Ranch (PTI): The Indian women's hockey team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics after going down 0-1 to Japan in the third-fourth place match of the FIH Olympic Qualifier here on Friday.

Kana Urata scored for Japan off a penalty corner in the first quarter and they kept the lead intact till the end of the match while Indians failed to find the target.

India were left with no choice but to win this game after suffering a 3-4 defeat in shootout to Germany on Thursday.

But a bigger heartbreak awaited the home team as it lost and failed to book a ticket to Paris after a historic fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

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Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) (PTI): An elderly Muslim man was allegedly assaulted by some people and forced to chant religious slogans after he offered namaz on a vacant land in front of a temple here, police said on Tuesday.

A video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media. In the video, the accused are seen thrashing the man with sticks and hurling abuses at him.

The man, Shahid, a resident of the Resham Bari area, offered namaz during the ongoing month of Ramzan in front of the Atriya Temple in Jagatpura.

Shahid said he has been working near the temple for several days and claimed that the land where he offered namaz is quite far from the temple.

After learning about the incident, members of the Muslim community accompanied Shahid to the local police station and filed a complaint.

They claimed that one of the accused has been convicted in a murder case and currently out on parole.

Temple manager Arvind Sharma said activities associated with any other religion will not be tolerated on the temple land, even if a case is filed against him.

Police reached the spot and appealed to both communities to maintain peace.

Shahid is undergoing a medical examination. Further legal action will be taken based on the complaint, police said.

Municipal Councillor Parvez Qureshi termed the incident unacceptable.

"This matter is extremely serious. Assaulting a person is unacceptable. If anyone had any objection (to namaz being offered), the administration should have been informed. We demand an impartial investigation and strict action against the culprits to avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future," he said.

Congress leader Sofia Naz said the incident is detrimental to social harmony.

"Maintaining law and order in the state is the responsibility of the state government. Violence and forced chanting of slogans in the name of religion are against the spirit of the Constitution. The administration should take immediate action and provide justice to the victim," Naz said.