1. Manjula Shetye Death Case: Court Rejects Bail To 3 Of the 6 Accused
A Sessions court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to three of the six Byculla jail officials accused in the brutal murder of Byculla prison inmate Manjula Shetye, earlier this year.
Shetye, a warden who was serving her last year in prison, was mercilessly beaten up on two occasions on June 23. The assault was allegedly led by Byculla jailer Manisha Pokharkar. When she was finally taken to the hospital the next morning, Shetye was declared dead on arrival.
Special judge Shayana Patil refused bail to constables Bindu Naykode, Waseema Shaikh and Surekha Kakad, The three others, which includes Pokharkar, had withdrawn their application before the bail application could be argued.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. 11-Year-Old Raped Repeatedly By Her Father For Over A Year In Her Home
An awareness drive conducted by the police, called ‘Police Didi’, might just have saved a 11-year-old girl from being raped by her father. The police have now arrested the girl’s 54-year-old father who is said to have allegedly raped the girl for over a year as per reports by the Hindustan Times.
The accused was a tution teacher and has been booked under sections 354 (sexual harassment), 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 6 (Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault), 10 (Aggravated Sexual Assault) and 12 (Sexual Harassment of the Child) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The 11-year-old girl told her mother about the fact that her father had raped her several times over the past year at their Santacruz home, whenever her mother would leave the home. The police believe that the awareness drive they had conducted in the girl’s school earlier this year might have encouraged her to speak up.
(Source: Mid-Day)
3. BMC Ups Number Of Hawkers From 22,097 To 89,797
The BMC has proposed increasing the number of hawkers in Mumbai from 22,097 to 89,797 and notifying 2,178 areas as no-hawking zones.
The list of these proposed hawking pitches with their locations will be uploaded on the BMC's web site by next week for citizens to submit objections and suggestions. The list of no-hawking zones will also be available on the web site.
A hawking pitch allows only one hawker and therefore the number of pitches is indicative of the number of hawkers in the city.
The final call on the number of hawkers in the city, their precise locations and which areas must remain free of hawkers will be taken by the Town Vending Committee (TVC), which is likely to be constituted by mid-January and will have hawkers' representatives on it.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Nidhi Chaudhari said the number of hawkers has been decided after a detailed survey. "Now that the TVC is likely to be in place soon, we are putting the survey in public domain. Citizens can submit their suggestions and objections within 15 days," she said.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
4. Minister Seen Looking For Leopard With Pistol, Oppn Says He Must Go
Opposition parties in the state have demanded the resignation of Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan after a video in which the minister is seen with a drawn pistol as he accompanies officials in search of a man-eating leopard in Chalisgaon, Jalgaon district, was circulated.
The 57-year-old minister, who holds a black belt in karate, has a penchant for carrying his licenced revolver. In 2015, he had courted a similar controversy after he reportedly arrived at a school programme and addressed students with his pistol tucked in his waist.
On Monday, Mahajan visited Chalisgaon taluka, 327 km north of Mumbai, where five deaths had been reported in a span of 90 days due to leopard attacks. On Sunday, Susabhai Bhil, from Varkhede village, was killed by the same animal. Agitated villagers held protests in the area and the minister is said to have gone to the spot on Monday to meet the families of the victims and pacify the villagers.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. MHADA Gets Back 4-Acre ‘Usurped’ Land From Developer
The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) on Tuesday took possession of the 1,60,000-square-ft (4-acre) Kalina plot from Arshad Ali Ansari of Maitree Developers.
Mirror was the first to report on October 17, 2012 how Ansari had allegedly usurped the prime property valued at Rs 500 crore.
"The plot of CTS number 5611 of 2,073 sq mt is partially reserved for a school so we are planning a residential scheme on the remaining part of the plot. The Floor Space Index (FSI) will be used for the school," said Nikhil Nipane, deputy engineer MHADA.
As per the receipt given to the developer, CTS numbers 5611, 4913, 4914, 4916, 4917 and 5004 and survey number 298/8 have been returned unconditionally to MHADA.
"Some plots adjacent to the one with CTS number 5611 have been encroached. We are soon going to conduct a survey there. After the survey, we will write to the BMC to remove the illegal constructions on the land, and the eligible structures will be rehabilitated as per the procedures," Nipane said.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
6. BMC Official Faces Rs 6L Fine For Razing Godown
A municipal official faces a Rs 6-lakh bill for tearing down a warehouse in Masjid Bunder as the Supreme Court has upheld a compensation order in favour of the godown owner, who had not carried out any illegal construction.
Ashish Mundada, a junior engineer with BMC's buildings and factories department, had ordered the demolition on July 7 after the warehouse was declared illegal. The owner moved the Bombay High Court, which ruled that the demolition was unjustified and the BMC had acted in a high-handed manner. It asked Mundada and the civic body to compensate the owner.
Mundada, who earns Rs 40,000 a month, had hoped for a reprieve from the apex court, but last week it upheld the high court's directive. Chandrakant Suryavanshi, designated officer of B Ward, which includes Masjid Bunder, said the civic body would respect the Supreme Court's decision and present facts in the city civil court where a suit related to the issue is still being examined.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
7. Mumbai's Fat Dogs Are Going Under Knife For Bariatric Surgery
Even as dogs in the city continue to battle weight issues -- around 20 per cent of Mumbai's canines are currently suffering from acute obesity -- the Bombay Veterinary Hospital in Parel appears to have found a unique solution to contain the endemic. For the last three years, the hospital has been performing laparoscopic bariatric surgeries on overweight pets, much to the relief of distraught pet owners.
The centre has already carried out 15 successful weight-loss surgeries since 2014, with 10 more dogs in the waiting list.
(Source: Mid-Day)
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