5 nuns among 8 booked for ‘hiding’ rape of minor girl by Kerala priest

Sixty-yearold Dulal Sheikh of Sonpukur village of Nadia district in West Bengal was overwhelmed with despair as he watched his labour of love go up in flames on Saturday.

Officials from the agriculture department had just set alight his standing wheat crop to stem the spread of a deadly fungus that had ravaged fields across Bangladesh last year and is now threatening harvest in West Bengal.

Since the last week of February, authorities have launched an offensive against symptoms of what is known as the ‘wheat blast disease’, first identified in Brazil in 1985. It reared its ugly head last month in Jalangi of Murshidabad district, before making a worrisome appearance in several blocks of Nadia. If allowed to spread, experts said the fungus could be deadly, devouring standing wheat crop quickly.

“We are not taking chances whatsoever,” said Pranab Kumar Hembram, an assistant director of agriculture, who along with other officials had descended on Sheikh’s field to destroy the crop.

The officials are in a race to clear the fields and burn the wheat to ensure there are no fungal spores that can travel from Bengal to the wheat bowl of the country in the Hindi heartland.

“We are felling the crop first and then spraying kerosene and setting the field on fire. We must ensure that all crops and seeds are destroyed.

The spores which spread through air has to be contained,” said Arun Roy, project co-ordinator and additional director of the state agriculture department.

To contain the spread of wheat blast, the state government has deployed men and machines, including combined harvester machines to chop off the crop, and jars of kerosene to set them alight.

The outbreak of wheat blast last year took a heavy toll on Bangladesh, where crops of over 20,000 hectares had to be burnt. Both Nadia and Murshidabad border Bangladesh, alarming the government in West Bengal.

The anti-fungus drive is said to be for protecting wheat crops. But Dulal Sheikh is desolate watching his crop go up in flames. “I had invested ₹4000 for 12.5 cottah of land in terms of seed and fertilizers. This is apart from the toil my son and I put in. If everything went well I would have got ₹6,000 for my produce, which means a profit of ₹2,000. But now I don’t know what will I do,” he said, watching the thick smoke billowing from his field.

The administration is offering ₹50,375 as compensation for crop destroyed per hectare. “The amount is paltry and we are not sure when the money will be disbursed,” said Atiur Khan, a farmer of Sonpukur, whose crop was also set alight.

Nadia is one of the most fertile tracts of Bengal with Gangetic alluvial soil.

Diverse crops from jute, oninon, red chilli to paddy and wheat are grown in abundance in the region.

Fortunately, the fungus affects only wheat and, as a result, the adjacent fields laden with red chilli and onion are safe.

The police on Friday registered a case against Kundan Chandrawat, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader who announced a reward of ₹1 crore for Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s head.

Ujjain superintendent of police MS Verma said, “We are yet to arrest the accused, but we have the video recording. Investigations are on,” he added. If convicted, he faces three years in jail and a fine.

The RSS on Friday sacked Chandrawat from all posts, saying: “Kundan who made controversial statement at Ujjain protest mtg has been relieved of his responsibility in RSS (sic).”

Prant Sanghchalak (area head), Prakash Shastri said in a statement on Friday that although Chandrawat retracted his statement, he had been relieved of his duties as the episode created confusion about the sangh. The case was registered under IPC for intent to cause or likely to commit offence against state or public tranquillity.

Former diplomat turned politician, Syed Shahabuddin died in New Delhi on Saturday after a prolonged illness due to respiratory problems. He was 82.

The three-time MP, Shahabuddin also served as a member of Rajya Sabha for several terms.

He was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand in 1935 and joined the IFS in 1958. He is survived by his wife, five daughters, including former Bihar minister Parveen Amanullah. Vice-president Hamid Ansari, besides several other leaders attended the last rites of Shahabuddin, who was buried in the Nizammuddin graveyard on Saturday. Chief minister Nitish

a dramatic end to the tussle to grab the Mumbai mayor’s post, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday evening pulled out of the race just an hour-and-a-half before the deadline for filing nominations ended. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, after consultations with the party’s core committee, announced the BJP will not put up a candidate for either the mayor or deputy mayor’s post.Fadnavis said BJP will stay away from all positions of power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and not contest elections to chairmanship of any of the crucial committees, such as the standing or improvement committees. It will also not stake claim to the post of leader of opposition in the country’s richest civic body.

Now, with only the Shiv Sena and Congress’ mayoral candidates in the race, the contest is as good as over. On the strength of its numbers, Sena’s mayoral candidate Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, a three-term corporator from Khar and an academician, is set to become Mumbai’s next mayor on March 8. The path is also clear for Sena’s deputy mayoral candidate, Hemangi Worlikar, who is the existing education committee’s chairman. Kumar also condoled the death of Shahabuddin by describing him as an able administrator, politician and eminent social activist.

“It is a personal loss for me as I shared a long relationship with him. He was a firm believer in the federal structure of the country and strived hard for bigger participation Congress has fielded Vitthal Lokare for the mayor’s post and Vinni D’souza for the deputy mayor’s post. The Sena is set to establish its power in the BMC for the fifth consecutive time.

“We have taken a decision not to contest mayor’s, deputy mayor’s or any such election,” said Fadnavis. “Going by our seat strength, both Sena and BJP can get ten members each in the standing committee, but we will not be contesting the post of the standing committee chairman. We will also not be contesting elections to the improvements committee or any other committee or even the leader of opposition’s post. We will not sit in the opposition, and if needed, vote in favour of development.”The of masses in governance. His death is an irreparable loss for the political and social fraternity,” Kumar said.

Well known for his opposition to the demolition of Babri Masjid and strong views on the Shah Bano case—a landmark case related to payment of alimony to Muslim women after divorce— Shahabuddin also edited ‘Muslim India’, a monthly research journal on Muslim issues. He also wrote for leading newspapers, magazines and other literary journals. One of the best known Muslim leader’s in the 80s, Shahabuddin quit the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1978 and joined politics in 1979 by contesting from Kishanganj parliamentary seat and represented the chief minister said BJP will honour the mandate given to it for transparency and all its 82 corporators will act as “soldiers of transparency” in the civic body. The decision was taken after consultation with the party’s core committee, which includes finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, public works minister Chandrakant Patil, education minister Vinod Tawde and BJP’s city chief Ashish Shelar. The BJP’s peace move also means that the Sena is unlikely to pull out of the state government, ending uncertainty over its future. Speculation had been rife after Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s announcement on January 26 that his party will henceforth contest all polls on its own. seat three times. In his long political career, Shahabuddin was also the president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawara, member, Muslim Personal Law Board and several other organisations dedicated to the cause of uplift of Muslims.

Eight persons, including five nuns, were booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Saturday for allegedly covering up the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl by a church priest.

Vicar of the St Sebastian Church in Kottiyoor, Father Robin Vadakkumcherry, was arrested on February 27 for allegedly raping a minor who gave birth to a boy on February 17 at a Kuthuparamba private hospital.

“We are investigating all the angles. All accused will be arrested soon,” said Kannur SP Shiv Vikram. During investigation, police have found that there was an alleged attempt to cover up the whole incident and bail out the priest. The girl’s father, who belongs to an economically backward family, was also promised ₹10 lakh to own up the crime.

Though the hospital where the girl delivered the baby claimed that it was not aware of the rape, police reportedly found out that two doctors and a few staffers knew about the incident.

Two days after the delivery, the baby was discreetly shifted to an orphanage controlled by nuns. The superintendent of the orphanage and in-charge of the hospital are among the accused.

Meanwhile, the Mananthawady diocese, under which the accused priest worked, tendered an apology to the girl and her family. “I endure your pain and agony. And I am also in pain…,” said Mananthawady bishop Mar Jose Porunnedam in his apology.