The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Baba Farid mela Fair sees politics at play Politics hijack the annual fair as posters, hoardings dot roads in Faridkot Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, September 20 The five-day annual Baba Farid Mela that began on September 18, is increasingly losing its cultural and religious appeal. Though the Mela is celebrated every year in the memory of the great Sufi saint Baba Farid, for some time now, like other religious congregations in Punjab, the Mela is increasingly being hijacked by entrepreneurs and politicians. With the presence of political leaders at the Mela increasing, the devotees and commoners are being put to inconvenience. Because of this, the religious ambience at the fair is also decreasing. Gone are the days when residents of Faridkot and surrounding villages used to wait for the event and extend warm hospitality to their relatives and friends who would come from distant places to attend the fair. Now, the Mela has become chaotic and a commercialised affair with the venue crowded with kiosks selling various items. A week before the start of the Mela, political leaders and entrepreneurs start using the walls, entry gates and round-about of the town to paste advertisements, hoardings, posters and random messages. Some entrepreneurs have put up big pictures of the ruling SAD (B) leaders. In still others, the local leaders try to showcase their proximity to the senior Akali and Congress leaders. So, the religious fervour of the Mela is being lost in the political cacophony. In this poster-pasting competition, another problem is that the members of one group even go to the extent of defacing the posters of their competitors. Today in the morning, when scholars from various parts of Punjab assembled at the meeting hall of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) for a seminar on the Sufi saint Baba Farid, some ruling party leaders started flaying the UPA Government at the Centre for its policies, which was no spiritual discourse by any means.
	18-yr-old raped in Muktsar village Archit Watts/TNS Muktsar, September 20 An 18-year-old student of class XII, has lodged a complaint with the Lambi police alleging that a youth known to her, raped her on September 8 at her house in Baloch Kera village in Lambi block of Muktsar district. The accused committed the crime allegedly in connivance with his cousin sisters. The girl has alleged in her complaint that the accused Manmohan Singh, a resident of Saido Ke Rohela village in Ferozepur district, had come to meet her with his cousins and finding no one except her in the house, raped her. Investigating officer ASI Malkit Singh, said, "The accused's cousins, Amandeep Kaur and Davinder Kaur, had met the girl for the first time at the marriage of their common relative at Chhapianwali village near Malout last year, where they exchanged each other's contact numbers. Later, the girls gave the victim's number to their cousin Manmohan Singh, who developed friendship with her." "After that, the boy started requesting the girl over the phone to meet him. In the mean time, his cousins even told the victim that she must meet him, as he would marry her. And on September 8, when the family members of the victim had gone out to enquire about the health of one of their relatives, she accepted the boy's proposal to meet and invited all of them to her house," Malkit Singh added. "The boy, along with his cousins, came to the victim's house. First, they all sat in a room and started a conversation. Later, Amandeep Kaur and Davinder Kaur went outside and the boy locked the door from the inside and raped her," said Malkit Singh. He further said the girl initially did not disclose anything to her family, but later they came to know about it and thereafter, she lodged a complaint in this regard. A case under sections 376 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. The medical check-up of the girl has been conducted and its report is awaited. No arrests have been made so far in the case.
	Man poisons daughter, commits suicide Bathinda, September 20 Disturbed over his unhappy married life, a man in his early thirties, allegedly ended his life after hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his house and also administered poison to his eight-year-old daughter at Janta Nagar here this evening. Sources said Parmod Kumar was not on good terms with his wife Rani and often had disputes. The man was working with a private firm in the city. A suicide note has also been recovered in which Parmod has mentioned the names of his wife's family saying they were putting pressure on him to take the extreme step. “The couple had heated arguments this morning following which, Rani along with her son, went to Bhucho Mandi to her parents’ house,” said sources. They further said when Parmod returned home in the evening, he administered a poisonous substance to his daughter Rakhi and thereafter committed suicide. Meanwhile, the girl, while she was being taken to the Civil Hospital, told the mediapersons that her father gave her poison and also committed suicide due to a domestic dispute. Her condition was said to be critical. The police has begun investigations. — TNS
	Woman gets 5-yr jail for forcing husband to commit suicide Kulwinder Sandhu/TNS Moga, September 20 District and Sessions Judge Karamjit Singh Kang has sentenced a woman to five-year jail for forcing her husband to commit suicide while the three other accused have been acquitted from the charges. It is learnt that Gurpal Singh, a resident of Masitan Marian village of Zira sub-division of Ferozepur district, committed suicide on April 7, 2008 at the house of his in-laws in Kot-ise-Khan town of Moga district. Harbans Singh stated to the police that his son Gurpal was married to Kirpal Kaur, daughter of Gurdeep Singh in 1996 and the couple had two children. They lived happily for about 10 years but later, the relations between them got strained due to family problems. The wife stressed upon her husband to live separately from his parent's house and they started living separately. Meanwhile, the woman's father asked his son-in-law to arrange a sum of Rs 50,000 so that he could construct a separate room on his plot. The man gave Rs 50,000 to his wife to give it to her father for constructing the room but his wife and father-in-law did not construct the room for him. When he demanded his money back, he was harassed, alleged his father. After this, Gurpal consumed some poisonous substance and died on the spot. The police registered a criminal case of abetment to suicide against his wife, his father-in-law Gurdeep Singh and two others. On Wednesday, District and Sessions Judge Karamjit Singh Kang sentenced Kirpal Kaur to five years of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000. In case the fine is not deposited, she would have to undergo another three months in jail.
	Legal aid clinic comes up in Moga jail Tribune News Service Moga, September 20 Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority and District and Sessions Judge Karamjit Singh Kang inaugurated a legal aid clinic on the premises of the sub-jail at Moga today. After the inaugural ceremony, Kang said the clinic would provide free legal aid to the jail inmates and convicts for pursuing their cases before the respective courts as per their need. Adding that a local lawyer Chetan Sood has been assigned the task to provide legal aid to the inmates and convicts, the judge said such legal aid centres would also be opened in the rural areas soon to provide free legal services to the rural folk. Iqbal Singh, superintendent of the jail, and Navneet Gupta, assistant legal attorney, were present on the occasion along with other officials of the local administration.