New Delhi, December 31
A stepbrother of a minor girl has been arrested from Khayala in West Delhi for allegedly molesting and raping her for the past six months, the police said today. The girl was allegedly molested in a moving bus in the Capital on Saturday.

The 16-year-old girl allegedly disclosed to the police that her 19-year-old stepbrother raped her twice. He has been arrested. She had allegedly run away from her home after being ill-treated by her stepmother and three stepbrothers.

The police had taken the girl to her house, after she was allegedly molested in a bus late on Saturday. A case of her kidnapping was earlier lodged at the Khayala police station. She was later shifted to Prayas childcare home in Lajpat Nagar, after her statement was recorded.

The police claimed that the girl kept crying on being sent back home. However, since her parents had filed a missing report, she had to be taken back there.

The victim was allegedly molested in a moving cluster (orange colour) bus on the Khayala-Lajpat Nagar route at around 11 pm on Saturday. The accused, Ranjeet Singh, 32, was an off-duty conductor from another cluster bus.

The driver and an on-duty conductor of the bus were also present, but evidently did not intervene. The incident came to light when driver, Prahlad, was disoriented by elaborate security arrangements and police barricades over anti-gangrape protest and stopped for directions at Mandi House picket.

It was then that a police officer spotted the crying girl in the bus and rescued her. A case under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Barakhmaba Road police station.

Delhi Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami said that firm action was taken and the two conductors and the driver were dismissed.

Goswami further said that home guards would be deployed on buses to ensure that female passengers feel safe and that no untoward incident takes place.

New Delhi, December 31
A man has been arrested for stabbing a 20-year-old woman to death while she was travelling in a male friend's car at east Delhi's Dallupura on Monday. The friend was also grievously injured when he tried to intervene, police said.

The deceased, Neha Yadav, lived with family at Rajbeer Colony in Kondli and worked with Vertex Call Centre in Noida sector 4. She was travelling in the Maruti Alto car of her call centre team leader Gaurav Kumar when the attack took place at around 5.10 pm.

According to the police, they were waylaid and attacked by Devender, a driver. The police claimed that Devender says that he lives in Neha's neighbourhood and they had been in a relationship for some time. He wanted to marry Neha, but her family members were against the proposal.

Devender further told the police that he suspected Neha had been in a relationship with Gaurav for the past one month which provoked him to carry out the attack.

Initial police probe has revealed that Neha and Gaurav, a resident of Krishna Nagar, were returning from Cross River Mall at Shahdara. They were passing through Dallupura timber market when Devender overtook Gaurav's car and forced him to stop the vehicle.

Devender picked a fight with Gaurav and smashed his helmet against the vehicle's window at which Neha got out of the car. He was then involved in a heated argument with Neha during which Devender stabbed her in the stomach several times. Seeing this, Gaurav rushed to Neha's side, but he was also attacked by Devender.

Gaurav somehow managed to drag Neha inside the car and drove towards Noida. He went to Delhi-Noida picket and informed the police about the attack. Information was flashed on police wireless handset after which Devender was apprehended from near the spot with a knife.

A police control room vehicle rushed Neha and Gaurav to Lal Bahadur Shashtri Hospital, where Neha succumbed to her injuries. Gaurav is undergoing treatment and his condition is stated to be out of danger, according to the police. He was unable to make a statement due to 14 stitches for a deep gash on his right cheek.

A case of murder has been lodged against Devender at New Ashok Nagar police station.

New Delhi, December 31
Announcing the sanction of Rs 15 lakh as compensation to the family of the 23-year-old gangrape victim, who died in hospital in Singapore on Sunday, the Delhi Cabinet today decided to offer job to one of her family members.

The Cabinet today met to share the grief of the citizens over the recent horrific incident of gangrape and subsequent demise of the girl in Delhi. The Council of Ministers joined the nation in conveying their heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family.

The Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit after chairing the Cabinet meeting, briefed the mediapersons and stated that the Cabinet observed a two-minute silence in memory of the girl.

"Keeping in view the exceptional circumstances and the barbaric nature of the crime, the Cabinet decided to sanction Rs 15 lakh to the surviving members of the girl. The decision has been taken by effecting relaxation in rules," said the Chief Minister.

The incident of gangrape of the paramedical student that outraged the city forced the government to take steps in order to make women feel safe on the roads. This included the launch of a 24-hour "women in distress" helpline from the CM office and increase in number of night service buses with the deployment of home guards in every bus.

New Delhi, December 31
The Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, today said that the year 2012 would go down as a black chapter for the Union and Delhi governments and the Delhi police because of the total breakdown of law and order following the gangrape of a girl in a moving bus.

He urged the people not to celebrate new year as a mark of tribute to the girl, whose death has shaken the conscience of the nation.

Malhotra said the Sheila Dikshit government has misled the people for the last 14 years by making umpteen promises which have never been fulfilled. The government has liberalized the excise rules so much so that it is now easier to get liquor than bread.

He criticized the government for its failure to have a strong public transport system.

The excuse that unbridled increase in migrants is responsible for the poor public transport does not hold good. The administration has not been able to provide a satisfactory transport in the far-flung areas of the Capital, exposing the women and senior citizens to unscrupulous and criminal elements, said Malhotra.

It is a time the government took concrete steps to check horrific happenings in future, he added.

New Delhi, December 31
The barbaric gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student has led to a slump in business on New Year's Eve.

Many people decided to stay indoors to mourn the death of the courageous victim while others stepped out arguing that the fear of some "goons" would not deter them from changing their lifestyles.

Party organizers and managers of clubs and those in five-star hotels today maintained that the pre-booking of tickets has gone down to 25% this time around.

Furthermore, the recent order from the Home Ministry that curtailed the timing of all the parties in clubs and pubs in the Capital has added to the losses.

"Many people have decided to stay indoors in this New Year's Eve. Business is slow as compared to last year. There is a decrease to 25% in the sale of passes," said Rickey Singh, a renowned party organizer in the city from Desvelado Entertainment.

"The only advantage that the five-star hotels enjoyed over stand-alone clubs was that they opened up to 4 or 5 am earlier. Now with the new guidelines in place, the consumer has become wise. For the same amount of time at both the places, many people are choosing stand-alone clubs. This has also led to the five-star clubs dropping their entry charges to attract more crowds," he added.

Well-known city clubs like Hype (Shangrila Hotel), (Jnyxxx) Intercontinenetal Nehru Place, Café Morrison, Turquisee Cottage, Tryst, Boulevard and Agni (Park Hotel) host parties to welcome New Year.

On an average, pre-booking passes cost up to Rs 7,000 for stand-alone clubs and up to Rs 10,000 for five-star clubs.

Also, fearing heavy policing in the city on the occasion, most party hoppers preferred to travel by cabs to avoid drunken driving.

It is foggy during the late hours. Moreover, if someone is drunk and driving, it increases the chances of an accident. It is better to pay for a slightly overpriced cab service and stay safe. Especially, this time when women's safety is such a big issue, it's necessary that we take responsibility at our end as well," said Kavita Bajpai, a city-based journalist.

New Delhi, December 31
On the eve of New Year, Delhi has the season's coldest day that makes people shiver under a spell of intense chill and dense fog. Minimum temperature was 5.5 degree Celsius. The sky was cloudy in the morning.

Citizens were seen moving in thick woollen clothes. Some people were seen wrapping shawls and blankets during the day in Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar. The homeless burnt woods to warm their bodies.

According to a MeT official, while the maximum temperature at 13.3 deg C was seven degree below normal, the minimum at 5.5 deg C was two degree below normal for this time of the season.

Today's minimum, which is the highest in this season, was two degrees below yesterday's 7.7 deg C.

The official also said today's 13.3 deg C was the lowest maximum temperature recorded in this season. The spell of intense cold would continue tomorrow as well and the maximum and minimum temperatures will be 15 and 5 deg C respectively.

Due to dense fog, around 40 flights operating from the IGI airport were either rescheduled or cancelled. Overnight around 16 flights were delayed. Around five flights were cancelled either due to operational reasons or due to poor weather, an airport official said.

He said that the fog started to descend on the airport since last night, but it started to become dense around 7 am, forcing the authorities to implement low visibility procedures.

Dense fog returned to the Capital yesterday after a four-day lull, affecting over 130 flights.

New Delhi, December 31
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna and DPCC president Jai Prakash Agarwal today extended New Year greetings to all the citizens of the city.

They expressed hope that the year 2013 will bring happiness, prosperity and peace to the people of the city.

The LG has urged the people to respect everyone in society and stand up against any wrong, especially the human rights violation of women.