New Delhi, May 27
Concerned about low conviction rate in rape cases, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) is planning to suggest to the government a host of measures focussing on protection and legal assistance to the victims.

The DCW, which had set up a separate Rape Crisis Cell (RCC) in September 2005 to offer legal assistance to rape victims, claims in the last one-and-a-half years, during which it registered 588 rape cases, its lawyers helped send 22 sexual offenders behind the bars.

“The conviction rate works up to more than one a month, ‘no mean achievement’ keeping in view the fact that a huge number of rape cases not yet registered by the DCW are pending in courts for several years now,” Kiran Walia, who just completed her tenure as the Commission chairperson, said.

However, during the same period, more than double the number (57) got acquitted, mostly due to victims or witnesses turning hostile or becoming untraceable.

With victims facing threats from the accused or their family remaining one of the main reasons for turning hostile, the DCW is suggesting that protection of victims should be an integral part of the process.

The Commission is also proposing a statute or scheme, which would provide statutory compensation or assistance for the medical needs of the victims. Many a times, rape victims, specially children, suffer from serious health problems and undergo surgery, a lawyer working with the cell, said referring to the case of a one-and-a-half year old whose internal organs were damaged due to the crime.

In addition, the DCW is also recommending that it should be a legal right of the victims, in form of a statutory provision, to take the assistance of RCC lawyers to represent them in court, Walia said.

She also said the government should send proposals to the court and police stations that statements of victims should be recorded immediately after counselling was provided to them. No complaint should be turned away because of jurisdiction nor the lodging of FIR should be delayed till the results of medical test come.

Among the other key recommendations are asking police stations to provide copy of FIR and medical test to the complainants and taking immediate disciplinary action against officials who misbehave or harass rape victims.

Emphasising the need for providing a secure environment for children of working parents living in slum clusters and other such areas, Walia said the government should provide day-care centres in such localities. Creating legal awareness among the people, especially in the slum areas, was also a must, she added.

New Delhi, May 27
Three years after their 41-year-old marriage ended with a decree of divorce granted by the trial court, the Delhi High Court has rejected the man’s plea for exempting him from paying maintenance to his former wife.

On Friday, Justice S Murlidhar dismissed a petition filed by Jitender Kumar Jauhar challenging the trial court order asking him to pay Rs 20,000 every month to his former wife Anupama as maintenance amount. Both are senior citizens.

Justice Murlidhar directed him to pay within a month Rs 30,000 to Anupama as the litigation expenses and upheld the trial court findings while granting divorce to him.

In December 2004, a city court had granted divorce to Jitender accepting his contention that his wife deserted him as she had started staying in a separate section of the same house since 1994 and was not on speaking terms with him.

Although the trial court had rejected Kumar’s allegations that his wife was suffering from mental disorder and that she treated him with cruelty several times, the court had granted the decree of divorce to him on the ground of desertion saying “their marriage is dead emotionally and practically”.

Terming the case as ‘unfortunate’, the trial judge had noted that both the man and his former wife were above 60 years of age and they had lived together for about 33 years and had settled their two sons well.

New Delhi, May 27
The family of a 50-year-old bank employee, who was mowed down by a private bus in south-west Delhi in 2003, has been awarded compensation of over Rs 15 lakh by an accident claims tribunal here.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) has held driver of the bus Rajesh Kumar, owner Ram Avtar and the Oriental Insurance Company liable and asked them to pay the amount in a month to the two sons, daughter and the wife of deceased Rohtash Singh.

The tribunal, presided over by Dinesh Kumar Sharma, asked them to pay the amount jointly to Singh’s widow Premlata, sons Jagwinder and Rajesh and daughter Seema.

The tribunal, taking the urgent financial burden of victim’s family members into account, asked the insurance company to pay the amount to them and directed it to recover the dues from from other respondents at a later stage. According to the claim petition, Singh, a resident of Jafar Kalan here, was rammed by a bus in the morning of March 3, 2003, when he was going for work on his motorcycle.

He was dragged for around 50 metres which resulted in fatal injuries. Later, he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Tribune News ServiceNew Delhi, May 27
Strongly disapproving the incident of misdemeanour with a lady doctor by three of her relatives, all senior citizens, 11 years ago, a court here has sentenced the trio to three months in jail.

“The acts of convicts of pushing and slapping Manjeet Kaur is strongly condemnable as they have committed such an act with a lady...Justice should not only be done but it should seem to have been done,” Metropolitan Magistrate Pooran Chand said.

Declining to release the convicts Mahender Singh, Ajmer Singh and Harbhajan Singh on probation, the magistrate, in a recent order, observed that complainant Kaur had been facing agony of the trial for more than 11 years to seek justice.

“It is the duty of the court that the complainant should not feel that she is forgotten in the criminal justice system,” the court said while holding that the conduct of the convicts did not entitle any leniency in punishment.

A fine of Rs 8,000 each was also slapped on the trio, all in their 60s, which shall be paid as compensation to Kaur, a doctor practising for last 30 years at Najafgarh here.

Kaur had complained that on December 8, 1995, while she was coming from a marriage party from Vishnu Garden in West Delhi, the convicts caught hold of her and assaulted her physically following an alleged family feud.

They also snatched the jewellery worn by her at that time and abused her.

Panchgaon (Gurgaon), May 27
A ‘Mahapanchayat’ of several villages around Manesar, held here today on the issue of acquisition of land, served an ultimatum to the government to resolve the issue by June 17.

The Mahapanchayat through a resolution warned that in case the government does not resolve the issue by the deadline, the villagers will intensify their stir.

Confusion prevailed among the villagers on the land acquisition issue and also differences on the approach to the agitation. The difference of perspective emerged when a group of persons, mostly women tried to block the Delhi-Jaipur national highway. While the highway was disturbed for a few minutes as women squatted in the middle of the road, another group in the Mahapanchayat opposed such move. Finally the blockade was cleared.

A heavy posse of police personnel also swung into action to deter the public from creating law and order problem.

The women rushed to the highway to squat on the road after a section of the participants in the Mahapanchayat expressed dissatisfaction over the response of Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Gurgaon, Mr J.S.Sangwan, who visited the place. It was clear that political influences were at play and the agitators were being abetted by some outward sources.

The participants in the Mahapanchayat appeared to be confused as they were not convinced what their demand was. While some demanded that the farmers whose land had been acquired be given higher compensation, others demanded that their houses falling in the zone notified for acquisition be left undisturbed. Still there were others who vetoed against setting up SEZ on the land and asserted that no land would be allowed to be acquired for setting up SEZ.

According to many, there are two issue involved. One issue is the land already acquired by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) in some of the villages and compensation money fixed by the preceding Om Prakash Chautala government. This land is being proposed to be brought under the SEZ cover.

The other issue is the move to acquire the land by HSIDC for industrialisation. In this case, too, all the formalities as well as compensation money was fixed during the INLD government.

Some vested interests leading the agitation have cleverly clubbed the two issues in an apparent bid to actualise mass mobilisation against the SEZ project. The game plan is clear. The SEZ has now assumed political overtones as the ruling Congress, both at the Centre and Haryana, appears to be firm on setting up the project.

The substantive argument by many is that the present industrialised and modernised Gurgaon has come up only after acquiring the farmers land for the projects. This has been happening since late eighties, but gathered steam with the onset of 1991 when the new industrial policy of the country, having ‘liberalisation’ and ‘globalisation’ as its signature tune, was formulated.

Faridabad, May 27
A woman was killed allegedly by her husband in the NIT area here last night. The accused, who was reportedly drunk, was found sleeping beside his wife’s body. He allegedly strangled her to death after a quarrel. The police recovered the body of the woman this morning and sent it for a post-mortem examination.

According to police sources, the incident took place in F block of NH-3 in the NIT area here where the couple was living on rent. They had a four-year-old daughter.

The accused, identified as Vineet, was unemployed for the past more than two years. He used to work for a private company when he got married to Hema in 2000. His wife belonged to Sector 31 here.

The victim had informed her brother about the quarrel on phone last night. When someone from her family came to her place this morning to inquire about her well-being, he found Hema lying dead on the floor, while her husband was asleep on the bed nearby.

The initial investigation by the police, which reached the spot, revealed Hema could have been strangled by her husband, who was allegedly under the influence of liquor at that time. Hema’s kin have told the police that her husband, who was not working, was a habitual drinker and used to beat her up regularly.

It is claimed he used to ask his wife to get money from her family at regular intervals and even got a motorcycle from his in-laws a few months back. A case has been registered in this regard.

In another incident, a 20-year-old unmarried girl of Kumharwara locality of Ballabgarh committed suicide by jumping before a train on Friday. She took this extreme step as she had allegedly been ditched by her boyfriend with whom she was in love. This was the claim made by her in her suicide note, which was found by the police. According to the note, her boyfriend, despite promising to marry her, had been seeing some other girl. A case under Sections 306 and 374 has been registered.

New Delhi, May 27
The term-end examinations of Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) are going to commence from June 1, a university statement said here today.

The university has established 574 examination centres, including 25 overseas centres and 13 in jails for the prisoners.

The examination intimation slips have been issued to 3,09,000 eligible students who had applied for the examination.

New Delhi, May 27
Education is a top priority for betterment of Muslim society. Delhi Lt-Governor Tejendra Khanna expressed these views at the inauguration of Civil Services Coaching Programme organised by the India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC) here today. Also present on the occasion were president of the centre Sirajuddin Qureshi, Chaudhary Tayyab Husain and IICC director Safdar H. Khan.

In his address, the Lt-Governor said it was “our good fortune that Muslims formed a significant part of our country”. He exhorted the residents of the national Capital to be law abiding, good citizens and come up with suggestions for the betterment of Delhi.

On this occasion, the Lt-Governor launched the website of the centre: www.iiccentre.org. Honorary membership of the centre was conferred on him. The coaching programme is set to benefit minority students of the country and those belonging to economically backward classes.—TNS

New Delhi, May 27
A local court here has acquitted a person of a charge of attempted murder because of business rivalry and financial dispute in a 13-year-old case.

According to the prosecution, Manoj Godha, who ran a jewellery shop at the Oberoi Hotel, was going to his house at Golf Link Road by car along with his friend Kanwaljit Puri on December 2, 1994. When they reached near 183, Golf Link Road, a car overtook them from the left side and someone from that car fired two shots which hit Manoj above his left eye. Kanwaljit Puri also felt pain in his left arm.

Manoj alleged that he was having a financial dispute with Subhash Chand Barjatiya of Lajpat Nagar, who had a jewellery shop at the Maurya Sheraton hotel. Subhash had earlier threatened him, said Manoj.

An FIR under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC was registered against Subhash at Tughlaq Road police station.

Mr H S Bhullar, counsel for the accused, said no prima facie case was made out against the accused as there was neither an eyewitness to the alleged incident nor the complainant Manoj claimed to have seen the accused. He even failed to disclose the registration number of the car used in the incident. He further submitted that during investigation, the officer concerned recorded statements of two witnesses who had informed that Subhash, the accused, was in Jaipur at the time of the incident.

Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur, after hearing the argument, considered that the complaint lodged was based on suspicion and there were several litigations pending between the parties. Since there was not an iota of evidence on record that the alleged incident took place in furtherance of criminal conspiracy of accused Subhash, assailant prima facie, no case is made out to frame charge against him under Sections 307 and 120 B of Indian Penal Code, the court thus ordered to discharge the accused.

New Delhi, May 27
Suruchi Art Gallery here has attempted to revive the forgotten beauty of art on paper by hosting an exhibition, “Papyrus — The Paper Show”. The exhibition showcases the finest works of artists spanning a diverse range of themes caught fabulously in different mediums. The creativity of the work displayed comes from the varied mediums used like watercolour, acrylic, mixed media, Chinese ink, dry pastel, gouche and etching. The exhibition will be on till June 9.

The exhibition presents the creation of artists like Ajit Kumar, Deepak Tiwari, Devendra Shukla, Madhukar Maithani, Mun J.H. Shukla, Pratul Dash, Radha Gidwani, Sambit Kumar Panda, Simrin Mehra Agarwal, Sougata Guha,
Susmita Chowbey, Swami Sharanu, Tapan Dash, Vibhuti Nath Jha, Vimal Chand.

On the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition, Suruchi Gupta said, “This innovative form of expression will exhilarate the heart of every art aficionado with varied themes from landscapes to women’s issues and her daily turmoils of living to religion to the abstract. What will strike every visitor as different will be the spontaneity and the fresh individual style of the 16 artists featured here. One will get to see great experimental work done on the world’s oldest and most widely used medium.”