‘Cyanide’ Mohan sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder of 23-year-old

Crime

This is the 19th case out of the 20 murder cases registered against the criminal, who has killed several women with cyanide, after befriending and raping them.

PTI

'Cyanide' Mohan has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a district court in Karnataka for the murder of a 23-year old woman from Kasaragod district of Kerala in 2006. This is the 19th case of the total 20 murder cases that were registered against him. Before this, he has been awarded death sentence in five cases and life imprisonment in three cases, of which two were commuted to life. The sixth additional district and sessions court judge Sayeedunnisa in Dakshina Kannada on Monday sentenced Mohan to life and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him. The sentence shall commence after he serves the sentence of imprisonment in the other cases, the judge said. This is the 19th case out of the 20 murder cases registered against the criminal, who has killed several women using the deadly cyanide after befriending and raping them. Earlier, he had been awarded death sentence in five cases and life imprisonment in three cases. Two of the death penalties were later commuted to life imprisonment. According to the charge sheet in the latest case, Mohan met the woman while she was coming to work at a unit of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (CAMPCO). After befriending and offering to marry her, on January 3 in 2006, he took her to Mysuru and stayed in a lodge near the bus stand. Like in all other cases, the next morning, Mohan asked the woman to remove her ornaments. The two went to the KSRTC bus stand where he asked her to consume a pill convincing her that it was a contraceptive. However, it was laced with cyanide. The woman, who consumed the pill in the washroom, collapsed and declared brought dead at a hospital where she was rushed by those in the room. As in previous cases, Mohan went back to the lodge and left the place along with her ornaments. He was arrested later from Bantwal in 2009, after which he admitted to killing 20 women. The judge also directed the District Legal Service Authority to take steps for awarding compensation to the woman's mother under the Karnataka victim compensation scheme.

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High drama in Karnataka Assembly as BJP minister calls Congress 'tukde tukde' gang

Politics

“Who went to Pakistan and ate biryani and came back? Our Prime Minister or your Prime Minister? A BJP MLA asked.

TNM Staff

The Congress party led by the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Siddaramaiah, on Tuesday walked out of the House after a heated argument over the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. An argument ensued after Basavaraj Bommai accused Chittapur MLA and former Minister Priyank Kharge of being the leader of the 'tukde tukde' gang. With the Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri allowing discussion on Siddaramaiah’s preliminary submission only on Wednesday, the Congress MLAs walked out of the assembly and the session was adjourned. How the argument began Siddaramaiah had tabled a motion on Tuesday on behalf of the Congress party to discuss the issue of law and order in the state. This was in the backdrop of two people who died in the police firing during anti-CAA protests in Mangaluru and also the indiscriminate slapping of sedition cases against protesters and those expressing dissent. Siddaramaiah said that the law and order situation in the state has shattered completely. An argument ensued when Home Minster Basavarj Bommai interrupted Siddaramaiah’s speech about how the state government stifling freedom of expression. Bommai accused the Congress party of destroying the democracy and stifling free speech. “Has the Congress party gained consciousness now? Do you finally regret imposing an Emergency and taking away the rights of people?” Basavarj Bommai questioned.   He said that the Congress government under former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had blacked out the press and stifled fundamental rights. Siddaramaiah, however, stated that he did not wish to discuss the issue. “You are a party that destroyed the Constitution and misused it. Who sent journalists to jail? Who stifled Freedom of Expression?,” Tourism Minister CT Ravi questioned. An angry KS Eshwarappa, the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, shot out of his seat and said that the Congress party members were experts at stifling dissent “Are you people (Congress) talking about the Constitution and stifling dissent? When we talk about Indira Gandhi, you say we can’t talk about it. Who sent Advani and Jayaprakash Narayan to jail? What anti-national activities did they do? You are the ones who destroyed the Constitution. Now you are talking about the Constitution. How fair is it?” Eshwarappa said.  When Bommai accused Priyank Kharge of leading the tukde tukde gang Angered by Eshwarappa’s outburst, Siddaramaiah said that the Emergency was announced in 1975 but in the current situation, it is an undeclared emergency. “BJP people are not contractors for Citizenship in this country. All people in this country are sons and daughters of Bharat Mata,” Siddaramaiah said. Basavaraj Bommai intervened and accused the Congress leaders of being a part of the “tukde tukde gang” in response to Siddaramaiah’s outburst. A ruckus broke out with ministers Basavaraj Bommai, CT Ravi and KS Eshwarappa accusing the Congress of being the tukde tukde gang, whilst Congress MLAs Priyank Kharge, Siddaramaiah, KJ George and Ramalinga Reddy accusing the BJP of slapping sedition cases against dissenters. “Who is the tukde tukde gang? Please tell us. We also want to know,” Priyank Kharge said. Basavaraj Bommai held up a bunch of papers and pointedly said that he had all the information and said, " "You people are the tukde tudke gang. You (Priyank Kharge) are the leader of the tukde tukde gang." “Arrest us then, slap sedition cases against us. Isn’t that what your government has been doing? Arrest us. Arrest us now!” Priyank Kharge shouted. “Innocent people are being sacrificed because of harassment from your government,” said Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLA from Gandhinagar. Reacting to this, BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal shouted, “Who went to Pakistan and ate biryani and came back? Our Prime Minister or your Prime Minister? Everyone knows who ate the biryani,” Basangouda said Speaker Kageri intervened and allowed Siddaramaiah to finish his submission. However, he said that the issue of CAA and NRC and the state of law and order must be discussed on Wednesday after which the Congress MLAs staged a walkout. The session was adjourned for Wednesday.  

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Uber driver arrested after Bengaluru techie narrates molestation attempt in complaint

Crime

The driver, Ram Mohan, allegedly drove around for awhile and told the woman that he would not let her go if she filed a police complaint.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru Police on Tuesday arrested a 30-year-old Uber driver for allegedly sexually harassing a 25-year-old techie inside his cab on February 1. The cab driver Ram Mohan was arrested from Hindupur located near the border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.  The woman, who works at an IT company, is a resident of TC Palya. Around 6.30 pm on February 1, she hailed an Uber cab from Hebbal as she was returning home after visiting a friend. She reached KR Puram at around 7.15 pm and when the cab reached the junction near TC Palya, Ram Mohan allegedly pushed his seat back and held her leg.  When she threatened to scream and asked him to remove his hand from her leg, Ram Mohan allegedly pulled her t-shirt and tried to put his hands inside her top. The woman kicked and pushed at him, and tried to get out of the car when Ram Mohan allegedly locked the doors and began driving speedily.  Ram Mohan allegedly drove around for a while and began telling the woman that he would not let her go if she filed a police complaint. The woman agreed, telling him she would not go to the police, and then managed to convince him to let her go. She did not inform anyone of the incident until much later, when she confided in her friends about the alleged ordeal. The woman’s friends convinced her to approach the police after which she filed a complaint on February 11. Ram Mohan, meanwhile, had absconded, police say. "The complaint was filed on February 11 but the driver had absconded. His phone was switched off for a while. We tracked the mobile signal to Hindupur, which is his home town and arrested him," the KR Puram police said.  He will be produced before the magistrate in Bengaluru. Ram Mohan has been booked under section 354A (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.    

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HC rejects whistleblower’s plea to transfer Nithyananda rape case out of Ramanagara

Crime

The Karnataka High Court has, however, asked the trial court in Ramanagara to expedite the trial against Nithyananda.

Soumya Chatterjee

In a setback to Lenin Karuppan, the whistleblower and former disciple of self-styled godman Nithyananda in 2010, the Karnataka High Court dismissed his plea that sought that the rape case against the godman be transferred out of Ramanagara.  The complainants in the rape case had alleged that the trial is being delayed and is progressing at a very slow rate. Lenin had also filed a plea objecting to the re-recording of some evidence, which had already been taken on record, over a technicality that the translator himself was a witness in the case. Nithyananda is facing a trial under Sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 114 (criminal abetment), 201 (disappearance of evidence, giving false information), 120B (criminal conspiracy). The Karnataka High Court bench led by Justice BA Patil, however, stated that there was no reasonable record to ascertain the apprehension voiced by the complainants. The judge cited multiple Supreme Court judgements and High Court guidelines, urged the local court in Ramanagara to expedite the trial.  “In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, the petition being devoid of merits is liable to be dismissed and accordingly the same stands dismissed,” the order said. “The trial court is directed to expedite the trial. Registry is directed to send back the trial court records forthwith,” it added. Nithyananda is accused of raping a woman disciple for close to five years under the garb of spirituality. During the course of the trial, Nithyananda has changed his defence multiple times —from being impotent to having consensual sex with the survivor. Nithyananda had also approached higher courts and had managed to delay the start of trial till August 2018, when charges were framed against him after the Supreme Court directed the Third Additional District and Session Court to dispose of the case expeditiously. Nithyananda, who has fled the country, is now believed to be in Belize. Since the complaint was filed in 2010, Nithyananda has been arrested twice but been granted bail from higher courts. The trial court has been accused of being reluctant in issuing a non-bailable warrant against Nithyananda but at the same time allowing a petition filed by Nithyananda’s advocate, seeking an exemption for making an appearance in court, despite objections from the Public Prosecutor.  Other than the rape case, Nithyananda is also wanted by the Gujarat police in connection with a child abuse and abduction case. In November 2019, two of his associates were arrested and Nithyananda was booked under sections 365 (abduction), 344 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and under Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. This case led the Gujarat Police to approach the Interpol to issue a blue corner notice against him.

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KDA asks govt to cancel Bengaluru school's license over 'Kannada-speaking ban'

Education

However, the school denies that they are against Kannada and it was only a direction to make sure students talk in English.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Image for representation

The Karnataka Development Authority (KDA) has sent a letter to Suresh Kumar, the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education demanding that the license of SLS International School, Horamavu be cancelled. The letter was sent on February 3, and KDA says it is expecting to hear back from the Minister shortly. The school with hundreds of students enrolled in it, opened its gates in 2015, and has recently been in the spotlight for putting out a circular which banned its students from speaking Kannada in the school. The circular had said that students would have to pay Rs 50 penalty for speaking in Kannada. After the circular went viral, the school denied it and said that the issue was being misrepresented. Speaking to TNM, Hemavathi Harishkumar, Principal of SLS International Gurukul, said that she was out of town when the circular was issued, which was when the controversy broke out. Following this, she immediately came back to the school and issued a fresh circular, which rescinded the order. She even held a meeting with the parents to reassure them that the school was not against Kannada by any means. “We actually actively encourage them to speak in Kannada during their Kannada classes. However, we want the students to speak in English during their regular classes, since it is an English medium school, we encourage it. We have nothing against children speaking Kannada or any other language. We said that a fine would be imposed only to make sure that the students take us seriously,” Hemavathi said. Harish Kumar, the secretary of the school, told TNM, “The circular was sent out by mistake as the typist had made an error. The school has a lot of students from various other states and they were disrupting classes by speaking in their mother tongue. We were trying to have better discipline in the classes by only allowing English,” he added. “We didn’t get any notice regarding cancelling of our school license, and it is unlikely that the Ministry will do so over this matter. I will speak to the Director of the Department of Public Instruction (DDPE) regarding this. The fate of a lot of students in our school would be at risk,” Harish Kumar said. Meanwhile, the school faced backlash on the internet, with people leaving negative reviews of the school. One user said on Google Maps: “Any institution that denounces the usage of local language must understand that the proliferation of vernacular language will aid in boosting Indian Traditions. Just observe, how fast the literary feats in Kannada are dwindling. If we discourage it further, we will never see a new Kannada author again. I feel the school not only needs to be sensitive to this subject, but also enhance usage of Kannada in its framework. Perhaps a term of disaffiliation will teach a good lesson.” The school responded saying that they have been teaching Kannada from the beginning, and that the school was run by Kannadigas who were also trying to save the language. Following the controversy, the school put out a statement on their Facebook page about supporting Kannada. “We fully support Kannada. Even our school board is in Kannada, which is a testament to it. We are making every effort to save Kannada,” the statement added. The school offers classes from Nursery up to class 9, and are expecting to have the first batch for class 10 next year.

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GoAir flight from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru aborted as engine catches fire during takeoff

Flight

The flight was about to take off from Ahmedabad at around 9:30 am when the incident occurred.

PTI

Image for representation

The engine of a Ahmedabad-Bengaluru GoAir flight caught fire at the time of takeoff, the airline said on Tuesday.. The fire, however, was described as a small one and was doused immediately. The passengers and crew on-board are safe and the plane was towed off the runway, GoAir said in a statement. "The right engine of GoAir flight G8 802 from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru is suspected to have suffered from a foreign object damage (FOD) while on take-off roll. The suspected FOD resulted in a small fire which has been doused," the statement by GoAir said. The suspected FOD was later confirmed to be a bird which hit the plane. An engineering team from GoAir is currently examining the plane.  The number of persons on board, however, could not be immediately known. The flight was about to take off from Ahmedabad at around 9:30 am when the incident occurred. The passengers deboarded the plan and will be leaving for Bengaluru in a rescheduled flight at 1:30 pm after an alternate aircraft was arranged by the airline company.   All passengers and crew are safe and no emergency evacuation was deemed necessary, GoAir stated. Safety of our passengers and crew is of paramount importance and the airline sincerely regrets any inconvenience caused to its passengers, it added.

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Dissent brewing against CM Yediyurappa? Meeting of 15 BJP leaders triggers speculation

Politics

BJP sources said the meeting included MLAs Umesh Katti and Shorapur MLA Narasimha Nayak, who expressed dissatisfaction over being left out of the cabinet.

Theja Ram

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is facing rumblings of dissent with around 15 leaders holding a late-night meeting at Large Scale Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar’s residence. The meeting commenced late on Monday night and went on until the early hours of Tuesday with Hukkeri MLA Umesh Katti and Shorapur MLA Narasimha Nayak alias Raju Gouda expressing dissatisfaction over being left out of the cabinet. BJP sources close to Jagadish Shettar say that the meeting was a show of strength and a display of dissent. “Since the Assembly session began on Tuesday, the leaders gathered one day ahead to send a message that they too have numbers to disrupt BSY’s (BS Yediyurappa’s) government if their demands are not taken seriously,” the BJP leader said. This development comes a few days after an unsigned letter was circulated among the media, criticising Yediyurappa’a ability to perform his duties effectively due to old age. The four-page letter had suggested that the BJP high command must consider the 77-year-old’s health and make him the Governor of a state as “befits his experience as a Chief Minister”. The letter alleges that age-related problems have hampered his performance as CM. Meanwhile, BJP insiders also say that for Yediyurappa, his first concern is to ensure that both his sons Raghavendra and Vijayendra have comfortable positions of power in the political sphere. His detractors, however, say that dissent is brewing within the party as Yediyurappa has “closed himself off” from other leaders in the party and is surrounded by his family members. “Yediyurappa has erected a wall around himself and he only listens to his family members, especially Vijayendra. His family members and relatives are indirectly in charge of everything and want to have a say in everything including party affairs. This does not stand well with other senior leaders,” the BJP leader said. Yediyurappa’s detractors, who met late on Monday night are said to have discussed the issue of projecting Jagadish Shettar as the next Chief Ministerial face of the BJP. Incidentally, Jagadish Shettar served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka between 2012 and 2013. The BJP decided to appoint him as the CM after BS Yediyurappa led a rebellion against the then CM Sadananda Gowda. Yediyurppa's faction of MLAs had backed Shettar, leading to the party nominating him as the new CM in 2012. “They discussed launching speculation and what they can do to negotiate a better deal. They discussed that by pushing the age agenda, they have better luck convincing national leaders to ask Yediyurappa to retire from active politics and take over an advisory role by being appointed as the Governor,” the source said. However, the reason disgruntled BJP leaders have had not any luck in the arena so far, sources said, is because the high command remains unconvinced that the party does not need Yediyurappa at the helm of affairs in the state. “Until the high command is convinced, there can be no move. The meeting and the unsigned letter are all part of the tactic where they are floating an idea around to see if it succeeds,” the source added.    

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