3 pastors allegedly rape teen girl, charged under POCSO Act in Mysuru

Crime

The girl was allegedly taken to Mangaluru under the pretext of being given a job, while her mother was told that the family would receive financial assistance, police said.

Dr. Nimeshika Jayachandran

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Police in Mysuru are investigating a complaint issued by the mother of a 16-year-old girl, who has claimed that her daughter was allegedly sexual assaulted, raped and abused by three pastors. The girl and her mother are reportedly natives of Mysuru. Narasimha Raja Police Station in Mysuru had filed the FIR against the three pastors who hail from Mangaluru and have been booked under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused have been identified as Sebastian, Bennet Amman and Joshua Amman, who all are natives of Balmatta in Mangaluru. Speaking to TNM, Mysuru City Police Commissioner K T Balakrishna said, “The preliminary investigations are underway. The mother had given the complaint, but the address and personal details are not accurate and we have not been able to trace either the victim or her mother. However, investigations are underway and we will take strict action against those involved.” He further noted that the accused have yet to be apprehended and are currently absconding. The girl was allegedly taken by the three pastors to Mangaluru in November after they had promised to give her a job and reassured her mother of financial assistance she needed to build a house. As per the complaint, however, the girl has been sexually abused since mid-December and made to do physical work and chores around the house. “The complaint given by the woman states that the victim was subject to sexual assault by the three men. They had promised to give her mother 1 lakh rupees to assist her in building a house and also said they would help secure a job for her,” adds Balakrishna. He also stated that the girl was not allowed outside the house and was threatened into keeping silent. Mysuru police have formed teams and are currently working to track down the three pastors who have been named as accused in the case. This comes days after a Bengaluru-based woman accused a bishop of sexual harassment and had attempted to take her own life after threats from him. The woman, who is undergoing treatment at CSI Hospital, is said to be recovering while the Shivaji Nagar police have registered an FIR against the accused.

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Low-intensity earthquake hits Shivamogga’s Thirthahalli taluk

Earthquake

Reports of a second earthquake began to do the rounds on Monday, but this was dismissed by the state disaster monitoring centre.

TNM Staff

Yadur in Shivamogga

A low-intensity earthquake on Sunday morning measuring 2.2 on the Richter Scale spread panic among residents of Shivamogga’s Thirthahalli taluk. Tremors were felt in parts of Thirthahalli, Agumbe, Hosanagara, Yedur and also in Siddapura in Udupi district. No loss of life or property damage was reported in the areas, but several alarmed residents rushed out of their homes when the tremors occurred. Reports of a second earthquake began to do the rounds on Monday, after panic-stricken residents of Yadur village claimed that they heard a loud sound and felt fresh tremors at 12:20 pm. Following this, Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner KA Dayananda reached out to the state disaster body asking for a clarification. Then Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) stated that there was no fresh earthquake recorded in Thirthahalli on Monday afternoon. “There was a low-intensity earthquake on Sunday. However, no activity was registered from the area on Monday,” said Ramesh L Dikpal, a scientist working in the earthquake division of KSNDMC. He also said that quarrying activity would not lead to an earthquake of the magnitude recorded in Shivamogga. “The earthquake has occurred on the lineament or a discontinuity in the strata. These are natural fault zones or weaker zones that are prone to earthquakes. Due to stress and strains occurring in and around the lineament reaching the maximum limit, earthquakes recur in these areas, usually once in 100 years," said Ramesh. A lineament or a fault is a thin zone of crushed rock which separates blocks of the earth's crust. KA Dayananda also dismissed doubts that quarrying could have caused the earthquake. “The only stone quarrying unit in the area was closed down a year ago, and there was no quarrying activity in the area where the earthquake has occurred,” he said. Similar earthquakes were registered in the area in 1843 and 1975, and the one on Sunday occurred 43 years after the last recorded earthquake. The epicentre of the earthquake was located in Vittalnagar, on the outskirts of Thirthahalli, where a small stone mining quarry is located. The epicentre is also close to Mani Dam, part of the Varahi Hydroelectric Power Plant. However, scientists warn that quarrying activity can cause earthquakes to recur in shorter periods of time. “Quarrying often involves high-intensity explosions and can indirectly lead to earthquakes. It can bring down the time period between recurrences of earthquakes," Ramesh, the KSNDMC scientist, added.

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Chennai techie taken hostage for 8 hours in Bengaluru, robbed of Rs 45,000

Crime

Anurag had missed his bus to Chennai when he was pushed into a van and held hostage for 8 hours.

TNM Staff

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A 25-year-old Infosys employee from Chennai was abducted and robbed of Rs. 45,000 after he missed his bus late in the night in Bengaluru. Anurag Sharma, who works as a senior systems manager with Infosys in Chennai, was returning after attending a family function in Bengaluru. He was to leave in a bus at 11:50 pm on January 31 from a bus stop near the Audi Service center on Hosur Main Road in Bengaluru. However, he missed the bus after he reached the bus stop late. At around 1 am, things took a turn for the worse for Anurag when a white Maruti Omni van pulled over and a man pulled him inside the van. Two people waiting at the bus stop with him also rushed into the van as it sped away. Inside the car, Anurag was blindfolded and assaulted by three people while the driver continued to drive around the city. "I was pinned down to the floor of the car and my wallet and phone was taken from me. They took my credit and debit card and threatened me to give up the pin," Anurag said in his statement to the police. Eventually, the attackers withdrew Rs. 45,000 in total after stopping at several ATMs and using the credit cards owned by Anurag after he divulged the ATM pin at knife-point. The ordeal ended over 7 hours later at 8:30 am on Friday morning when he was thrown out of the van near Chandapura with his hands and legs tied. Anurag later freed himself and visited Narayana Multi-Speciality Hospital for treatment. In his complaint, Anurag stated that he remembered two names - Rahul and Umesh - used by the attackers. He also identified the attackers to be between 20-25 years of age along with an older driver. Anurag was earlier working with Infosys in Mysuru before shifting to Chennai. Police officials are investigating the case after registering an FIR in Parappana Agrahara Police Station in the city.

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Trump’s State of the Union pledge: Ending HIV transmissions by 2030

Under the president’s 10-year strategy, health officials would target the U.S. communities with the most HIV infections.

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BBMP makes details of property tax, works available online

Civic issues

Activists have welcomed the move by BBMP stating that it improves transparency and empowers ward committees in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has published a list of works taken up and property tax collected in every ward on its website. The move has been welcomed by activists for improving transparency and empowering ward committees in the city.  "This is transparency that we dreamed of and we believed will help empower ward committees. At the round table the Commissioner said it will be done and he did it today", Srinivas Alavilli, a member of Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), which has been campaigning for regular ward committee meetings said.  The group had earlier in November 2018 asked for a list of works taken up by the BBMP along with property tax collected in each of the 198 wards in Bengaluru since ward committee meetings in the city were being held without this information made public. The request was made in a round-table meeting with the BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad.   Website Link: BBMP Ward Committee Details “It’s the first time in the BBMP’s history, ward-wise details of projects and tax collection data are made available to the public,” said Manjunath speaking to Deccan Herald. The data published includes the property tax collected for 198 wards of Bengaluru for the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 and all the works taken up by the civic body from April 1 2016 to January 31 2019. The BBMP has also notified details of works taken up on major roads and other government projects.   “The ward-wise works data could be improved by adding details of works completed, pending and deadlines set. BBMP can also expose the GIS mapping of properties and colour code those who have paid the tax and those who have not. This will further empower ward committees to ensure better tax collection in their respective wards,” V Ravichandar, former member, BBMP Restructuring Committee said to The Hindu.

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Centre’s drought aid for K’taka less than 40% of actual request: Dinesh Gundu Rao to PM

Politics

While the Karnataka government had sought Rs 2,434 crore to compensate for the crop losses in drought-hit districts, the Centre approved only Rs 949.49 crore aid.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Dinesh Gundu Rao bemoaned the central government's apparent favouritism in disbursing drought-aid relief to the state. On January 29, the central government had announced Rs 949.49-crore aid to drought-hit Karnataka. However, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dinesh, who had requested a ‘minimum’ of Rs 500 crore, pointed out that only a fraction of the funds requested for drought-relief was approved. "The Karnataka Government sought relief aid of Rs 2,434 crore to compensate for the crop losses in drought-hit districts. Our government in Karnataka had declared 86 taluks in 23 districts drought-affected during the Kharif season in 2018 and an additional 14 taluks in nine districts were also declared as severely drought affected. However, your government only approved Rs 949.49 crore aid. The relief measure announced for Karnataka by your government makes up for less than 40% of the actual request for drought assistance," read the letter. Read: Centre gives Rs 949 cr aid to drought-hit Karnataka Dinesh further decried the central government's decision to declare assistance of Rs 4,714. 28 crores for drought-relief measures in Maharashtra  "On the other hand, your government's assistance to the State of Maharashtra stood at Rs 4,714,28 crores. I would like to let you know that this show of favouritism by your government is not appreciated by the people of Karnataka," the letter further read.   According to the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), as many as 100 out of 175 taluks in Karnataka are reeling under the effects of drought. The state government has announced a farm loan waiver scheme to help farmers abate the crisis. In comparison, BJP-ruled Maharashtra has declared that 151 out of 358 taluks are affected by drought, as per a report. The Karnataka government had earlier stated that a total of 26.18 lakh hectares of agricultural area and 1.94 lakh hectares of horticulture area have suffered more than 33% crop loss. A Congress-JD(S) coalition government is in power in Karnataka. Dinesh further requested the central government to pay the workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). "Our government requested to ensure timely payments for jobs under MGNREGA but your government's apathy towards the state continued. Mandatory payment of MGNREGA workers to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore is pending in Karnataka. It is a violation of the law and it is a burden that most vulnerable people cannot bear," he added in the letter.

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How your health information is sold and turned into ‘risk scores’

Information used to gauge opioid overdose risk is unregulated, used without patient consent.

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