Like Bajrang Dal, many Muslims have sacrificed lives for cow protection: RSS chief

New Delhi, Jan 19: Reacting to a tweet by ace lawyer Indira Jaising urging her to forgive the four men on death row for brutally raping that finally took her life, Nirbhaya's mother said on Saturday: "Even if God asks me, I won't forgive them."

Speaking to news agency, over the phone, the mother who had been fighting for seven long years to send her daughter's killers to the gallows, said, "...even if god comes and asks me to forgive them, I will not. People like these (Jaising) are a blot on the society."

Commenting on Jaising's tweet, she said: "Who is she to tell or suggest to me to forgive them. What relation does she have with me. I have nothing to do with such people. She can be a relative of those (the convicts) that she is having a soft corner for."

"She is an insult to women. She is running a business in the name of human rights. She is a veteran, she should give a message to the society. But she instead will go against her own kind," she added.

Earlier in the day, Jaising had requested Nirbhaya's mother to follow the example of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who had moved for the clemency of a woman, Nalini Murugan convicted for the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Nirbhaya's mother I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn't want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty," Jaising tweeted on Friday.

A Delhi Court on Friday issued fresh death warrants against the four convicts -- Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Satish Kumar Arora fixed 1 February as the date of execution of the four death row convicts. They will be hanged at 6am.

The move came after the prosecution moved an application seeking issuance of fresh death warrants following the rejection of the mercy plea of one of the convicts Mukesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The 23-year-old victim was brutally gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which later led to her death.

All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

Four of the convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petitions.

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 6: The Kerala government on Wednesday said three foreign nationals were among the 2,528 people under observation in the state for the novel coronavirus infection and no new cases have been reported.

At least 93 people with minor symptoms of the virus have been lodged in isolation wards of various hospitals, state Health Minister KK Shailaja told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

India's three positive cases for the virus has been from the state's three districts of Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasaragod.

All the three are students of China's Wuhan university, the epicentre of the virus.

"No new cases of coronavirus has been detected in the state today. At least 2,435 are under observation at home while 93 are in isolation wards at various hospital across the state," Mr Shailaja said.

The minister also said two foreigners have been quarantined in Ernakulam district and one foreign national at Thiruvananthapuram.

"The foreigner in Thiruvananthapuram has been kept at general hospital but not because he was showing symptoms but for observation as he travelled from China," an official said.

The health status of the three patients, who had tested positive for the virus, "remains satisfactory", the minister said.

After three cases were reported, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had declared the epidemic as a "state calamity" on Monday.

The health department has issued advisories to the education, tourism and the animal husbandry departments on taking precautions.

"The students, teachers, other staff members residing with families of Wuhan/China returnees who are already in home isolation should not attend classes...," an advisory issued to the education department read.

Rajan Khobragade, Principal Secretary (Health), said the health department has directed the District collectors to hold a meeting with the religious leaders of the district to create awareness during prayer meetings.

"We have directed district collectors to meet religious leaders and talk to them about the seriousness of the situation and create awareness among them and their followers on how to contain the spread of virus," the minister said.

Mr Shailaja also said the department got messages from some Kerala students studying in China, who returned to the state after the virus outbreak, that their Universities had asked them to return and attend classes.

"We have got some messages from the students that they were being recalled by the universities in China. We discussed the matter and it was decided that the centre will contact such universities and convey the message that it was not possible to send the students back to China until the epidemic was under control," the minister said.

Mr Shailaja also said even though there were no positive cases for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, the state needs to remain vigilant and reiterated the 28 days quarantine period for those returning from China.

Of the 2,528 people under observation, the maximum number is from Malappuram (383), followed by Ernakulam (333), Kozhikode (306) and Thrissur (241).

Mangaluru, May 14: An 80-year-old woman from Kulshekar in Mangaluru, who was undergoing treatment for covid-19, today breathed her last in the hospital.

The victim, identified as P-507, was said to be in critical condition for past few days.

The elderly woman and her 45-year-old son were tested coronavirus positive on April 27 days after she got admitted to First Neuro hospital at Padil in the city.

With this the covid-19 death toll in Dakshina Kannada rose to five. Shockingly, all five victims are women. The district has so far reported 34 positive cases including five deaths. Currently there are only 14 active cases. 15 people have already discharged.