India

Agartala, Dec 8 (PTI) A 17-year old girl was allegedly set on fire and killed by her fiance and his mother in South Tripura district, after her parents failed to cough up a dowry of Rs 50,000, a police officer said on Sunday.

The teenager, who suffered 90 per cent burns, was early on Saturday admitted to GP Pant Hospital here, where she succumbed to her injuries, he said.

Hyderabad, Dec 8 (PTI) An investigative committee of the NHRC on Sunday continued its inquiry for the second day into the alleged encounter in which all four accused in the rape and murder of a young veterinarian were shot dead by police.

The family members of the accused were brought to the city from Narayanpet district and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team, as part of its inquiry, is likely to record their statements, police sources said.

"The NHRC team is continuing its inquiry," a senior police official told PTI.

NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 43 people died on Sunday in a devastating fire that broke out in a building in a crowded grains market area in central New Delhi, police said.

Dr. Kishore Singh of a government-run hospital said the victims were brought to the hospital by rescuers. Another 16 people were being treated for burns or smoke inhalation. They are in stable condition, Singh said.

The cause of the fire, which erupted around 5:30 a.m., is being investigated.

Palakkad, Dec 7 (PTI) An accused in the Walayar rape and death case of two minor dalit sisters was on Saturday thrashed by a group of people following an altercation, police said.

M Madhu, the third accused in the case, who was acquitted recently by a lower court, allegedly got into an argument with the group near his house, the police said.

Rajkot, Dec 7 (PTI) A man was held from Chotila in Gujarat's Surendranagar district for allegedly raping a woman on the pretext of offering her a job after assuming a fake identity online and blackmailing her, police said on Saturday.

Wayanad, Dec 7 (PTI) Citing the increasing number of rape cases in the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the international community was ridiculing the country and India was now known as the 'rape capital' of the world.

Winding up a three-day tour of his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress MP also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said his (Modi's) entire political career was based on hatred and division and violence.

Jodhpur, Dec 7 (PTI) In the backdrop of the Hyderabad rape-murder incident and gunning down of the four accused in an alleged encounter, Chief Justice of India S A Bobde on Saturday said justice can never be instant and loses its character when it becomes revenge.

At the same time, he admitted that the recent events in the country have sparked off an old debate with new vigour, where there is no doubt that the criminal justice system must reconsider its position and attitude towards the time it takes to dispose of a case.

Nagpur, Dec 6 (PTI) Maharashtra's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has given a clean chit to NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in the multi-crore Vidarbha irrigation scam.

The ACB, in its affidavit submitted in the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, has ruled out Pawar's involvement in cases of alleged irregularities in approval and commissioning of irrigation projects in the state.

The affidavit was submitted on November 27, a day before the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of the Shiv Sena -NCP-Congress was sworn-in the state on November 28.

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Saturday demanded that the accused in the Unnao case be hanged within a month.

"I appeal to the UP government and the Centre to fast track this case and ensure that the perpetrators are hanged within a month," said Maliwal, who begun an indefinite hunger strike on December 3 to press her demand that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction.

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) The Railways has provided free WiFi at 5,500 stations across the country, the national transporter's digital arm RailTel said on Friday.

Jharkhand's Mahuamilan station, which comes under the East Central Railway zone, has become the 5,500th station to get the facility, it said.