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Man accused in Delhi gang rape case commits suicide

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:09:00 +0000

NEW DELHI (AP) — The main suspect in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman on a New Delhi bus, an attack that horrified Indians and set off national protests, committed suicide in jail Monday, police officials said.

Ram Singh, who is accused of driving the bus on which the 23-year-old student was raped and fatally assaulted by a group of six men in December, hanged himself with his own clothes, said G. Sudhakar, the top police official at Tihar jail.

Singh, along with four other men on trial with him on rape, murder and abduction charges, had been under a suicide watch, another jail official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. He said the five were being held in separate cells in separate buildings at the jail.

If convicted, the men could face the death penalty. The sixth accused is being tried and jailed separately because he is a juvenile.

Singh's lawyer, A. P. Singh, confirmed his client's death, saying he died at 5:30 a.m. He alleged that police maleficence led to his client's death.

"What do you mean killed himself? He has been killed in prison," Singh said.

Lawyers for the men have previously accused police of beating confessions out of their clients.

India’s top cop calls for rape crackdown

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:33:00 +0000

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's top law enforcement official said Friday that the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand" to prevent attacks such as the fatal gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus last month.

That attack has sparked outrage across India and led to calls for tougher rape legislation and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said crimes against women and marginalized sections of society are increasing, and it is the government's responsibility to stop them.

"This needs to be curbed by an iron hand," he told a conference of state officials from across India that was called to discuss how to protect women.

He called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.

"We need a reappraisal of the entire system," he said.

Five men were charged Thursday with murder, kidnapping and rape in the attack on a 23-year-old student who died over the weekend in a Singapore hospital from massive internal injuries. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday at a new fast-track court inaugurated this week to deal with rape cases in the capital.

Indian police charge 5 in New Delhi gang rape

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:43:00 +0000

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police have filed rape and murder charges against five men accused in the gang rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus last month.

Police say they plan to push for the death penalty in the case.

A sixth suspect is believed to be a juvenile and is expected to be tried in juvenile court.

The five were charged Thursday with raping the 23-year-old woman for hours and beating her companion as the bus drove through the capital. The woman died Saturday in a hospital in Singapore from massive internal injuries.

The case has sparked outrage and protests across the country demanding greater protection for women.

Rape protests in India turn violent

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:24:00 +0000

NEW DELHI (AP) - Police in India's capital used tear gas and water cannons for a second day Sunday in a high-security zone to break up protests by thousands of people demonstrating against the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus.

Police chased angry protesters with batons as they fought pitched battles to try to get past steel barricades and a wall created by hundreds of policemen to reach the president's mansion to present their demands. "We want justice," they shouted.

Television footage showed that some protesters were injured in the clashes.

The demonstrations continued Sunday despite Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promising to consider their main demand for death penalties for all six suspects who have been arrested by police following the Dec. 16 attack.

Shinde said Saturday night that the government was taking steps to better ensure the safety of women.

A group of protesters met Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, and her son and lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday and demanded a speedy trial of the suspects.

Popular yoga guru Babar Ramdev stood on the roof of a bus and pledged support to the protesters. "The government must set up fast-track courts to punish the offenders in rape attacks," he said.

Pirate threatens India after capture of 61 pirates

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:48:00 +0000

Five dozen pirates living on a hijacked ship serving as a roving pirate base jumped into the Arabian Sea on Monday after the Indian navy fired on the vessel in self-defense, the navy said Monday.

The navy captured 61 pirates fleeing the battle and the fire that broke out aboard the hijacked vessel. The battle is the latest example of the piracy trade's turn toward increased violence.

A pirate in Somalia threatened Indian sailors and the government with targeted attacks in retaliation for the arrests.

The Indian navy said a patrol aircraft spotted the mothership Friday while responding to another vessel reporting a pirate attack. The pirates aborted the hijacking attempt and tried to escape on the mothership.

When the Indian ships closed in Sunday night, the pirates fired on them. The hijacked vessel caught fire when the Indian navy returned fire, the navy said.

The pirates had hijacked the Mozambique-flagged Vega 5 in December and had used it as a mothership. Indian sailors rescued 13 crew members from the Vega 5 Sunday night about 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) off Kochi in southern India, the statement said.

Plane crashes in India, 160 feared dead

Sat, 22 May 2010 03:40:00 +0000

An Air India plane arriving from Dubai crashed Saturday morning after it overshot a runway while trying to land in southern India, and officials feared as many as 160 people on board were killed.

Television images showed smoke rising from the aircraft at the airport in the city of Mangalore as rescuers struggled to reach those inside.

Officials in the state of Karnataka said of the 169 people believed to be on board, only six or seven might have survived.

"This is a major calamity," Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya told CNN-IBN TV.

Firefighters were working to put out the flames, he said.

Seemant Singh, a police official at Mangalore airport, told NDTV that conditions at the airport were poor when the plane overshot the runway at about 6 a.m.