Three injured as fuel tank of auto-rickshaw explodes

Nagpur, Jan 28: A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped and an iron rod was inserted in her private parts by a man in the Pardi area here, police said on Monday.

The gruesome incident took place on January 21 and the accused, Yogilal Rahangdale (52), was arrested from Gondia district, they said.

The accused was working as a supervisor in a spinning mill where the woman was employed as a labourer, the police said.

The woman, her brother, the accused and another girl lived in rented accommodations in Pardi.

Inspector Sunil Chavan of the Pardi police station said that the woman's brother and her female friend had gone to their village on January 21 for some work.

As the woman was alone at home, Rahangdale attempted to rape her in the night. When she resisted, he stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, he said.

When she fell unconscious, the accused raped her and inserted an iron rod in her private parts, Chavan said, quoting from the complaint filed by the victim.

She narrated the incident to her brother on January 24 and they subsequently lodged a complaint with the police.

An offence was registered against the accused at the Pardi police station.

Kochi, Jun 22: A 54-day-old baby suffered brain damage after she was allegedly slapped and thrown on a cot at home by his father in Angamaly municipality of Ernakulam district, police said.

Doctor Sojan Ipe of MOSC Medical College Hospital at Kolenchery said that the damage caused to the brain is serious. The child was admitted with bleeding in the brain on Friday.

On Saturday, 40-year-old pastor Shaiju Thomas, who is the child's father was arrested by the Angamaly police in connection with the incident. He is currently lodged at the Covid first-line treatment centre at Angamaly.

Shaiju has been charged with IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and under the Juvenile Justice Act.

According to Angamaly Police, ''the accused was always doubtful of his wife and raised questions over the parenthood of the child. He had slapped the child on multiple occasions. She fell unconscious on Thursday night after a similar attack and was taken to the hospital. We have so far received enough evidence against the accused.''

Palghar, Mar 7: Police have arrested a man for allegedly cheating several shopkeepers in Maharashtra's Thane, Pune and Nashik by making phone calls in a woman's voice, police said on Friday.

The accused, Shashikant Ambekar (42), a resident of Palghar, was arrested in the last week of February, they said.

"He used to note down the phone numbers mentioned on different shops and call the owners in a woman's voice to order some things from them. He would tell them that he had a Rs 2000 currency note and needed change," an official said.

"He would ask the shopkeepers to send smaller denomination notes for exchange. He would wait at the entrance of buildings and when the delivery man arrived, he used to tell that he was there on behalf of the ''caller woman''.

"He would then take the currency notes from the delivery man saying he would get the Rs 2,000 note from the woman. However, he would disappear from the scene," the official said.

Police have seized Rs 1,85,000 from the accused and found that so far he has committed 22 similar crimes in different parts of the state.