High Court directs police to protect Bathinda lesbian couple

April 26, 2012
Order

Chandigarh, April 26: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday directed police protection for a Bathinda lesbian couple facing death threats.

Swaran Kaur, 20, a police constable, and her childhood friend, Harsharan Kaur, 28, moved the court, saying they have been forced to go into hiding as their families were threatening to kill them for their relationship. The couple, from Bathinda district's Blahar Vinjhu village, have been staying together for the last nine months. They appeared before the court briefly.

"Hardeep Kaur (mother), Harbhajan Kaur (sister), Jaswinder Singh (brother) are family members of Harsharan Kaur, and Jagpal Dass (father), Mukhtiar Kaur (mother), Bhupinder Singh (brother) are family members of Swaran Kaur, who are opposing our relationship," they told the court.

The couple sought protection citing the Delhi high court's 2009 judgment legalizing same sex relationship. The two pleaded that that they are in a lesbian relationship which is not punishable under any provision of law. They said they moved the court for protection only after they failed to settle the matter amicably. "Our adamant family members are bent on eliminating us,'' they said.

"We have not committed any offence. We are major and capable of differentiating between right and wrong. We are living in hiding and can be eliminated when traced by our families," the couple said in their petition.

Swaran, who is posted at Maur police station in Bathinda, said she is in government service and could maintain her partner as in any other relationship. She told the court that the Bathinda SSP ignored her plea to provide them protection from their families.


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News Network
June 2,2020

Pratapgarh, Jun 2: In a shocking incident, a young man was tied to a tree and set afire by the family of a woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh late on Monday night.

The man, 25, was a resident of Bhujauni village under Fatanpur police station, and he died on the spot.

Enraged over the incident, his family members and local people turned violent and set two police vehicles on fire.

Additional forces were rushed in to control the situation that remains tense.

The body has been sent for post-mortem.

According to Superintendent of Police (SP), Pratapgarh, Abhishek Singh, "Some people barged into the house of Ambika Patel and dragged him away. They then tied Patel to a tree some distance away and set him on fire after sprinkling petrol on him. They fled immediately after." Agitated family members and villagers assembled at the site and set a 112 police response vehicle (PRV) and another police jeep on fire. They were demanding immediate arrest and action against the accused.

The official said that Patel's relatives claimed that he was having an affair with a woman from his village and this had resulted in many face-offs between the families.

Patel had reportedly shared a video clip of the woman on social media a few months ago further increasing tension between the families.

The woman's family members had registered a police complaint against Patel in this connection at the Fatanpur police station that led to his arrest. He was released from jail recently, police added.

The woman had been recently selected as a police constable and was posted to Kanpur.

The SP said that an FIR had been registered on the complaint of the victim's family and efforts were on to arrest the accused.

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News Network
July 4,2020

Kolkata, Jul 4: Two people were killed and around four injured when the bombs they were allegedly manufacturing went off inside a house in Murshidabad district, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

Their identities were yet to be established as the condition of those injured and undergoing treatment at a hospital was still "critical", he said.

The thatched roof of the house, where they were allegedly making bombs, also blew off in the explosion, which occurred at Suti town in Jangipur subdivision of the district around 9:00 pm on Friday, the officer said.

The house has been damaged completely, and its owner is on the run, he said.

As of now, the wife of the house owner is being questioned in connection with the incident, the officer added.

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Agencies
May 28,2020

Mumbai, May 28: Twenty four doctors and three others staying in a south Mumbai hotel were rescued after a major fire broke out in the five-storey building, officials said on Thursday.

The BMC has arranged temporary accommodation for emergency and essential service staffers, including doctors and nurses, in various hotels and lodges in the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This hotel is one such facility.

The fire broke out at Hotel Fortune near Metro Cinema late Wednesday night and was brought under control after nearly three hours early Thursday, fire brigade officials said.

“The fire spread from the first to the third floor of the hotel, a fire brigade official told PTI. It was a level-2 fire and eight fire engines were rushed to the spot, he added.

The fire was confined to the electric wiring and cables in the electrical duct, false ceiling in the lobby and the common passages on the first, second and third floors of the hotel, he said.

The 24 rescued were resident doctors at a local hospital who were provided temporary accommodation in the hotel, while the three others were guests of the hotel, he said.

The fire broke out at 11 am and wasbrought under control at 1.40 am, the official said. Cooling operation is underway at the hotel, he added.

Five doctors were rescued using fire brigade ladders and breathing apparatus sets, the official said.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known, the fire brigade official said.

On April 21, a major fire broke out in a lodging room of Hotel Ripon near Mumbai Central, which was being used as a quarantine facility by the civic body.

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