Mumbai:

A 30-year-old Arabic teacher has been arrested in Maharashtra’s Beed city for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl who attended his tuition, police said.

The accused (name not disclosed to protect the victim’s identity) taught Urdu and Arabic to children at his home, said inspector A K Mudliyar of Pethbeed police station.

He allegedly raped the girl many times after other students left and also subjected her to unnatural sex, the official told PTI.

The crime came to light when the girl complained of stomach pain and the doctor realized that she had faced sexual assault.

The girl told her parents that the teacher was sexually abusing her for the last three months and had warned her not to tell anyone about it, the police officer said.

“We have registered an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rape, unnatural sex, and also under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Further investigation is underway,” inspector A K Mudliyar said.

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

Thane:

A woman from Dombivali in Thane district has alleged that her husband secretly filmed her with her paramour and circulated the intimate clips on social media, a police official said on Friday.

Based on the complaint of the 35-year-old woman, her estranged husband was booked on Wednesday under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act for voyeurism, defamation and other offences, the official said.

“As per the complainant, her husband filmed her sexual act with her paramour by installing a spy camera in the house. Further probe is underway,” the Manpada police station official said.

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

Jalna:

As many as 22 workers were injured in a boiler explosion at a steel factory in MIDC area in Jalna city of Maharashtra on Saturday, police said.

The condition of three workers is critical, said Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Bansal.

The explosion at Gaj Kesari Steel Mill, which occurred around noon, resulted in molten iron falling on workers, he said.

Three workers were admitted to a private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city in critical condition.

Another official said that the factory manufactures steel bars from scrap, adding that police are recording statements of injured workers. He said that legal action is being taken against the company owner.

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

Jalna:

Seven persons returning from a pilgrimage to temple town Pandharpur were killed and three injured on Thursday after a taxi veered off the road in Maharashtra’s Jalna district and fell into a well, a police official said.

The incident took place at 5:30pm in Vasant Nagar in the district’s Badnapur tehsil, the official said.

“The occupants of the taxi were returning from Pandharpur. The killed people have been identified as Narayan Nihal (45), Prahlad Bitle (65), Prahlad Mahajan (65), Nanda Tayde (35), Chandrabhga Ghuge, who are residents of Chanegaon in Badnapur tehsil, as well as Tarabai Malusare from Bhokardan and Ranjana Kamble (35). Three injured persons have been admitted in the district hospital here,” he said.

The taxi had 12 occupants, including the driver, and it veered off the road while trying to avoid a motorcycle coming from the opposite direction, the official said.

“The black-and-yellow taxi fell into a well, trapping some of the occupants as the front doors got jammed. Some of them managed to escape as the taxi began to sink. The road on that stretch does not have guard rails. A crane had to be deployed to extricate the bodies from the car,” the official said.

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

Palghar:

A 23-year-old tribal woman allegedly killed her 4-year-old daughter and then died by suicide following a fight with her husband in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday at Sisne village in Dahanu area.

The woman’s husband, a fisherman, used to be frequently away from the family, an official from Kasa police station said.

He returned home on Sunday and went out with his friends.

His wife was annoyed as he had not taken her with him and this led to a quarrel between them, the official said.

On Monday, the woman allegedly strangled her daughter to death and later hanged herself from the ceiling of her house, he said.

After being alerted by neighbours, police rushed to the spot and initiated a probe into the incident.

The bodies were sent for a post-mortem, the police added.

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

Nashik:

The bodies of a 30-year-old woman and her three daughters, including a toddler, were found floating in a well in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, two days after they went missing, police said on Saturday.

Police suspect it to be a case of suicide, but the investigation is underway considering various angles.

According to police, the woman and her daughters went missing from their home in Mothe Sakode village on July 4, following which her husband Tukaram Deshmukh launched a search.

On Friday, a farmer spotted the body of a girl floating in a well situated on the banks of the Aaram river in Mothe Sakode village, police said.

“The body was fished out and was identified as the eldest daughter of Tukaram Deshmukh. Subsequently, two more bodies were fished out of the water. The deceased are identified as Sarala Deshmukh, Sandhya (7), Manshree (6) and Vedshree (18 months),” police said.

Police registered a case and launched an investigation.

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

Mumbai:

Nationalist Congress Party leader Amol Mitkari has sparked speculation regarding the possibility of the Mahayuti members contesting the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls independently if each constituent insists on demanding 100 seats, drawing the ire of the BJP.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday evening, Mr Mitkari emphasised the impracticality of accommodating such demands within the 288-seat Maharashtra assembly.

The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

“If each constituent adamantly insists on contesting 100 assembly seats in the upcoming state elections, then the parties will have to contest separately. With only 288 assembly seats available, being offered only 55 seats would be unacceptable for the party,” said Mr Mitkari, who is an MLC and NCP spokesperson.

Pravin Darekar, BJP legislative party leader in the Legislative Council, responded by saying, “Mitkari should be reined in by senior leaders of his party. The party’s chief or state president should clarify whether Mitkari is authorised to make such comments. Seat-sharing discussions will take place among the top leaders.”

Mr Mitkari had recently criticised BJP leaders, defending NCP chief Ajit Pawar.

Following the Pune Porsche car accident, Mr Mitkari insinuated that similar incidents had occurred when BJP leader and state minister for higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil was the guardian minister of Pune district.

The BJP has refuted Mr Mitkari’s claims and urged the NCP to caution him against making such comments.

Mr Mitkari recently advocated an alliance with the Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), which hobnobbed with Maha Vikas Aghadi, for the Maharashtra assembly elections, with a caveat that it was his personal view.

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

Mumbai:

Bihar may not be the only state where malpractices were found during the medical entrance exam NEET with cops in Maharashtra questioning two teachers in the paper leak case.

Sanjay Tukaram Jadhav and Jalil Umarkhan Pathan were picked up by the Nanded Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on the suspicion that they were involved in the NEET paper leak case. They used to teach in Zilla Parishad schools and also run private coaching centres in Latur.

They were released after several hours of questioning and will be called again if needed, sources said.

The twin public exams of NEET and UGC-NET have rocked the Indian academic and political world with paper leaks being investigated by authorities at both central and state levels.

The CBI was handed over the probe into NEET paper leaks last night as the government vowed to protect the interest of the students. It is also probing the UGC-NET irregularities, which include papers being leaked and sold on the dark net.

Bihar Police had earlier arrested four persons who had confessed to having leaked the question papers a night before the NEET UG exam. Cops are now probing the role of ‘solver gangs’ that sell leaked exam papers to students and provide proxy candidates to take tests for candidates.

On its part, the government yesterday replaced the testing body head and formed a high-level panel to look into the NEET irregularities. A new law has also been notified to curb paper leaks and other exam malpractices.

Nearly 24 lakh students had taken the NEET UG test on May 5, but after the results were declared on June 4, allegations of paper leaks and grace marks given to over 1,500 students surfaced. This triggered protests and court cases, and ultimately a CBI probe.

This afternoon, over 1,500 aspirants will take a NEET re-test at seven exam centres after the testing agency withdrew the grace marks awarded to them to make up for loss of time. Officials of the exam body will be present to ensure the exams are held smoothly.

NEET PG, which was scheduled today, was cancelled last night with the Health ministry stating a new date will be announced soon. UGC-NET was also cancelled – just a day after it was already conducted.

Thane:

A case has been registered against a 27-year-old man for allegedly beating up his live-in partner and subjecting her to unnatural sex in Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said on Sunday.

Based on a complaint lodged by the 25-year-old woman, the Ambernath police on Friday registered a case under sections 377 (unnatural sex), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, an official said.

The woman, in her complaint, has alleged that her live-in partner thrashed her with a belt and punched her on the intervening night of June 13 and 14, he said.

The man also allegedly subjected her to unnatural sex and threatened her, the official said.

No arrest has been made in the case so far, and further probe is underway, he said.

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

Nanded:

Pigs roamed as relatives of patients went about their chores – some brushing their teeth, some washing utensils. The scene was from the hospital in central Maharashtra where 31 patients had died in a span of 48 hours.

Hygiene was among the issues raised in the aftermath of the Nanded hospital horror, a glimpse of which was captured on Wednesday.

Plastic bottles and wrappers clogged the drains as the pigs roamed through garbage at Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital.

“This is how it is every day,” said a woman as she stopped cleaning a vessel.

Another said, “We can’t use the toilet. We get nothing here, we have to go out for everything.”