Bharuch, Gujarat:

A young woman, who runs a beauty parlour in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, was held hostage at knife point by a man she had befriended on social media app Instagram.

The suspect, Prakash Dashrath, hailing from Patan, entered the woman’s beauty parlour and threatened her with a knife after she refused further communication with him.

According to sources, “the victim had developed a friendship with Prakash through Instagram messages. However, when the woman decided to cut off contact, Prakash grew enraged. He then visited her beauty parlour, located in the Vagra market area, and held her at knife point. Fearing for her life, the woman managed to message the parlour owner, alerting him to the situation.”

“Upon receiving the distress message, the beauty parlour owner immediately informed the Vagra police. Police officers arrived quickly, broke through the parlour’s glass door, and rescued the woman. The suspect, Prakash Dashrath, was arrested at the scene. The woman was safely evacuated, and police have lodged a formal complaint against the accused.”

Following the incident, Police Sub-Inspector A.K. Jadeja of the Vagra police station issued a public advisory, urging people to be cautious when interacting with strangers on social media.

The officer said that “such interactions can lead to dangerous situations, as seen in this case. Authorities have also advised the responsible use of social media platforms to avoid similar incidents in the future”.

In another incident reported from Bharuch on Thursday, a physical education teacher at an international school on National Highway No. 48 has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a first-grade student in 2017.

The POCSO court delivered the judgment after hearing the compelling evidence and arguments from the chief public prosecutor and reviewing medical reports. In addition to the prison sentence, the court imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on the teacher and ordered a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to be paid to the victim.

The incident occurred on December 12, 2017, when the victim attended her regular school session from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Her mother sent her to school in a private van around 6:15 a.m. Later that afternoon, the child returned home and confided in her family about the assault. Upon learning about the incident, the victim’s mother complained to the local police.

Following the complaint, the police arrested the accused, Prithvisinh Dilipsinh Ambaliya, and filed a charge sheet in the POCSO court.

The investigation revealed that the teacher had been involved in multiple instances of misconduct with children.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Rajkot:

After a massive fire at a gaming zone in Rajkot claimed at least 28 lives on Saturday, the Gujarat government has now issued a directive to register cases against the owners of all such establishments that are being run flouting the norms.

According to the directive, cases will be filed against those lacking NOCs during the verification process, invoking strict sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and imposing non-bailable clauses.

The directive has been sent to all the collectors and municipal commissioners across the state for immediate enforcement. Subsequently, the district police chiefs have been notified, with explicit instructions to register cases and take stringent action against the violators.

The mandate requires a thorough inspection of all the locations where large gatherings take place, including temples, mosques, schools, colleges, malls, theaters, food markets, densely populated areas, and gaming zones.

The police and revenue officials will conduct joint verifications at each location to assess the status of fire NOCs.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ahmedabad:

 Four policemen found guilty of contempt of court for publicly flogging some minority community members in Kheda district on Wednesday requested the Gujarat High Court that they be directed to pay compensation rather than being given punishment, which they argued would affect their careers.

A division bench of Justices A S Supehia and Gita Gopi posted the matter for hearing next Monday in order to have the responses of the complainants on the policemen’s proposal.

During the last hearing, the court had framed charges against the four policemen after finding them guilty under the Contempt of Courts Act for violating the Supreme Court’s guidelines issued in the case of D K Basu vs State of West Bengal regarding compliance with proper procedure before arresting any individual.

The court said they actively participated and carried out flogging of the applicants in public by tying them to a pole.

Appearing on behalf of the then inspector of Kheda police station A V Parmar, sub inspector D B Kumavar, and constables Kanaksinh Dabhi and Raju Dabhi – the four policemen charged with contempt of court – senior advocate Prakash Jani submitted that they have completed substantial years of service and the charges will affect their career.

“Instead of punishing them under the Contempt of Courts Act, appropriate compensation which the court deems fit may be awarded to the five applicants (from the policemen),” he submitted.

Senior advocate I H Syed, appearing for the complainants, said that he would take appropriate instructions from the complainants in this regard, after which the court posted the matter for hearing on Monday.

During the Navratri festival in October last year, a mob comprising members of the Muslim community allegedly hurled stones at a garba dance event at Undhela village in Kheda, injuring some villagers and police personnel.

Videos emerged on social media showing police personnel purportedly flogging three of the 13 persons arrested for pelting stones. Some of the accused later approached the HC, claiming the police personnel involved in the act had committed contempt of court by flouting the Supreme Court’s directions.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)