Three booked in gangrape of woman in Basna – The Hitavada
http://thehitavada.com/Encyc/2016/10/17/Three-booked-in-gangrape-of-woman-in-Basna.aspx
‘Forced to get treatment away from home by cops’ – The Times Of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Forced-to-get-treatment-away-from-home-by-cops/articleshow/54908658.cms
CBI gets nod to arrest 34 for killing 6 Dalits in Dangawas- The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ajmer/CBI-gets-nod-to-arrest-34-for-killing-6-Dalits-in-Dangawas/articleshow/54908306.cms
School bullies expelled, arrested- The Telegraph India
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1161018/jsp/bihar/story_114006.jsp#.WAZoP-aaXhk
‘Forced to get treatment away from home by cops’- The Times of India
http://.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Forced-to-get-treatment-away-from-home-by-cops/articleshow/54908658.cms
Jailed Dalit activist’s wife organizes protest- The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Jailed-Dalit-activists-wife-organizes-protest/articleshow/54906696.cms
Grant for overseas-bound SC students likely to be doubled- The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/grant-for-overseasbound-sc-students-likely-to-be-doubled/article9232717.ece
Phailin victims yet to get houses- The Hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/phailin-victims-yet-to-get-houses/article9232647.ece
Dalits renew stir for land, block highways in Surendranagar– The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/Dalits-renew-stir-for-land-block-highways-in-Surendranagar/articleshow/54908365.cms
Udupi: BJP Yuva Morcha challenges siege of Sri Krishna Math – Srisha Nayak- Daijiworld
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=419170
The Hitavada
Three booked in gangrape of woman in Basna
http://thehitavada.com/Encyc/2016/10/17/Three-booked-in-gangrape-of-woman-in-Basna.aspx
The Hitavada Date: 17 Oct 2016 17:20:29
Out of the three accused, one is son of Jaswant Singh Saluja presently a Member of Minorities Cell in a Mandal unit of BJP
Prince Saluja, the main accused of the gangrape against a dalit married woman, which had taken place in the jungles of Pirda in Basna under Mahasamund district, is still on the run. However, the other two accused in this heinous case has been apprehended by the police. Prince Saluja is the son of Jaswant Singh Saluja (Jassi) presently a Member of Minorities Cell in a Mandal unit of Bharatiya Janata Party in Mahasamund. It may be recollected that Jaswant Singh Saluja, who was earlier General Secretary of the said Mandal, was stripped from the post due to anti-party activities and bad conduct in 2015.
Police sources informed that the married woman who had come to her parents’ home, was forcefully kidnapped by three persons during midnight of October 11 from her house, who took her to a nearby jungle. All the three accused not only raped her simultaneously but they shot video of the heinous crime and later brutally hit the woman in her private parts with iron rod and fled from the area after leaving her severely injured in the jungle. In the morning when the villagers saw the injured woman who was unconscious, they informed the
police and shifted her to hospital.
After regaining her consciousness, the woman narrated her anguish to the police. On her instigation, the police arrested Farid Ahmed Khan, a resident of Pirda and Devendra Chowdhary, a resident of Brahamanpuri. Meanwhile, during interrogation, both the accused informed police that the main accused was Prince Saluja. Police has virtually launched a man-hunt to apprehend the main accused throughout the state and neighboring
states as well.
In her statement, the victim informed police that she had visited her parents’ home. She was sleeping in her house on the fateful day, when all three accused somehow managed to enter her house and forcefully took her to a nearby jungle in a car. She tried to resist and save herself but the accused thrashed her. Later in the jungle all three of them raped her simultaneously and also filmed video of the incident, she informed.
During interrogation both the accused arrested Farid Ahmed Khan and Devendra Chowdhary informed that Prince was the mastermind of the incident and that it was he who had instigated them for committing this heinous crime. The mobile through which the video was shot and the car on which the victim was transported has been taken by the main accused, they informed the police.
Meanwhile, hearing that the heinous crime has been committed by a relative of BJP leader, people gheraod the police station leveling allegation that police is trying to save the accused. In his statement Basna Police Station SHO Narendra Yadav informed that the incident had taken place during the intervening night of October 11 and 12. On morning of October 12, the victim was admitted in hospital and in the evening her statement was taken after she regained consciousness. On October 13, the complaint of gang-rape was registered against the three accused and two accused have been arrested.
Taking serious cognizance of the heinous crime where a dalit married woman was brutally gangraped by three accused, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh has assured that strong legal action will be taken against the accused and justice will be prevailed. Severely denouncing the act the Chief Minister said none of the accused will be spared and said such accused should be given such punishment that others take lesson from the punishment.
Bharatiya Janata Party severely criticizes the incident and whether the accused is related to someone in Bharatiya Janata Party or in any other party, he will not be spared. Necessary directives have been issued in this direction.
Home Minister Ramsewak Paikra said the accused will not be spared. The police is investigating the matter and once the investigation is completed whosever are accused will not be spared and strong action will be taken against him.
The Times Of India
‘Forced to get treatment away from home by cops’
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Forced-to-get-treatment-away-from-home-by-cops/articleshow/54908658.cms
TNN | Updated: Oct 18, 2016, 07:19 IST
Bathinda: Two Dalit women of Jhaloor village in Sangrur, who were injured in a clash with the upper caste farmers, have accused the police of not allowing them to get treatment in the government hospital in their area. The women Amarjit Kaur (65) and Balbir Kaur (50) have been admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, nearly 130 km from their homes
Both alleged they were being maltreated for being Dalits, and if they went for treatment in their area, police prevented them and threatened to arrest them. A doctor at Faridkot medical college said both women had internal injuries and it might take a few days to recover.
They are accompanied by Gian Kaur (67) who is attending to them. Gian alleged, “We were badly beaten on October 7, by the men from upper castes. The authorities claim that the two groups of Dalits had clashed but reality is that upper caste men assaulted us when we demanded a part of the common village land meant for Dalits. We were first badly thrashed and now we are not being allowed to get treatment near our homes.”
Amarjit and Balbir said the men from upper caste even forced the farmers of Jhaloor village to announce their social boycott and the Dalits were not getting any government facility. “We don’t even have the facility of toilets in our homes as unknown persons have demolished them. Some of our community members didn’t even have toilets even, though the Union and state governments are spending a lot on the providing toilets for everyone. We have to defecate in the open due to lack of toilets,” they said.
Punjab Students Union president Rajinder Singh said it was shameful that such discrimination was happening in the Independent India. “We will protest against this injustice. The government should provide justice to the poor and help them in getting treatment near their homes,” he said.
When contacted, Sangrur SSP Pritpal Singh Thind denied the charges levelled against cops by the Dalit women. He said, “Teams of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes had visited Jhaloor and are looking into the matter. Police never stopped anyone from getting treatment anywhere. It is a false allegation. We will check into the matter why women have been admitted in faraway at Faridkot hospitaL.”
The Times of India
CBI gets nod to arrest 34 for killing 6 Dalits in Dangawas
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ajmer/CBI-gets-nod-to-arrest-34-for-killing-6-Dalits-in-Dangawas/articleshow/54908306.cms
TNN | Updated: Oct 18, 2016, 06:23 IST
Ajmer: The special SC/ST court of Merta on Monday issued arrest warrants against 34 accused in the sensational case in which six Dalits were brutally beaten to death in Dangawas, Nagaur, in May 2015.
This follows a request from CBI which is investigating the incident. Six of the accused are in judicial custody.
The court also directed to present all the accused by November 4.
Though the CBI had filed an additional chargesheet in the court in September this year, the court had directed the agency to complete the legal formalities before filing the chargesheet.
“The CBI team today filed an application and demanded arrest warrants against 34 accused in the matter,” said Ramesh Bansal, advocate for victims. All the 34 are influential Jat leaders from the region. Sources said that there were 200 names in the FIR in the Dangawas incident and the CBI had arrested six accused and filed
a chargesheet against them in August 2015.
The agency is hoping to nab the accused with the help of local police in the next couple of days.
Ajmer: The upper caste culprits had tied Dalits behind tractors and thrashed them brutally, leading to the death of four on the spot and two later in the hospital.
The investigation was first done by state CID and later transferred to CBI on May 30, 2015.
The agency arrested six people, including Premaram alias Premsukh Khadawa, Pancharam Jhajhar and four others, in this case.
It was also alleged that the Nagaur police had not responded in a timely fashion even after receiving information about the clash and deaths of Dalits.
The Telegraph India
School bullies expelled, arrested
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1161018/jsp/bihar/story_114006.jsp#.WAZoP-aaXhk
Tuesday , October 18 , 2016
Two minor Kendriya Vidyalaya students in Muzaffarpur were arrested on Monday after a case was instituted against five students for allegedly assaulting a fellow student in a classroom in August.
The arrested students, brothers, were produced before a juvenile justice board, which sent them to a state-run juvenile reforms centre in Sikandarpur area of Muzaffarpur. The two were studying in Class XI and XII, respectively.
Action against the students was taken after the assaulted boy’s father lodged a fresh case against them at the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) police station on the basis of the statement of the boy’s grandfather with whom he stayed at Gannipur.
The two brothers apart, three other students have been named as accused in the case. The assaulted boy’s grandfather told police that five students had thrashed the boy inside a classroom on August 25 for lodging a complaint with the school authority against the two brothers.
The boy, a Class XI student, kept apologising for having complained against them, but the accused paid no heed and continued to thrash him.
Their aides even made a video of the assault and later shared it on WhatsApp to terrorise other students, the complaint said. The video went viral and soon television channels picked it up leading to outrage against the incident.
The two brothers, sons of a jailed gangster, had threatened the victim with dire consequences.
“This is why we didn’t report the matter to the police earlier,” his grandfather told the police. “The boy was so terrorised after the incident that he left Muzaffarpur forever.”
Earlier, an FIR was lodged against the five students at the Kazimohammadpur police station on the basis of school principal Rajiv Ranjan’s statement. The school is located at Gannipur in the heart of the district headquarters town, around 80km north of Patna.
The principal swung into action and reported the matter to the police on October 13 when the video showing the students brutally assaulting the boy went viral on social media.
Baban Baitha, station house officer of the SC/ST police station, said the two students had been booked under different sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. “Efforts are on to nab the three other accused who are absconding,” he told The Telegraph over phone on Monday.
In more action against the brothers, the school authorities have rusticated the brothers, allegedly under pressure from guardians of other students who had threatened to withdraw their wards if action was not taken against the accused students.
The action was taken after a meeting with parents of the students on Sunday. K.S. Yadav, deputy commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Patna, confirmed the action. “The two students have been rusticated with immediate effect,” Yadav told The Telegraph.
On Monday, the four-member probe team led by Sangathan assistant commissioner M.L. Mishra submitted its report to its headquarters in Delhi. The team has recommended stern action against the principal and other school staff for negligence, a source said.
Principal Rajiv Ranjan was found guilty of keeping the matter under wraps for several weeks and not informing his seniors. Ranjan, however, defended himself saying he had referred the matter to the disciplinary committee, which had suspended the two students for 10 days
“The report has been sent to KVS, which will subsequently submit the same to the office of the human resource ministry. We are not supposed to share anything with the media.” Sanghatan deputy commissioner Yadav said.
The Sangathan is an autonomous body under the Union human resource development ministry. Union minister of state for human resources Upendra Kushwaha had ordered a high-level enquiry after he came to know of the assault video that went viral.
The Times of India
‘Forced to get treatment away from home by cops’
http://.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Forced-to-get-treatment-away-from-home-by-cops/articleshow/54908658.cms
TNN | Updated: Oct 18, 2016, 07:19 IST
Bathinda: Two Dalit women of Jhaloor village in Sangrur, who were injured in a clash with the upper caste farmers, have accused the police of not allowing them to get treatment in the government hospital in their area. The women Amarjit Kaur (65) and Balbir Kaur (50) have been admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical
College and Hospital, Faridkot, nearly 130 km from their homes.
Both alleged they were being maltreated for being Dalits, and if they went for treatment in their area, police prevented them and threatened to arrest them. A doctor at Faridkot medical college said both women had internal injuries and it might take a few days to recover.
They are accompanied by Gian Kaur (67) who is attending to them. Gian alleged, “We were badly beaten on October 7, by the men from upper castes. The authorities claim that the two groups of Dalits had clashed but reality is that upper caste men assaulted us when we demanded a part of the common village land meant for Dalits. We were first badly thrashed and now we are not being allowed to get treatment near our homes.”
Amarjit and Balbir said the men from upper caste even forced the farmers of Jhaloor village to announce their social boycott and the Dalits were not getting any government facility. “We don’t even have the facility of toilets in our homes as unknown persons have demolished them. Some of our community members didn’t even have toilets even, though the Union and state governments are spending a lot on the providing toilets for everyone. We have to defecate in the open due to lack of toilets,” they said.
Punjab Students Union president Rajinder Singh said it was shameful that such discrimination was happening in the Independent India. “We will protest against this injustice. The government should provide justice to the poor and help them in getting treatment near their homes,” he said.
When contacted, Sangrur SSP Pritpal Singh Thind denied the charges levelled against cops by the Dalit women. He said, “Teams of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes had visited Jhaloor and are looking into the matter. Police never stopped anyone from getting treatment anywhere. It is a false allegation. We will check into the matter why women have been admitted in faraway at Faridkot hospitaL.”
The Times of India
Jailed Dalit activist’s wife organizes protest
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Jailed-Dalit-activists-wife-organizes-protest/articleshow/54906696.cms
Nivedhita Venkatesh | TNN | Updated: Oct 18, 2016, 07:07 IST
Mumbai: Sheetal Sathe, wife of jailed Dalit activist Sachin Mali, has been organizing several campaigns and protests across the state for three years now. On Monday, it was the turn of Azad Maidan to play host to a
series of cultural performances and strongly worded speeches.
Sathe has received the support of people from all walks of life, from college students to retired government officers.
At Azad Maidan, the Yalgar Samskrutik Manch, a theatre group of graduate students from Mumbai University,held sway.
An activist, Dhammrakshit Randive, said their aim was to give a voice to the voiceless, and a system that
stifles voices such as theirs was driven by a society that believed in silencing freedom of speech.
“The law that subjugates us, calling itself protecting nationalism, is actually the Brahminic law code that once deprived Dalits to freely express. We have all reason to believe that from all past occurences,” another activist, Rohit Tambe, said.
So far, Sathe has received support from almost 150 organizations, officials and groups. These groups consist of people from the underdeveloped rural parts, Dalits, Buddhists, poets and theatre enthusiasts who travel to
different parts of the state.
Mali and Sathe, who are a part of the Kabir Kala Manch, surrendered on April 3, 2013, after two years of remaining underground following charges pressed against them by the Anti-Terrorism Squad under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
They were charged with being directly involved with Naxals and funding the activities of the left-wing rebels. Sathe was granted bail by the Bombay high court on June 28, 2013, on humanitarian grounds as she was pregnant.
The Hindu
Grant for overseas-bound SC students likely to be doubled
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/grant-for-overseasbound-sc-students-likely-to-be-doubled/article9232717.ece
VIJAYAWADA, October 18, 2016
The State government is examining the proposal to raise the grant given to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SC) under the Ambedkar Overseas Vidya Nidhi (AOVN) from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.20 lakh.
It has enhanced the annual family income ceiling from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs.6 lakh to make a larger number of them eligible for financial assistance.
“We are implementing the scheme on a saturation basis, and chances are there will be no cap on the number of students in the near future,” said Social Welfare Minister R. Kishore Babu.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of an interaction here on Monday with a batch of 21 students leaving abroad shortly to pursue higher studies, Mr. Kishore said the government had so far sponsored 190 students to Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of them, 112 were from Guntur, Krishna and Prakasam districts.
In the current batch, 12 are going to the U.S., three to Australia, two to the U.K., and one each to Canada, France, Germany and New Zealand.
The government is at present extending a grant of Rs.10 lakh and facilitating a bank loan of Rs.5 lakh to each student, and the request to double the grant is under consideration.
The Minister said the department would stand guarantee for the institutional credit availed of by the students, some of whom complained that banks had insisted on collateral security.
A sum of Rs.33 crore was allocated to the scheme for the financial year 2016-17, he added.
Role model
Interacting with the students earlier, Mr. Kishore Babu said they were fortunate to get the government’s support and recalled the days when SC/ST youths had to struggle a lot to get educated.
“You should draw inspiration from the life of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who waged a lonely battle against the inhuman treatment of the downtrodden sections while excelling in his personal endeavours,” Mr. Kishore Babu exhorted.
The Hindu
Phailin victims yet to get houses
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/phailin-victims-yet-to-get-houses/article9232647.ece
BERHAMPUR, October 18, 2016
The T Fifteen poor families of Panibandha village in Ganjam district of Odisha, whose houses were completely destroyed by the Phailin cyclone of 2012, are still living in extreme low cost, cyclone resistant houses built with traditional technology.
It has proved that the same traditional technology can be used to make houses for the tribals and Dalits in the cyclone-prone areas of south Odisha. These 15 families are yet to get houses under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) under Phailin restoration project. Houses of 22 Dalit families were completely destroyed in the cyclone that hit Ganjam coast on October 13, 2012. They had lived under polythene sheets for one-and-half years. In 2014, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO) had financed construction of cyclone-resistant houses using traditional technology through ‘Actionaid’.
Till now only seven of these families have received IAY houses and the rest are living in those houses built with traditional technology.
Each of these cyclone resistant houses was constructed at a cost of only Rs.37,000. According to Mangaraj Panda, convener of Ganjam district Disaster Response Forum (GDRF), this was a makeshift arrangement. “The houses were expected to serve the purpose for at the most two years. But these families are regularly maintaining the houses to increase their longevity,” he said.
Traditional building material, bamboo, had been extensively used in these houses as it is more flexible than other conventional building materials. These houses do not have any concrete pillars. Instead, empty 15 litre oil cans filled with concrete were buried in the ground to serve as foundation pillars. Strong bamboo poles inside these cans form the pillar . The plinth is two-and-a-half feet high to save them from flooding during rain. The walls are made of nettings of bamboo strips covered by a mixture of cow dung and clay. Tin roofs were used to minimise the damage in case of collapse during cyclones. “The plinth, the roof as well as the four walls were tied by long bamboo poles. Flexibility of bamboo was the greatest strength of these houses,” said Mini Mohapatra, a social activist of Panibandha area.
The Times of India
Dalits renew stir for land, block highways in Surendranagar
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/Dalits-renew-stir-for-land-block-highways-in-Surendranagar/articleshow/54908365.cms
TNN | Oct 18, 2016, 06:30 IST
rajkoT: At least 60 dalits were detained from three different locations in Surendranagar town and nearby places on Monday after they blocked the roads while pressing for their demand for land. The protest was led by dalit activist Jignesh Mewani and Subodh Parmar. They also raised other issues like discrimination faced by the community in Surendranagar district.
According to police, even women from the community were part of the blockade on Surendranagar bypass, Ambedkar Chowk and near the collector’s office.
Under the banner of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, the dalits demanded justice for victims of police atrocities in Thangadh and sought immediate possession of land allotted to dalits. They claimed that though the government had announced allotment of land to dalits long time back they were yet to get its physical possession. They further alleged that the land in question was in possession of upper caste members of Surendranagar villages.
“Housing plots to dalits were announced during the Garib Kalyan Mela in 2006. The poor and needy are being ex cluded from the below poverty line list,” said dalit rights activist Subodh Parmar.
“Government has betrayed us after we called off the Rail Roko protest. They have not move to fulfil our demands as promised. So, from today (Monday) we have begun the road rook protests and it is likely to intensify in the coming days,” said Mevani.
Daijiworld
Udupi: BJP Yuva Morcha challenges siege of Sri Krishna Math – Srisha Nayak
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=419170
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (EP)
Udupi, Oct 17: “Dalit organizations have threatened to lay siege to Sri Krishna Math alleging distinction against backward class while serving meals. The allegation is far from the truth. There is a separate arrangement for meals for traditional Brahmins here like in other temples. It cannot hurt the sentiments of any particular community. However police should take suitable legal action against Dwarakanath and Dinesh Ameen Mattu who have given a speech in ‘Udupi Chalo’ programme insulting Shree,” said Udupi district BJP morcha president Srisha Nayak in a news conference.
“Congress party which is disappointed with anti-government wave in the state and the popularity of the union government has indulged in dirty politics using Dalits as the bait. The fact that the sketch of Udupi Chalo programme is prepared by chief minister Siddaramaiah’s media advisor Dinesh Ameen Mattu has not remained a secret. Congress should give up highlighting Dalits against Hindu community,” he urged.
“There may be many who come to Krishna Math to protest. Youth morcha activists are ready for all types of campaigns. Ten times the number of protesters will be waiting for you. Let the entire country see the hospitality of Udupi local people,” he warned
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
