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Kochi woman, sons killed in Australia house fire

[email protected] (Agencies)
June 2, 2012

KochI/Melbourne, June 2: A woman from Thevara, Ernakulam, and her two sons were charred to death in a house fire at their Clayton South home in Melbourne early on Friday.

The bodies of Anitha (37), wife of George Philip, and her sons Philip George (Unni) (10) and Mathew George (6), were found in a back room of the house in Clayton South suburb. Australian media reported that the incident could be a case of murder-suicide, since detectivies have found a note, purportedly written by the woman, from the family's car. It was earlier suspected that a short-circuit could have sparked the blaze.

Anitha's neighbours tried to break into the house on seeing the fire around 1 am, but were unsuccessful. Firefighters entered the house after dousing the blaze 40 minutes later, and found the bodies.

Police were now investigating whether the house fire was deliberately lit. Arson and explosives chemists and crime scene detectives inspected the scene.

The woman's husband, George Philip, who was on a vacation at his home near Mundakkayam, had left for Australia on Friday morning from Nedumabassery airport, unaware of the tragedy.

Anitha's father C K Mathew of Chellapilliyil House in Thevara was informed who said he received a call on Friday morning from the Australian police, apprising him of the incident. They asked him to mail the photographs of the deceased.

"We don't know what had happened. But we couldn't believe the news. Officials from Australian police and other departments spoke to us over phone. They asked us to send a photo of my daughter and two grandchildren," said Mathew. He would be going to Melbourne to attend the funeral services of his daughter and grandsons.

Media reports quoted a close friend Jeanette Pereira as saying that the community was shocked at the incident. "She was a very good lady, a very good mother. The children were very quiet. She looked after them well," she said.

George Philip has been working as an IT consultant for the past seven years. The family was in Canada before shifting to Australia. The boys, Philip and Mathew, were in Preparatory and Class IV, respectively, in Cleyton South's St Peter's Primary School. where 260 students gathered for a prayer service for the departed souls on Friday morning.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Noida, Jul 28: A doctor admitted at a private hospital in Noida has been accused of sexually harassing a patient in his isolation ward, where both were undergoing treatment for COVID-19, the police said.

The 20-year-old woman, in her complaint to the police, alleged that the incident took place on Monday and based on that a case was filed at the local expressway police station, they said.

A senior police official said an investigation is underway and there might be lapses on part of the hospital which allegedly admitted a man and a woman in the same isolation ward, in violation of the norms.

The woman and the doctor had tested positive for coronavirus last week, according to officials.

"The woman was in the isolation ward of the private hospital. There was a man, a medical practitioner, who too was infected with coronavirus and was sharing the ward with her," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, Ranvijay Singh said.

He said the woman alleged molestation and upon being informed, the police immediately lodged a case and initiated a probe into the matter.

"There appears to be some irresponsibility on part of the hospital too. We are communication with the medical departments to check whether the patients were being kept in accordance with the guidelines," Mr Singh said.

He said the accused is still in isolation but the police will reach out for his statement following due protocols of COVID-19.

"All necessary action will be taken as per the truth that will emerge after a thorough investigation," Mr Singh said.

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Agencies
May 6,2020

A man posed as Superintendent of Police (SP), called up a subordinate police official and asked him to get his mobile phone repaired or face the consequences. But, his bluff was later called and the man landed in lockup.

Azamgarh SP Triveni Singh said the 23-year-old youth, Shubham Upadhyay, is the son of a farmer. He was preparing for competitive exams when his phone developed a snag on Saturday. He tried to reach out to local mechanics, but they were unavailable to fix it due to the lockdown.

Upadhyay used a free caller identification app to call up the in-charge of the Kotwali police station, K. K. Gupta, and threatened to shunt him out, if he failed to swiftly get the work done. Gupta grew suspicious and eventually caught the youth.

n his statement to the police, Shubham Upadhyay said, "On Sunday noon, I tried to breach the district borders to reach Lucknow to repair my phone, but since there was heavy police presence and barricading, I returned home. Later, I installed a free caller identification app in my handset and mentioned the name as SP Azamgarh and even uploaded a photo of the cop to appear genuine."

He first called SHO, Kotwali to get the phone repaired and was told the handset would be picked up from the SP office in an hour. Then, he called a businessman to bring his SUV and hand over his mobile to the SHO.

But when Upadhyay called the police again to suggest a separate meeting point, he raised suspicion. When the SHO tried to confirm the venue, Upadhyay got hesitant and said he would send a peon.

"I suddenly realised something was fishy and rang up the public relation officer of SP Azamgarh, who denied any such order from the SP. When the caller's number was scanned, it displayed the name of SP Azamgarh," said SHO Gupta.

A trap was laid and when the SHO reached the venue, he found one Praveen Shukla sitting in the vehicle. Police got the address of the accused from Shukla and reached Upadhyay's home in Bilariya locality and arrested him.

Upadhyay has been booked under IT Act and for threatening a public servant.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Unnao, Jan 3: The Uttar Pradesh Police has submitted a charge sheet in a court here in connection with the death of a 23-year-old Unnao rape victim, who was allegedly set ablaze by five men.

Additional Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey, who is heading a Special Investigation Team in the case, said the charge sheet was submitted on Wednesday.

"There is ample proof against the five accused persons, and the charge sheet was prepared based on those evidences," he said on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Unnao rape victim, who was airlifted to Delhi and admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with 90 per cent burns after being set on fire, died following a cardiac arrest on December 6, 2019.

The woman was set afire by five men, including two of her alleged rapists, on December 5 morning when she was going to Rae Bareli to attend a court hearing in the rape case filed by her.

In her statement to Sub Divisional Magistrate Dayashankar Pathak, the woman had said she was attacked when she reached Gaura turn near her home on her way to the court.

She had specifically named Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi as the persons who set her on fire.

The woman had also alleged that Shivam and Shubham Trivedi had abducted and raped her in December 2018.

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