Indian charged with kidnapping after driving away 2 children in car in US
New York: A 24-year-old Indian man has been charged with kidnapping, assault and theft after he drove off in an elderly woman's car from outside a medical centre in the US with her grandchildren inside the vehicle.
Dalvir Singh, a heroin addict, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of kidnapping, felonious assault for dragging Nita Coburn, 69 and grand theft, Middletown Division of Police said in a statement.
Coburn was injured when as she tried to stop Singh as the kids jumped out of the car. The police is also hailing Coburn's 8-year old grandson Chance as a hero for saving his 10-year old sister's life by pulling her out of the car as Singh took off in it.
The Middletown Police said that on the evening of April 25, it received a call that a car with children inside had been stolen at a medical center in Middletown, Ohio and that an elderly lady was injured.
Coburn had taken another woman to the hospital and her two grandchildren were with her in the back seat. When they got to the emergency room, she pulled up close to the door and was helping the other woman into the emergency room.
About 10 seconds after she got out of the car, Singh jumped into the driver's seat and took off with the children still in the back.
The little boy opened the door to escape and his sister Skylar started to jump out also but Singh grabbed the hoodie of the little girl not allowing her to leave. As she tried to get away, Chance grabbed hold of her and pulled her away from Singh and they both tumbled out of the vehicle as it was moving.
Police said Coburn did not realise that the children were able to escape because they flew out of the passenger side and by that time she was chasing the car on the driver's side.
She opened the driver's door to regain control of the vehicle she thought her grandchildren were in, but Singh slammed the door shut again and locked the door.
She hung onto the vehicle panicking because she thought the children were still inside. The vehicle dragged her until it accelerated at a high rate of speed and she was forced to let go.
Two police officers observed the stolen vehicle fleeing the scene and chased Singh, who was then taken into custody and charged.
Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw lauded the heroic attempt by Chance to save himself and his sister from the kidnapping attempt.
"This little guy is a hero. No question. He pulled his sister out of the car with no concern for his own safety. That is incredible at his age," he said.
The Middletown Division of Police said it will be recognising the little boy's quick action to not only get out of the vehicle but also making sure that his sister got out with him.
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Efforts on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna back to India: Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said efforts are on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexual abuse against women, back to India.
He also asserted that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case was functioning efficiently.
The 33-year-old Prajwal, who is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women.
The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.
Prajwal reportedly left for Germany on April 27 and is still at large.
He was BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to polls in the first phase on April 26.
"Procedures are on, until we secure him, bring him back here and take action in accordance with law, they will continue. We will neither slow it nor stop it," Parameshwara told reporters on questions about the Interpol's Blue Corner Notice that was issued against Prajwal.
On BJP alleging that the government was "responsible" for Prajwal's "escape" from the country, the Minister said, "They will say it, they have to say such things. They cannot say the government is doing a good job. But we have a responsibility as a government. Such incidents cannot be taken lightly. We will do our job."
Accusing the Congress government of trying to tarnish the reputation of Deve Gowda's family instead of ensuring justice to victims of alleged sex videos scandal case involving Prajwal, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had recently alleged that every bit of information on the investigation is being sent to a Congress MLA of Mandya district, but not the Home Minister.
Reacting to this, Parameshwara said: "Kumaraswamy is also well aware, several things we cannot bring to the public domain, because the investigation is on. Who will brief the Mandya MLA? Making such allegations is easy. We all have responsibility and we are functioning with responsibility, and we are not under any compulsions."
"I want to tell him (Kumaraswamy) that SIT is working efficiently, and whatever they have to brief me or the Chief Minister, they will brief. Let there be no doubts about it," he said.
