accused persons.
Later, the Chief Minister issued a statement saying that despite the Karnataka High Court's restrictions, the BJP leaders visited the victim-woman "thus not only flouting the court's directive but also displaying their insensitivity."
"The Chief Justice of the High Court, while taking suo-motu cognisance of the incident, had suggested this morning that visits to the traumatised woman, who is severely distressed, should be restricted. This directive was notably given in the context of news about political leaders planning to visit the victimised woman. The Chief Justice's suggestion in this situation is noteworthy," Siddaramaiah pointed out.
Considering that the woman is receiving medical treatment, visitors' interactions could impact her health and treatment, the Chief Minister said adding, the High Court, therefore, stated that it is necessary to restrict visits to the woman for her well-being.
The High Court had ordered that no individual, group, organisation, political party, or others should visit the woman without prior written permission from the chief medical officer of the hospital responsible for her treatment, he emphasised.
"Despite this, the BJP leaders, in a move to use a tragic incident for political gain, have visited the woman in the name of truth-seeking'. It shows their blatant disregard to the court's orders and instructions. The insensitivity and lack of respect shown by BJP leaders and their national president J P Nadda, who is supporting this behaviour, must be condemned by everyone," Siddaramaiah said.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
