Reformed killer gets invite from Pope

December 6, 2013

Pope_Francis_at_the_Vatican

Bhopal/Indore, Dec 6: Eighteen years after Samundar Singh brutally stabbed a Catholic nun in Madhya Pradesh and flung her on the roadside to bleed to death, the former convict has been invited to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican.

The nun, Sister Rani Maria, was stabbed 54 times inside a packed Indore-bound bus passing through Udainagar village in Dewas in February 1995. The nun died by the roadside.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia from the Vatican invited Singh on behalf of the Pope through Swami Sadanand, a Catholic priest based at Chhindwara district.

The Pope was moved after watching a documentary film - The Heart of a Murderer - by award-winning Australian-Italian director Catherine McGilvray. This film depicts the ghastly crime and the power of forgiveness.

The slain nun's younger sister Selmy and Swami Sadanand have also been invited to attend the special screening of the documentary in Rome in the first week of March. Pope Francis will attend the function.

The message was conveyed to the Chhindwara-based priest Swami Sadanand through email, said church sources.

However, neither Sadanand nor Samundar Singh has a passport to travel to Rome. "I have not received any official confirmation and don't have a passport. I have lost all necessary documents to get one," Samundar Singh said.

Pope also wants to meet Sadanand as he was instrumental in 'changing the heart' of Singh, who spent 11 years and 6 months in jail after murdering Sister Maria.

In 1995, Samundar Singh acted at the behest of some landlords who opposed the nun's work among poor farm labourers. The nun had boarded the bus from Udainagar in Dewas and was on her way to Kerala. Singh, who was 22 years old at that time, was arrested and sentenced to death. His sentence was

later commuted to life term. Singh was freed in 2006 after serving the jail term and now earns his livelihood through farming at his village, 50 km from district headquarters.

Family members of the slain nun had forgiven him and accepted him a member of their family. Her younger sister Selmy - who is also a Catholic nun - ties a rakhi every year since he was in jail.

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News Network
February 27,2020

New Delhi, Feb 27: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday attacked the government over the transfer of Delhi High Court Judge S Muralidhar, saying the Centre's attempts to "muzzle" justice and "break people's faith in an upright judiciary are deplorable".

Delhi HC Judge S Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, days after the Supreme Court collegium made the recommendation.

"The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn't shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad & shameful," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted. "Millions of Indians have faith in a resilient & upright judiciary, the government’s attempts to muzzle justice & break their faith are deplorable," she said.

The judge was hearing the Delhi violence case and the late evening notification came on the day when a bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders.

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News Network
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: India on Monday reported the highest single-day spike of 9,983 more COVID-19 cases and 206 deaths in the last 24 hours.

With this, the country's coronavirus count has reached 2,56,611, including 1,25,381 active cases, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

1,24,094 patients have been cured/discharged so far and 7,135 succumbed to the deadly virus. While one patient has migrated.

With 85,975 cases, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state in the country followed by Tamil Nadu at 31,667 cases.

A total of 1,08,048 samples were tested for coronavirus in the last 24 hours and overall 47,74,434 samples have been tested till now.

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News Network
April 21,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 21: Not just in China, but in Kerala also robot is now playing a key role in the health workers' fight against COVID-19, thanks to the innovative spirit of a group of young minds and the support of the state Health Department.

Named "Nightingale-19", the robot is deployed to provide food and medicines among patients at the district coronavirus centre in Ancharakandi in Kannur district where a large number of cases have been reported.

The special display facility, attached to it, also allows patients to communicate with health workers and their relatives if necessary, the health minister's office here said.

Designed by the students of Chemberi Vimal Jyothi Engineering College with the support of the Health Department, the remote control-operated robot can carry food and water for at least six persons at a stretch.

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The machine, which can travel up to one kilometre, distributes food, water and medicine in each room, a department statement said.

The robot would be disinfected after each use, it said.

Health Minister K K Shailaja inaugurated the new venture from here recently through the robot's video facility, the statement added.

Robots have been put to use in other parts of the country to help in the health workers' fight against COVID- 19.

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