L A T E S T      N E W S

Chargesheet filed in Delhi gang-rape case

NEW DELHI: Eighteen days after the horrific gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student, the Delhi Police today filed its chargesheet in a court here against five men arrested in the case, slapping on them murder, rape, kidnapping and other charges.

The victim, who was gang-raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus in the capital died on December 29 in a Singapore hospital.

The five accused, Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh and their accomplices Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur have been charge sheeted for the offences of murder, gangrape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offences, dacoity, hurting in committing robbery, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy and common intention under the Indian Penal Code.

The sixth accused is a juvenile and proceedings against him will be conducted by the Juvenile Justice Board.

In the 33-page charge sheet, the role of the juvenile offender is also elaborated.

The police filed the charge sheet along with bulky documents, with many in sealed covers, in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Surya Malik Grover who posted it for consideration on January 5.

The Delhi Police has sought direction for not disclosing the content of the FIR and for keeping it and other documents in sealed covers to protect the identity of the victim.

The police said it will also place before the court the charge sheet in electronic form. — PTI

Malala's father gets UK diplomatic post

London: The father of a teenage Pakistani activist shot in the head by Taliban for advocating girls' education has been given a diplomatic post in the UK.

Malala Yousufzai has been recovering at a hospital in Birmingham, England, after she was shot in October in Pakistan. The Taliban have vowed to target her again.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, confirmed a BBC report today saying that Malala's father, Ziauddin, has been appointed Pakistan's education attache in Birmingham.

The position - with an initial 3-year commitment - virtually guarantees Malala will remain in the UK.

Malala's case won worldwide recognition for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan. In a sign of her reach, the 15-year-old made the shortlist for Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2012. — AP

Cold wave in north India to continue

New Delhi: It was another chilly day in the capital with the mercury remaining below 5 degree Celsius in the morning hours.

The minimum was recorded at 4.4 degrees as against the minimum of 4.8 degrees yesterday.

Bone chilling cold and icy winds had yesterday left Delhiites shivering with the maximum temperature plummeting to 9.8 deg C, the lowest in 44 years.
After being affected by dense fog for four consecutive days, flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here remained largely normal today even as airport witnessed fog.