New Delhi, April 12
A 14-year-old maid has been allegedly raped, sodomised and tortured by her employer for the past two years at Jamia Nagar. Sources alleged that the maid also has burn injuries on her body.

The police has arrested her 25-year-old employer, Nadeem. The girl belongs to Sitamarhi in Bihar.

A case of torture and violence has been registered against Nadeem's mother, Juhi and sister, Fardeen. They are reportedly absconding.

The girl's abuse came to light on the night of April 10 when she was thrown out of her employer's house.

Sources claimed that she shouted for help and ran towards a neighbour's house.

The neighbour tried to intervene in the matter, but Nadeem started fighting with him. When the talks were unsuccessful, the neighbour placed a call to the police.

The girl narrated her horrifying tale to the police that had arrived shortly after being informed. Nadeem was immediately apprehended, but his sister and mother are absconding.

The police registered a case of rape and sodomy (unnatural sex) under section 376 and 377 of IPC against Nadeem. His other family members have been booked under Juvenile Justice Act, Child Labour Act, Bonded Labour Act and 323 and 324 sections of IPC.

A medical examination of the victim confirmed that she was raped and physically abused. The girl is under the protection of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). Her statement has been recorded and she is undergoing counselling sessions.

A CWC official claimed that Nadeem and his family subjected the girl to a lot of torture. The maid alleged that Juhi would burn her with hot iron tongs.

Nadeem has completed his graduation and is unemployed at present. He stays at home. His father is employed in Saudi Arabia and remains out of the country.

New Delhi, April 12
A Shiv Sena candidate for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election was stabbed by four assailants in Rohini today. The incident occurred a day after a BJP worker had been killed by his own party members at the Adarsh Nagar railway station.

Sunil Kumar (25) is contesting for the Rohini ward.

According to the police, the stabbing was the result of personal rivalry and not the poll.

The incident happend when Kumar was going to a barber's shop at 10.30 am. He told the police that four men approached him. Two of them caught hold of him while the other two stabbed him. The y then fled. But, Kumar is not able to identify them.

Kumar got a stab injury on his back and was taken to the Ambedkar Hospital.

Kumar has a case of attempted culpable homicide not amounting to murder registered against him at the Sultanpuri police station in 2007. The affidavit filed by him during nominations, mentions that the case is pending before the Additional Session Judge's court in Rohini.

In a case of infighting within the (BJP) at Sangam Vihar, a party worker, Jai Prakash was stabbed to death by his colleagues at the Adarsh Nagar railway station yesterday. The police arrested the sitting BJP councillor, Madhav Prasad for allegedly killing Prakash. Prasad is the municipal councillor from Sangam Park near Model Town. Rivalry between Prakash and Prasad was the reason behind the incident. 

New Delhi, April 12
Peace Party (PP) candidates are emerging strong in the four municipal wards--Mustafabad, Nehru Vihar, Kardampuri and Kirari--in East Delhi and most likely the party may open its account in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in this poll.

The PP candidates are: Shakeela Begum from Mustafabad, Asghar Ali Ansari from Nehru Vihar, Idrisa Begum from Kardampuri and a Scheduled Caste candidate from Kirari. All of them are Congress rebels. When they were denied tickets by the Congress, they joined the Peace Party. Theyare now making inroads in the Congress stronghold.

All these wards are dominated by Muslims. These candidates have been active in their wards for the last many years.

The main contest in these wards is among the BJP, the Congress and the PP. The Congress candidates are Parveen from Mustafabad; Taj Mohammad, Nehru Vihar; Fauzia Khatoon, Kardampuri and Shiv Kumar from Kiranri Suleman Nagar while the BJP has fielded Kiran Shukla, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Chanda Bhardwaj and Kewal Krishna.

Sources said that the BJP rebels are also working against the party.

The Muslim voters are not happy with the Congress candidates as their performance is not considered satisfactory during the last five years. The voters are of the view that they need councillors who work for development.

Anwar Ahmed, a resident in Mustafabad, said, "Political parties will not help us. The candidates help themselves only. The Congress has overconfidence and it gives a ticket without considering the credentials of the candidate."

Naseema Bano said, "Earlier, we had only two parties--the Congress and the BJP and the secular-minded voters had no option than to vote for the Congress. Now we have the SP, the BSP and the PP. The PP is a new party that won MLA seats in Uttar Pradesh for the first time. Delhi will be the second state if its candidates win municipal wards." 

New Delhi, April 12
President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Paramjit Singh Sarna today announced that he supported the Congress and appealed to all Sikh voters to elect the party candidates in the municipal poll.

"We have been with the Congress for the past 14 years. The party has always cooperated with us. The Congress has given the country its first Sikh prime minister. A large number of Sikhs were blacklisted due to their alleged involvement in militancy. Now, they all have been forgiven. At present, no Sikh is blacklisted," said the DSGMC president justifying the support.

Addressing a conference, Sarna said today the Cabinet approved the Anand Marriage Act.

"Once it is notified, Sikhs can register their marriages under the Act. So far, they have been getting marriages registered under the Hindu Marriage Act," he said.

The registration of marriage facility had been provided by the Congress, not the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) that is enjoying power in Punjab, Sarna said.

He said that the Badal group had always been associated with the BJP, but the saffron party had always insulted the Sikh community. This had been shown when group members had gone to the BJP office for ticket, he added.

New Delhi, April 12
The Delhi police today claimed to have seized more than 16,000 bottles of illicit liquor, which were distributed to voters during the campaigning of the municipal poll.

Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, "We have registered 154 cases of the illegal supply of liquor during the campaigning of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election. These cases are registered under the Excise Act. A total number of 168 people have been arrested. And we have seized 16,666 bottles of illicit liquor."

The police has also impounded 71 vehicles that were used to transport the liquor.

The demand for liquor drastically increased during the ongoing campaigning. Yesterday evening, the Outer District police arrested two men, Raj Kumar, alias Raju, and Deen Dayal for allegedly supplying and distributing "illegal" liquor.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer District) BS Jaiswal said, "We seized 1,440 quarters of illegal liquor (60 cartons). Two Maruti-800 cars that were used for smuggling liquor have been impounded."

The police had laid a trap at Ganda Nala and at 5 pm, they intercepted the two cars and arrested Dayal and Kumar. The accused are residents of Madhya Pradesh.

"They brought illicit liquor from Nahri village in Haryana. They distributed it in Delhi as the demand for liquor was increasing due to the upcoming MCD election," added BS Jaiswal.

A similar instance of the illegal supply of liquor also occurred in South Delhi. A police officer said that they seized 12 cartons of liquor from three persons at Mahipalpur. They have been arrested and are identified as Balram Yadav, Lal Bahadur and Premchand. They are residents of Mahipalpur and were allegedly distributing liquor to voters, for an independent election candidate named, Devi Singh Rawat.