Video grab of cops dragging away the protesting rape survivor

NEW DELHI: CBI will challenge the suspension of life sentence and bail to former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in the Unnao rape case in the Supreme Court, officials said.It was decided to file an SLP before the SC at the earliest against the orders of the Delhi HC, which granted bail to Sengar after suspending his life sentence, a CBI spokesperson said. Sengar, however, will remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year term for the custodial death of the rape survivor’s father. TNN & Agencies

Furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with 3 sureties: Bench to Sengar Sengar was convicted for kidnapping and raping the girl in 2017, when she was a minor. He had filed an appeal against his life sentence, which was vehemently opposed by the CBI and the family of the victim before the high court.“The CBI filed timely replies and written arguments in this matter. The CBI will immediately challenge this order,” the statement said. The Delhi high court on Tuesday suspended the jail term of expelled BJP leader Sengar, who was serving life imprisonment in the 2017 Unnao rape case, saying he has already served seven years and five months in prison. Sengar’s sentence has been suspended by the HC till the pendency of his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence in the rape case.He has challenged a December 2019 trial court verdict in the case.Imposing several conditions for bail, the bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of Rs 15 lakh with three sureties of the like amount. It also directed him not to come within a 5-km radius of the victim’s residence in Delhi, and not issue threats to her or her mother.

A Chennai-bound bus in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district veered off the road and collided with two cars after a tyre burst, resulting in nine fatalities and at least 10 injuries

CHENNAI : Nine people, including four women, were killed and at least 10 injured in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening.It happened after a state-run Chennai-bound bus lost control following a tyre burst and jumped the low road median, crossing over to the other side of the road and ramming two cars coming from the opposite direction. The accident took place at Ezhuthur near Thittakudi around 7.30 pm.All nine dead were travelling in two cars, heading from Chennai to Trichy.At least 10 others who were in those cars as well as the bus suffered injuries.Due to the incident, traffic on the Chennai-Trichy national highway was blocked for close to an hour.CM M K Stalin announced Rs 3 lakh be provided to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to those seriously injured and receiving treatment in the hospital, from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund.Police said they were in the process of identifying the deceased.

BENGALURU: A 64-year-old electrician was arrested on charges of murdering his 54-year-old teacher-wife Saturday night and attempting to pass it off as a road accident. Gayatri, who worked at Chikkabommasandra Primary School, and Anant, the accused, have a college-going daughter.The incident occurred on Dec 20 near an under-construction building in Begur, south Bengaluru. Police said Anant took Gayatri on his motorcycle under the pretext of visiting a site they’d purchased.

“The building was being constructed near the site, and Anant, after getting off the bike, pushed Gayatri. When she fell, he beat her with a wooden log and other hard objects till she lost consciousness. Then he called an ambulance, claiming his wife had fallen from the bike and was injured,” an investigating officer said.Gayatri succumbed to injuries in the hospital. Doctors grew suspicious due to the nature of her injuries and alerted police. “The wounds indicated she was assaulted. We reached the hospital and detained Anant for questioning. The postmortem report confirmed injuries on Gayatri’s body led to her death. After that, we arrested Anant,” a police officer said. Confessing to the crime, Anant said he was upset with Gayatri for neglecting and insulting him by not giving him money whenever he asked.

BENGALURU: Over ten people are feared dead after a private bus caught fire in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district early on Thursday morning, news agency PTI reported.The incident occurred after the bus collided with a lorry around 2am.The bus was travelling from Bengaluru to Shivamogga when the accident occurred on National Highway-48 (NH-48).According to PTI, nine passengers reportedly escaped unhurt, while the injured were shifted to Hiriyur and Chitradurga hospitals.In a separate incident, 9 people were killed on Wednesday after a state-run bus swerved into oncoming traffic and collided with two vehicles on a national highway in Tamil Nadu, police said. The Chennai-bound bus from Tiruchirappalli reportedly changed direction after one of its tyres burst, causing the driver to lose control. The bus climbed onto the road median and crossed into the opposite lane before hitting a sports utility vehicle and a car travelling towards Tiruchirappalli. Seven of those killed were occupants of the two private vehicles, police said. The remaining victims were yet to be formally identified. Four others, including two children, sustained serious injuries and are being treated at government hospitals.

MUMBAI: Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has opened a formal probe into IndusInd Bank after a Dec 23, 2025 letter triggered an investigation under the Companies Act, 2013, over accounting lapses tied to internal derivative trades.In a filing, the bank said SFIO, under the MCA, seeks information after the lender flagged on June 2 issues spanning internal derivatives, unsubstantiated “other assets/liabilities”, and microfinance interest/fee income. It disclosed the update on Dec 18, pledged full cooperation, and posted details on its website.Derivatives irregularities have hit P&L by about Rs 1,960 crore as of March 31, 2025, eroding reported net worth by roughly 2.3% as of Dec 2024. Earlier profits were overstated as notional gains flowed into P&L while losses sat parked as assets, inflating NII and earnings quality. The derivatives irregularities saw several members of the senior management stepping down with the board bringing in Rajiv Anand from Axis Bank to head the private lender.The bank recognised the losses, absorbed pain in its FY25 earnings which tipped the bank into a Q4 FY25 net loss after one-off write-offs/provisions. Capital/net worth took a 2–2.5% post-tax hit, trimming buffers and nudging growth appetite and capital pricing.The derivatives loss resulted in the shares of the bank sliding as investors reassessed earnings credibility and governance. The scrutiny also sharpened on the board/management/audit committees, intensifying regulatory pressure and SFIO oversight.

PRAYAGRAJ: Noting that the trial court failed to notice that the appellant was confessing to a crime out of fear for his life, the Allahabad high court has overturned the conviction of a man who spent almost 24 years in prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment in a dacoity case.The trial court had in 2002 delivered its verdict based solely on his admission in his statements recorded under CrPC Section 313. A division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Sanjiv Kumar found fault with the trial judge for failing to notice that the appellant was confessing out of fear for his life.The high court concluded that the trial court erred in convicting the appellant as the prosecution had failed to connect him with the offence. Consequently, the court allowed the appeal, set aside the conviction and sentence, and acquitted Azad Khan of all charges. He is to be released forthwith from Mainpuri jail, the high court directed.The division bench ruled in its Dec 19 order that a conviction cannot be premised solely on an admission made in a statement under CrPC Sec 313, especially when the prosecution fails to adduce any corroborative or incriminating evidence.The court termed the incarceration of Azad Khan for almost 24 years as the sad part of the matter, noting that his so-called admission of guilt was likely driven by fear for his life rather than being a genuine confession. The Allahabad high court also noted that the appellant had no assistance of an advocate to defend himself and was not offered or provided any legal aid, which violated the right to a fair trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution (right to life and personal liberty) and also constituted a violation of CrPC Sec 304, which mandates legal aid, at the state’s expense, for the accused.In Feb 2002, the appellant was convicted under ICP Secs 395 (dacoity) and 397 (robbery or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) by the special judge (DAA)/additional sessions judge, Mainpuri.

Gujarat: High court lets off dad on death row for pregnant teen’s rape and murder

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat high court has acquitted a father sentenced to death by a Surat trial court for the rape and murder of his pregnant teenage daughter, citing procedural lapses for refusing to accept the DNA report that led to his conviction as “credible evidence”.The case involves a 14-year-old migrant girl from Odisha whose body was found on Surat’s Dumas beach on June 29, 2017. An autopsy revealed she was pregnant and had been strangled to death. After her father’s arrest based on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution relied on DNA matching of the foetus and the accused to build what became the “cornerstone” of his Jan 2020 conviction under IPC and the Pocso Act.The case was turned on its head when the state govt sought the high court’s confirmation of the death sentence. “The prosecution failed to prove all necessary circumstances by reliable and clinching evidence, which would constitute a complete chain without a snap, as would permit a conclusion other than the one of the guilt of the accused,” the division bench of Justices Ilesh Vora and R T Vachhani said.The judges ruled that DNA samples of the victim’s unborn baby and the accused may have been “compromised” due to multiple lapses, including a 13-day delay in submitting these to the designated forensic laboratory and failure to preserve highly sensitive biological material in an ice box.

MADURAI: A Pocso court in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday convicted and sentenced a man to death for sexually assaulting and impregnating his minor daughter.The 49-year-old labourer, an alcoholic, repeatedly sexually assaulted his 14-year-old daughter since Aug 2024. He also threatened the survivor with dire consequences if she revealed the crime to her mother. When she fell ill, her mother took her to primary health centre where doctors found she was pregnant. Upon discovering that her husband had sexually assaulted their daughter, the woman lodged a complaint with an all-women police station in Feb 2025. Police registered a case for offences under the Pocso Act and arrested the accused.Special court judge K Suresh Kumar observed that the harm caused, deliberate misuse of authority, threats, and long-term impact on the survivor demonstrated the extreme seriousness of the offence. Acts committed by those in positions of trust, especially within families, require a strong response to maintain public confidence and protect other children, the judge said.