Indian women rarely make false claims, delay in filing rape case doesn't mean she lied: HC

Agencies
April 7, 2018

Mumbai, Apr 7: Reluctance to report a sexual assault to police immediately does not mean the victim is lying, as Indian women would rarely make such false allegations, the Bombay High Court has said, upholding the conviction of four men for gang-rape.

Justice AM Badar earlier this week dismissed the appeals of Dattatraya Korde, Ganesh Pardeshi, Pintu Khoskar and Ganesh Zole, who had challenged a sessions court order of April 2013 sentencing them to 10 years in jail for gang-rape.

They were convicted of gang-raping a woman and thrashing her male friend on March 15, 2012 when the two were returning from Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district. The convicts claimed that they were framed up as they had seen the victim and her friend in a compromising position and threatened to take them to police for indecent behaviour.

The appeals sought to highlight that while the woman claimed that the incident took place on March 15, she lodged the complaint two days later. Medical examination had ruled out a rape since there was no injury on the woman's body, the appellants said.

The high court, however, upheld the conviction and sentence, citing a Supreme Court's observation in a past case that "rarely will a girl or woman in India make false allegations of sexual assault". The victim, who comes from a conservative section of society and who is separated from her husband, must have been afraid of stigma and "reflection on her chastity", Justice Badar said.

"She had fear of being looked down upon by the society including her parents... Being overpowered by a feeling of shame on account of gang-rape, her non-approaching a police station immediately...Cannot be said to be abnormal and throwing doubt on her version," the judge said.

Because of her secret excursion with a male friend, she must have felt that she would be branded as promiscuous if the incident came to light, the high court said. "Minor discrepancies" such as delay in lodging the complaint do not weaken her case, the court said.

The judge also held that a mere absence of injuries do not lead to the conclusion that there was no sexual assault.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Stranded for over 50 days due to the lockdown and suspension of passenger train services, many people in the national capital will finally be able to reach their destinations in different parts of the country after the railways resumed services on Tuesday.

Three special AC trains will leave the New Delhi railway station for Dibrugarh, Bengaluru and Bilaspur.

The train to Dibrugarh in Assam will leave at 4.45 p.m, while the one leaving for Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and Bengaluru in Karnataka will leave the New Delhi station at 5.30 p.m and 9.15 p.m respectively.

Entry to the station has been facilitated from the Paharganj side for all confirmed ticket holders. No entry for passengers holding such tickets will be permitted from the Ajmeri Gate side, the railways said.

Railway authorities have put barricades outside the station premises and only those with confirmed tickets are being allowed to enter.

All passengers are undergoing thermal screening before entering the station premises. For this purpose, they have also been asked to reach the station 90 minutes prior to the departure of the train.

A senior Railway Police Force officer said every passenger is being subjected to thermal screening. Hand sanitiser machines have also been placed at the entrance and the passengers are being advised to sanitise their hands before entering the station premises.

Syed Yasir, a private retail sector executive, said due to the resumption of services he will now be able to go to Nagpur to be with his family on Eid. 

Surendra, an engineer with a PSU, was on an assignment in Agra when the lockdown was announced. After the Railways decided to resume passenger train services, he came to Delhi in a private vehicle to board the train to Bengaluru.

"I was on an assignment in Agra where I was stuck. I have come from Agra in a private vehicle and now going to board the train to Bengaluru," Surendra, who identified himself with his first name, said.

Five more trains bound for Delhi will leave from Patna, Bengaluru, Howrah, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the railways said.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Jamnagar, Apr 7: A 14-month-old baby boy, who had tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat's Jamnagar district on April 5, died of multiple organ failure on Tuesday, said officials.

The toddler, son of a migrant labourer-couple having no recent travel history, died in the evening at a government hospital in Jamnagar, said an official release.

He was in a critical condition ever since he was admitted to the hospital, it said.

The boy, who tested positive for coronavirus two days ago, was as on ventilator support and eventually died due to multiple organ failure, said the release.

He becomes the youngest patient to succumb to COVID-19 in Gujarat, where the death toll has now gone up to 16.

The baby was the first and the only case of coronavirus infection so far in entire Jamnagar district and the youngest to be diagnosed with the disease in Gujarat.

Ever since he tested coronavirus positive, the authorities had been tracing the source of his infection.

His parents are from Uttar Pradesh and work as casual labourers in factories in the port city.

His parents, who have no travel history in the recent past, are asymptomatic (not showing symptoms) and kept under quarantine, officials said.

The locality where the couple resides in Dared village near Jamnagar city has been put under complete lockdown to check the spread of the virus, they said.

Gujarat has so far recorded 175 coronavirus positive cases and 16 fatalities.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, Apr 3: The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi has risen to 384, including 259 who were evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

In last 24 hours, 91 new cases were reported in the national capital and one more person evacuated from the Markaz died due to coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in the city to five, he said.

Of the 384 cases, 58 had recent foreign travel history and 38 contracted the virus after coming in contact with them, he added.

Kejriwal said community spread of the virus is not taking place in Delhi yet and there is no need to panic as the situation is under control.

The government has made preparations if the virus starts spreading among people, he said.

The chief minister also launched a WhatsApp helpline - 8800007722 for people to enquire about COVID-19, food banks, shelters among others.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and experts will interact with students and answer their queries related to the virus at 3 pm on Saturday.

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