4 held on charges of raping American tourist in Delhi

December 27, 2016

New Delhi, Dec 27: Four people, including a tour guide and a bell boy of a five-star hotel in Connaught Place, were arrested on Monday for allegedly raping an American tourist in April. The 25-year-old rape survivor, who made a complaint in October, returned to India recently to depose before a magistrate and identify the accused.

rapedIn her statement, the woman said five people drugged and sexually assaulted her inside her hotel room in CP soon after she checked in. She left India after the incident and said it was only towards the end of July that she started to remember what had happened to her. "I started to get panic attacks and nightmares — I still get them — after which I told... my mom," she said in her statement, which has been incorporated in the FIR.

Those arrested so far are tourist guide Aniruddha Singh, hotel staffer Vivek, driver Om Prakash and cleaner Maqsood Khan. Delhi Police spokesperson Depender Pathak said they would seek custody of the accused to gather further evidence and establish the identity of the fifth accused.

Police sources said the four were not arrested earlier as there was no video or eyewitness evidence. The men were identified and questioned first on December 5. All four claimed they were being falsely implicated, saying the woman had travelled with them to the remaining destinations on her package tour without raising an alarm and even rated them positively in the feedback forms. "They also showed photographs in which her...facial expression did not indicate that she was under stress," a police officer said. However cops seized their passports and mobile phones for further investigations.

It was the woman's statement before a magistrate (under section 164 of CrPC) that nailed their involvement and made the arrests possible, police sources said. The survivor, in her statement, said she had come to India on a group tour of 25-30 people organised by a Pennsylvaniabased firm. Her ordeal began soon after she checked into the five-star hotel in CP.

"I landed in Delhi on April 8. Gate guy Mr Singh (accused 2) explained to us the tour plan and gave keys to our rooms. I was escorted to the room by a hotel employee (accused 1)... I asked him for a power adaptor for my cellphone which he brought in 10-15 minutes and left. He again came with a water bottle, which I never asked for, and left. I had the water and immediately felt very sleepy. I believe there was something in it which made me sleepy. I remember some people in the room and asked who it was. They left screaming in their local language. I went to sleep again. Next, I saw accused 1 touching me," she said in her statement.

"Accused 1 had then sexually assaulted me. I was not able to find out what was happening to me maybe due to the drugs, but I could figure out that accused 2 was standing next to me too and had started to undress himself. I had started to scream for help but accused 2 hit me on my face. I started to bang my hand against the wall hoping that some one in the next room might come for help, accused 2 then sexually assaulted me as well." She said during the assault, the two accused threatened to teach her a lesson for travelling to India alone.

The woman returned home soon after and after a few months, told her mother about the incident. "I contacted a non-profit organisation in the US who in turn contacted the tour operator and the hotel but did not get any assistance from them. Then, the organisation gave a complaint to the Delhi Police commissioner on October 5 via email and received a reply on October 17," the woman said.

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News Network
May 9,2020

Shillong, May 9: The poisonous mushrooms that killed six people at a remote village in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district have been identified as Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the 'Death Cap', a senior official said on Saturday.

Six people, including a 14-year-old girl, of Lamin village along the India-Bangladesh border in Amlarem civil sub-division died after consuming wild mushrooms they collected from a nearby forest late last month.

The wild mushroom has been identified as Amanita phalloides and is hepatotoxic as it directly affects the liver, state Director of Health Services (MI) Dr Aman War told PTI.

He said it has been established after an investigation that the cause of the deaths was the poisonous mushrooms.

At least 18 persons from three families were taken ill after consuming the mushrooms.

The symptoms after consuming the poisonous fungus include vomiting, headache and unconsciousness, the senior doctor said.

Most of those taken ill, including a pregnant woman, have already recovered and gone home. Therefore, people can survive as it depends on the amount of poison that you have consumed. Only one person was unaffected, maybe he did not consume much, he said.

Three people are still undergoing treatment and are recovering. Two of them are at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) and one in Woodland Hospital, Dr War said.

He said the health department can only appeal to the people, especially those in the rural areas, to refrain from eating wild mushrooms, while the horticulture department should take measures to create awareness.

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News Network
July 9,2020

Etawah, Jul 9: Another aide of the Kanpur encounter accused Vikas Dubey, Bahua Dubey, died in an encounter with the police, here on Thursday.

"Today at around 4.30 AM, in an encounter with the Etawah Police, one person has died. from him, a rifle and a pistol too has been recovered. When we shared the information with the Kanpur Police, they identified him as Bahua Dubey," said SSP Etawah Akash Tomar.

"He was involved in the Kanpur encounter alongside Vikas Dubey and there was a bounty of Rs 50,000 on him," he added.

"Around 3 AM on the highway near Mahewa Police Station Bakewar, a Swift Dzire car was looted by four armed assailants on a Scorpio. Around 4:30 AM, they were intercepted at Kachaura road under Police Station Civil lines by the police. When police parties chased them, the car collided with a tree, and criminals started firing at the police," he further said.

Dubey sustained injuries during the encounter and was pronounced dead when taken to the hospital. However, the other three managed to escape. One pistol, a double-barrel gun, and several cartridges have been recovered, he informed further.

Earlier today, Prabhat Mishra, also an aide of the main accused, died after being shot at by the police.

Mishra had sustained an injury on the leg after being shot at by the police and was rushed to a hospital before being pronounced dead.

Vikas Dubey is the main accused in the encounter that took place in Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants allegedly opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him. Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.

A search operation is currently underway to nab Dubey.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Farukkhabad, Jan 14: In a shocking incident, a new-born baby was mauled to death by a dog inside the operation theatre (OT) of a private hospital in Farukkhabad on Monday.

Family members of the baby boy said that they noticed the hospital staff shooing a dog away from inside the operation theatre and soon after, they were told the baby boy, born just two hours ago, was dead.

The family members said that they found the baby's body on the floor and it had deep gashes around the neck and other parts of the body.

District magistrate Manvendra Singh has ordered an FIR and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chandra Shekhar said the hospital has been sealed and an inquiry ordered into the incident.

Sources said that the hospital where the incident took place was unregistered and was being run adjacent to a government hospital.

According to the FIR lodged with Sadar Kotwali police, the infant's father Ravi Kumar said he had admitted his wife Kanchan in the hospital on Monday and she was taken for a C-section to the operation theatre.

After the delivery, Kanchan was shifted to the ward but the family was told that the baby would be shifted later.

An hour later, the family was informed that the baby had died.

The family members then saw the hospital staff trying to chase a dog out of the operation theatre.

The family members forced their way into the operation theatre and found the infant lying on the floor with several injuries on the neck.

The police said that the baby's body has been preserved for examination and post mortem.

The FIR has been registered against Dr Mohit Gupta, and some of the staff members who were present during the delivery.

The hospital owner, Vijay Patel, however, feigned complete ignorance about the incident and said that he had been told that the baby was born dead.

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