New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) Consent to indulge in unnatural sex is “immaterial”, a Delhi court has held while convicting a man of raping and committing unnatural act with a woman on the false promise of marriage, despite he being already married.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Bhat held Noida resident Prashant Kaushal guilty of the offences saying though the sexual relations between him and the woman were consensual but the victim’s consent was not free and voluntary as she was falsely assured by him that he was obtaining divorce from his wife and would marry her.

“The consent is immaterial so far as carnal intercourse against the order of nature between a man and a woman is concerned and therefore, every act of unnatural sex committed by the accused with the prosecutrix is an offence under section 377 (unnatural offences) of the IPC,” the court said.

The court, which is yet to pronounce order on quantum of sentence, agreed with the submissions of the defence counsel that instances of physical relations between Kaushal and the woman could not have been forcible all the time.

It, however, said that it does appear that the woman was having sexual encounters with the man voluntarily but having belief in her mind that he has filed petition for divorce against his wife and is going to marry her at any cost.

The court said it was not only the man but his parents also who deceived the woman and persuaded her to continue sexual relations with their son on the promise that he would marry her after he gets divorced from his wife.

“Kaushal also used to force her to consume alcohol before engaging in sex with her in order to ensure that she does not offer much resistance and he gets more pleasure and satisfaction from it,” the court noted, adding her consent was not free and voluntary.

According to the prosecution, Kaushal and the woman were working in the same office in Gurgaon and they became friends and used to go for outing. When she fell ill, the man came to his house and raped her and on her resistance, he assured her that he would marry her.

It said the man took the woman to several places outside Delhi since 2012 to 2014 and after making her consume alcohol, he forcibly established physical relations including unnatural with her.

It added that the woman took transfer to Hyderabad where the man followed on one pretext or other and later on she quit her job.

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) Things appear to be going from bad to worse for Vijay Mallya, once known as ‘King of Good Times’, with the board of a company he nurtured into India’s largest liquor maker asking him to quit.

Mallya, already fighting on a number of other fronts including the ‘wilful defaulter’ charges, recently also saw one of the Kingfisher aircraft being sold to a scrap dealer in Mumbai, who sold it after tearning it apart into pieces.

This followed lenders taking possession of Kingfisher House near airport in Mumbai, on which tax department has also staked its claim to recover its own dues.

Mallya, however, continues to strike a defiant note and has refused to step down while taking refuse in “certain contractual obligations” that require United Spirits’ current owner Diageo to back his position as Chairman.

While Diageo is yet to make its position public, sources have said that the UK-based liquor giant, which spent USD three billion (about Rs 20,000 crore) to buy 55 per cent stake in USL, may invoke “certain defaults” on the part of Mallya and his UB Group to support the board resolution of his ouster if shareholders are required to vote on the same.

The board is already dominated by Diageo representatives with Mallya being the only one from his UB Group, which now owns just about 3 per cent stake in USL including a fractional 0.01 per cent in his name.

Mallya has been in the dock ever since his ambitious airline venture Kingfisher landed in financial troubles and got eventually grounded in October 2012.

Thereafter, Mallya had to sell some of his assets, including controlling stake in USL to Diageo.

The UB Group, where Mallya became chairman at the age of 28 after death of his father in 1983, was considered one of India’s largest conglomerates till a few years ago with turnover of over USD 4 billion and market value of USD 12 billion.

It had diverse interests in brewing, distilling, real estate, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology, information technology and aviation, while it was also the largest Indian manufacturer of beverage alcohol — beer and spirit.

Now, the aviation venture is grounded since 2012, a takeover battle is on for fertilisers arm, while control or major stakes have passed away to new owners at some other entities including the group’s erstwhile flagship firm USL.

Prior to becoming UB Chairman, Mallya worked for the American Hoechst Corporation (now Sanofi-Aventis) in the US and with Jenson and Nicholson in the UK. In 1980, he began assisting his father in managing the Brewing and Spirits Divisions and in re-launching the Kingfisher Brand of Beer.

In aviation, he pegged Kingfisher as the country’s only luxurious airline and later acquired Air Deccan to foray into low-cost market. Emerging as one of the most flamboyant businessmen, he bought an IPL team (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and was also the first Indian ever to become the owner of a Formula One Team, where he later brought in Sahara group, another embattled corporate house, as a partner.

Kolkata, Apr 27 (PTI) Three persons – the manager and two employees of Aquatica, the city’s largest water park, have been arrested after a hidden CCTV camera was allegedly found installed in the ladies’ changing room.

South 24 Parganas additional superintendent of police Abhijit Sinha today said the arrests were made last night following complaints by some women who had visited the park during the day and used the changing room.

The CCTV camera in the changing room and several others from various areas of the park were also seized, he said.

Manshu Tandon, CEO of Aquatica, told PTI that police were investigating the case. “But we want to say that there has been no breach of privacy as was claimed because the CCTVs were not there in the ladies’ changing room.”

He said the park had two separate lockers and changing rooms for men and women. However, the park authorities had converted the men’s locker room as one for women as the ladies’ locker and changing rooms were being renovated.

The CCTV had been installed in the men’s locker room and it continued to be in operation in the converted women’s locker room as the staff had forgotten to switch it off.

“The CCTV ran for about one and half hours. After it came into light we switched it off immediately,” Tandon said.

The incident took place just weeks after Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani spotted a hidden CCTV camera in a changing room of a Fabindia outlet in Goa.

Kathmandu, Apr 27 (PTI) Rescue teams today deployed specially trained dogs from India, France and Spain for locating victims buried under tonnes of debris following the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

A team of 15 personnel and six dogs were brought in Nepal from France and Spain to assist in the rescue operations.

“These dogs have a vital role in identifying victims buried under the debris,” said Jose Castello, a volunteer with Intervention Ayuda Emergencical (IAE).

Christophe Sira, Central Seismological Bureau member of Pompiers d’urgence, said that the breeds of dogs who arrived for the rescue operations are Golden Retriever and German Shepherd.

Prominent organisations like Red Cross International is among other groups assisting in the rescue operations.

Dogs were flown in well built cages so that they don’t feel cramped during the journey.

India has sent a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Dogs are also part of the entourage to help locate victims buried under the debris.

A state of emergency has been declared in Nepal after a powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the country on Saturday followed by numerous aftershocks. Over 3,600 people have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in the tragedy.

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) The delay in the procurement process has adversely “impacted” operational preparedness of armed forces and has proved “disadvantageous” to the interest of the forces, a Parliamentary panel report stated today.

“The committee notes that some of the critical shortages and vintage of equipment include artillery guns, infantry weapons, sights and fire control and engineering equipment, air defence equipment and armoured recovery vehicles.

“The reasons given by the Ministry (of Defence) for the shortage are inadequate production capacities of ordinance factories, defence public sector undertakings as well as procurement process delays,” the Standing Committee on Defence said in its report.

“The committee are of the view that delay in the procurement process has adversely impacted Operational Preparedness of the services, and has also proved disadvantageous to the interest of the forces, which ultimately lead to the obsolescence of equipment in the Army,” the report said.

Noting that the Committee failed to understand the reasons of holding vintage equipment with the forces for such a long time as with each passing year vintage equipment degenerates, the Committee said, “this makes availability of ammunition as well as spares difficult to find from the original equipment maker (OEM) sources.”

“Thus non-accessibility to ammunition and spares may some times lead to dangerous situation at the time of urgent necessity like war,” the report stated.

The committee recommended that the critical shortages should be made up at the earliest and the proclivity of passing the buck to Ordinance Factories/Defence Public Sector Undertakings should be “stopped”.

“An action plan for capital acquisition should also be drawn to make the army a fighting fit force,” the panel said.

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) Tihar inmates were today treated to melodious classical ragas played on flute by Grammy nominee Pt Ronu Majumdar in an inaugural session of monthly “Morning Ragas”.

Almost two thousand inmates attended over an hour-long recital by Majumdar that started with Rag Ahir Bhairav, followed by a Pahari dhun and two popular compositions including Gadhiji’s favorite “Vaishnav Jan” and Tagore’s “Ekla Chalo”.

He was accompanied by Kalpesh Sachala on the flute and Ustad Akram Khan on the tabla.

Morning Ragas initiative by Director General (Prison) Alok Kumar Verma is aimed at augmenting rehabilitation process of the inmates through music, in collaboration with Legends of India, a registered society promoting Indian art forms, said Tihar PRO Mukesh Prasad.

The musical jugalbandi of flute and tabla mesmerized and inspired the inmates and some of them later expressed their desire to learn music, he said.

Verma has asked the prison officials to find out ways and means to introduce music classes in the prison. The Legends of India has also promised to send back an instructor to give music lessons to interested inmates.

Announcing that ‘Morning Ragas’ will be a monthly feature, Verma said “Our efforts will help inmates guide themselves bringing in positivity into their lives and to rejuvenate them.”

The musical concert, a new chapter in the history of Tihar, is intended to release the inmates from the tyranny of conscious thought and heal them. Music directly deals with the root causes of crime, violence, and addiction and offers a practical approach to emotional growth, Prasad said.

PTI

Nepal

New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI) The death toll in India from Saturday’s monster earthquake today shot up to 72 even as New Delhi ramped up relief and rescue efforts in Nepal to provide succour to the nation devastated by the temblor.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Lok Sabha that the toll in the country has climbed up to 72 with 56 deaths reported in Bihar, 12 in UP, three in West Bengal and one in Rajasthan.

Enumerating the mammoth task undertaken by India to mitigate the sufferings of the Nepalese people under ‘Operation Maitri’, Singh said 10 NDRF teams are already in that country and six more on their way. An engineering task force and 18 medical units have also been rushed. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle has also been dispatched to assess the gigantic losses suffered by the landlocked nation.

Over 2500 Indians have been evacuated from quake-hit Nepal so far and free visas are being given to foreigners stranded there who want to come to India.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, comprising about 450 trained personnel, have fanned across areas like Seetapaila, Maharajganj, Maheshwari and Gangabhajat, about 10-15 kms from the Kathmandu valley.

The force, till now, has rescued 10 people and retrieved 46 bodies from under the rubble of buildings brought down by the quake on Saturday and a string of aftershocks thereafter.

NDRF Director General (DG) O P Singh, who is camping in the capital city of Kathmandu since yesterday, said a team of his men has also been deployed at the Tribhuvan international airport to assist Indian Embassy officials in the air evacuation of stranded Indians.

“Our main priority is to go for as many rescue operations as we can. Last night our operations got hit as there were incessant rains and aftershocks of the quake. But, today morning we have started full-fledged operations as the day is sunny and there are no rains,” Singh said.
PTI