Mumbai court to try minor as adult for rape Saying ‘aaja aaja’ to minor sexual harassment, rules sessions court

First India Bureau

Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai is set to try a 17-year-old teen as an adult and not a minor, after taking se rious cognizance of the “heinous nature of the crime” he committed. The minor stands accused of repeatedly raping and threatening a 7-year-old girl.

While reading out his order, special judge SA Takalikar said, “The mental and physical capacity of the Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) (accused) is that he understands the nature of serious allegations made against

“The CCL is participating in various programmes. He has undergone counselling sessions and training and is also pursuing further education.

Thus, he needs to be considered as ‘child’ and not an adult,” he said.

However, after going through the victim’s statement, which stated that the accused along with others had sexually assaulted the minor more than once, the judge declined to try him as an adult.

“The CCL and other accused threatened the girl by saying that they would commit the same act with her sister too,” he observed.

In his order, judge Takalikar noted, “The allegations of forcible sexual intercourse, unnatural sex, outraging modesty of the victim have been made against this CCL and other accused. The case is that of gang rape and nature of offence is heinous. Therefore, the court directs the JJB to send the accused for trial after making a preliminary assessment.”

—SA Takalikar, Special Judge

First India Bureau Mumbai: A sessions court in Dindoshi has convicted a 32-year-old man under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for repeatedly saying “aaja aaja” (come, come) to a minor.

The court observed that following a girl and saying “aaja aaja” to her despite her clear indication of disinterest in him, was sexual harassment.

The incident took place in September 2015, when the victim was a 15-year-old Class X student. Appearing before the court, she said that she was followed by the man on a bicycle when she was going to attend French tuition class. He uttered the words ‘aaja aaja’ re-

Investors duped over high returns; 2 held, `19 cr seized

First India Bureau

Thane: The Navi Mumbai police have arrested two persons for allegedly cheating people by promising lucrative returns on their investment plans, said an official. The team has recovered nearly Rs19 crore from the accused. They were carrying

Rs9.99 crore cash in 10 suitcases in a cab when they were nabbed on Friday. Another sum of Rs9 crore was recovered after freezing their bank account, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II Panvel) Pankaj Dahane told reporters on Saturday that the police took suo motu action (on their

Crucial Read

THANE COURT ACQUITS 22-YEAR-OLD MAN ACCUSED OF RAPING WOMAN FRIEND

Thane: A court in the Thane district has acquitted a 22-yearold man who had been accused of raping and deceiving a female friend. On Friday, Additional Sessions Judge Dr Rachana gave the man the benefit of the doubt. The prosecution informed the court that the accused and the victim had a love affair. The accused allegedly raped the woman on different occasions under pretext of marriage. Later, he married someone else without any warning, said the prosecution.

MAN ACCUSED OF STEALING ` 7 LAKH IN PALGHAR HELD

Palghar: A man was arrested at Surat airport in Gujarat for allegedly stealing Rs7 lakh from Nalasopara in Palghar. He was named as the suspect by the brother of the accused’s employer, Shailendra Nagarkar, senior inspector of Tulinj police station said. “We nabbed him from Surat airport on Friday. He was planning to flee to Nepal. We have recovered Rs5.65 lakh from him,” he added.

Female Constable Suspended For Hiding Info

Thane: A woman constable in Thane, has been suspended for allegedly hiding the fact that two of her sisters were taking part in a police recruitment drive, an official said on Sunday. She is accused of trying to hide this information by submitting a false undertaking and helping her sisters during the recruitment drive. Her suspension order was issued on February 17.

MAKE-UP ARTIST ON BIKE COLLIDES WITH LEOPARD IN MUM’S GOREGAON FILM CITY

Mumbai: On Friday night, a make-up artist, Shravan Vishwakarma (23), was on a motorbike when he collided with a leopard in Goregaon Film City. The leopard had been chasing a pig when the accident occurred, causing the motorbike rider to fall off and lose consciousness, an official said. The rider was taken to a hospital and is now recovering. According to the state Forest Department, the incident appears to be an accident as the leopard left the spot without harming the victim.

Doctor Dies By Suicide At His Mum Residence

Mumbai: Pawan Laxman Sable (46), a doctor by profession, allegedly died by suicide at his residence in Thane district, the police said on Saturday. A suicide note was also recovered from the spot. The dean of KEM Hospital, where he was employed, informed that the deceased had earlier applied for resignation, but his wife had requested the management not to accept it, the police said.

MAN KILLS MINOR FIANCE IN JALNA DIST, ABSCONDS

Jalna: A 24-year-old man from Warud in Buldhana district is suspected to have killed his 17-year-old fiancée in Jalna. The duo were set to get married on March 17. It is reported that the accused raped the teen before slitting her throat. Authorities are currently searching for the suspect.

“The girl was found in a pool of blood by kin. The accused had fled the village by then,” said an official.

own) against the accused and seized the money. The police received information that the accused had sought investment worth crores from a number of people in a circulation scheme. After promising them a return of 40% within 50 days, they did not pay the money, he said.

Considering magnitude of crime, case may be transferred to Economic Offences Wing (EOW)

However, none of the victims from Pirkon and Bondkal villages came forward to file a complaint.

The police held meetings in the villages to inform locals of such fake investments and asked them to file a complaint, but they were reluctant.

On Friday, the Uran police got a tip-off that one of the accused was to come to Koproli vil- lage in a car with the money taken from the investors, he said.

Accordingly, the police laid a trap and intercepted the cab. The two passengers, Satish Vishnu Gavand (32) and Shashikant Anant Gavand (34), were arrested. A case has been lodged and further probe is underway.

Mumbai police registers case of accidental death; wife alleges his brothers killed him

Mumbai (PTI): City police have registered a case of accidental death of a 42-year-old real estate agent in Mumbai, while his wife has alleged that he was beaten to death by his two brothers and their wives over a property dispute, said an official.

In a video surfaced on social media, the deceased’s wife alleged that he was killed by his two brothers and their wives in front of her and her two children.

A minor son of the deceased was also seen alleging in the clip that his uncles and aunts severely hit his father and strangled him, to which he was a witness. The boy further says that his father was rushed to a nearby hospital but he was declared dead.

“Based on the primary information, we have registered an accidental death report in the case. On the wife’s complaint, we have sent the body for postmortem and are waiting for the medical report,” he said.

COPS FILE CASE AGAINST TWO MEN FOR KILLING FRIEND SIX YEARS AGO

Thane (PTI): Six years after a man from Thane district went missing, the police have registered a case of murder against two of his friends following a court directive, an official said on Sunday. On January 11, 2017, the two accused came to the house of the 18-year-old victim, Parvesh Chouhan, in Kalwa area and informed him about a catering job for him, Police Inspector (crime) Gajendra Patil said. The two accused took the victim along with them and the latter did not return, he added. When the victim's family enquired about it, they gave evasive replies. After a couple of days, Dombivili police called up the victim's family and informed them that his body was found on railway tracks and that it was a case of accidental death, the official said.

Feasibility Check

peatedly, said the then minor.

He continued to harass her for a few more days, following which, the girl narrated her ordeal to her parents and tuition teacher. She later found out that he worked as a security guard at a local building. A police complaint was lodged against him by the girl’s parents. During court proceedings, the man had sought leniency on grounds of being married with a child and underprivileged. Additional sessions judge AZ Khan sentenced him to the period he had already served as an undertrial between September 2015 and March 2016.

Child found in drain 5 years ago adopted by couple from Italy

First India Bureau

Thane: A newborn found abandoned in a drain in Ulhasnagar in Thane district in 2018 has been adopted by an Italian couple, said a functionary of a local organisation that rescued him and registered a police complaint at the time.

On December 30, 2018, the child was found severely injured and had consumed contaminated water. A local organization, led by Shivaji Ragade and his wife Jayshree, rescued the infant and registered a police complaint.

The couple appealed for money for the infant’s treatment at Wadia Hospital in Mumbai, and in just 24 hours, they collected Rs10.42 lakh.

The Ragades wanted to adopt the child, but due to legal issues, they could not. So, the infant was given to Vishwa

We wanted to adopt the child but could not do so due to come legal issues, so he was given in the care of Vishwa Balak Ashram. He was named Tiger due to the resolve with which the child survived being thrown into a drain.

—Shivaji Ragade

Balak Ashram and was named Tiger due to his strong will to survive.

On Friday, Tiger was adopted by an Italian couple, who flew to Europe with him. Everyone involved in his rescue is delighted that he was given such a wonderful life, said Ragade.

MahaMetro looking at ‘Neo’ system for smaller cities

state government are viewing this development positively, Dixit said at the foundation day programme of the MahaMetro on Saturday.

“We have full faith that we will be successful in this task as well,” he said.

First India Bureau Nagpur: MahaMetro is working on the feasibility of implementing the Metro Neo system in cities having a population of up to 20 lakh, with Nashik being the frontrunner, its Managing Director Brijesh Dixit has said. The Centre and the

The ‘Metro Neo’ is a trolley bus system with overhead electric traction and rubber tyres, and has the capability of being upgraded to a light metro system.

Dixit said the second phase of Nagpur Metro rail will be completed in the next five years, with work set to begin from April.

The 44.5km second phase comprises a 19km stretch till Butibori, a 7km stretch from Lokmanya Nagar to Hingna, a 13km route from Automotive Chowk to Kanhan and 5.5km stretch from Prajapati Nagar to Kapsi, he said.

In December 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Nagpur Metro rail project here and travelled in the train with students. He had also laid the foundation stone of Phase-II of the Metro project. There are 36 stations under Phase-I, which covers a distance of 40km. This project has been developed at a cost of more than Rs8,650 crore, officials said.