Mumbai bus rape: Medical proof strong, quick probe sought

MUMBAI: Strong physical evidences indicating sexual assault have been found during the medical examination of a four-year-old girl, said doctors from JJ Hospital.

The child was allegedly raped on September 6 by 27-year-old school bus cleaner Sandeep Kerve when she was in her bus with a friend while it was parked at their school. Kerve "threatened to kill the children if they told anyone about the crime".

The offence was revealed a week later when the girl complained of abdominal pain and a doctor at a local clinic hinted at sexual assault. The first detailed examination of the child could be done only nine days after the incident.

Doctors from JJ Hospital said on Tuesday that the medical examination carried out on the child by a gynaecologist revealed signs of rape. At the same time, only a few scratch marks were found on her, while most of her injuries had healed.

Legal experts said that, in cases of sexual assault, criminal law places great emphasis on the survivor's examination and medical evidence; forensic and scientific evidence play a supporting, corroborative role.

Lawyers agreed that in the Badlapur instance even if the forensic evidence does not prove conclusive due to passage of time in gathering samples, it would not necessarily harm the prosecution's case.

The survivor's medical samples were given to Badlapur police on Sunday to be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.

The police say they have forwarded the samples as well as the clothes worn by the survivor and the accused on the day of the incident. They say they are collecting more evidence to build a watertight case.

"We have recorded the statement of the bus driver, who said Kerve was on duty on the day of the incident. The driver claimed he had gone on a walk when the crime was committed," said an officer.

The police said the survivor's friend who too was on the bus is a key witness in the case. They plan to record the statement of the doctor who was first approached by the child's family when she felt abdominal pain and who first hinted at sexual assault.

Legal experts said that, with the medical evidence in the case appearing to be strong, the police were on the right track for having invoking rape charges against Kerve. What they need to do now is wrap up the investigation quickly after gathering all necessary evidence. Also, they must stay sensitive throughout the probe.

"The police should take the help of a paediatrician and a counsellor while talking to the four-year-old about the incident so that she is not frightened further," said advocate Shrikant Bhat.

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​Govt to tell police to act against khaps

MUMBAI: The state government told the Bombay high court on Tuesday that pending approval of the Prevention of Social Disabilities Bill, it shall issue a circular to all police stations in Maharashtra to take action under the Indian Penal Code on complaints against diktats by caste panchayats.

Advocate general Darius Khambata told a division bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel that the circular will direct the registering of complaints under the IPC for criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation, common intention and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintaining harmony.

"Apart from inter-community matters, the last section will also deal with intra-community matters," he said.

Referring to the recent anti-superstition ordinance, Justice Dharmadhikari said, "People think in the name of religion while performing these acts... For decades people have suffered, but their progeny should not suffer." He said it was an irony that the bill was pending and he would convey to the home department to look into it.

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​65% increase in illegal power lines at island city pandals

MUMBAI: There has been a 65% spike in illegal electricity connections taken by Ganpati mandals this year, compared to the same period last year.

While only nine mandals were caught for illegal power connections in 2008 and there were eight cases in 2009, the number rose to 20 mandals in 2012 and further to 33 cases in the past eight days.

"Our vigilance squads have conducted surprise checks at all Sarvajanik mandals in the island city (from Colaba to Mahim/Sion) in the past two weeks. We have detected 33 cases of illegal power connections so far and prosecuted the respective organisers. The numbers may rise as the checks will continue till Wednesday evening," said BEST spokesperson Manoj Varade.

Another senior official said penalties totaling nearly Rs 1 lakh, were imposed on mandals caught with illegal power connections. Besides, they were also asked to regularise the connections and install meters.

"This is uncalled for. We had introduced a single-window system to obtain power connections at sarvajanik pandals this year," said senior BEST spokesperson A S Tamboli. "Our aim was to ensure that all applications were expedited and the power connections provided in a record time, within 24 hours," he said.

The BEST will also probe whether its own officials were involved in providing unauthorised connections.

In 2012, the BEST fined 20 mandals Rs 79,197, this year, it imposed a fine of Rs 99,520 on 33 mandals.

This year, the BEST also provided connections to more than 1,300 mandals. In 2012, it gave power connections to 1,212 mandals.

The deposit amount collected last year was close to Rs 1.35 crore, while the electricity bills of the mandals shot up to Rs 82 lakh during the Ganpati festival.

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​Lack of checks in vehicle fitness tests irks HC

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the state authorities to verify allegations that 35-40 vehicle fitness certificates are being issued daily by an RTO officer. The court's directions came a year after the HC banned the issuance of fitness certificates to vehicles without proper checks.

"Verify the records. If this is true, then it could lead to a disaster. It requires serious action," said a division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Revati Dhere. The court has directed the "senior most officer at Pune RTO" to file his response.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Pune resident Shrikant Karve alleging that regional transport officers were ignoring the procedures while issuing fitness certificates. Karve had filed an affidavit on the basis of data obtained from the Pune RTO, which showed that a single officer was issuing between 35 and 40 fitness certificates during the office working hours. According to norms, the time for fitness tests and test drives for different vehicles is prescribed and ranges from 10 minutes for an autorickshaw, 15 minutes for a taxi, 20 minutes for a truck and 25 minutes for a bus. "If the court orders were being followed, it would mean that each officer was working for 18-20 hours daily, which was not the case. This is the case at every RTO in Maharashtra," said Karve.

Advocate Uday Warunjikar, who was appointed in the case, said the records point out that the norms were not being complied with despite court orders.

Last year, the high court had directed that no fitness certificate would be issued to any vehicle in Maharashtra without proper tests. The court had warned of strict action if its orders were flouted. The court's orders had come in the backdrop of Maharashtra's accident figures—around 77,000 accidents annually and 13,000 fatalities.

The court on Tuesday also directed the MPSC to expedite the state government's proposal to recruit over 230 assistant RTO inspectors.

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​Court modifies bail terms for accused

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has questioned the need for a trial court to impose "stringent" bail conditions.

Accused Sushma Sharma and Naresh Trika missed answering an NBW. Once they appeared in court, the magistrate passed an order cancelling the warrants subject to the condition that they submitted a personal bond and furnished a local surety of Rs 50,000 each. The other conditions said they had to be present at the Juhu police station on Sundays and could not leave Mumbai or India without the court's permission.

Advocate Aniket Nikam, counsel for Sharma, said, "Merely because the accused remained absent on one occasion, the trial court imposed onerous conditions which were uncalled for."

Nikam said the two were unable to get a local person to stand surety for them. "For furnishing a surety of over Rs 15,000, the person standing surety has to submit his property papers. This is difficult in a city like Mumbai."

Justice Tahaliyani said, "The order passed by the magistrate is too onerous to be sustained. There is no necessity to impose such stringent conditions in the bail order, particularly when the magistrate is not able to hear the matter expeditiously due to pendency of other cases."

Modifying the bail terms, the HC said the duo be released on a Rs 50,000n bond. Additionally, they were given the option of either submitting a surety or a Rs 50,000 cash deposit. The HC said they could not leave India without permission, but deleted the other conditions including the one that required them to take permission before travelling outside Mumbai and present themselves before the police every week.

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‘Visarjan is a lesson for man to let go’

MUMBAI: Wednesday's festival of Anant Chaturdashi will cause separation anxiety within lakhs of Ganesh devotees as they lead their favourite god for immersion. The tenth day of Ganeshotsav is a well-utilised public holiday where vast throngs of people turn out for visarjan yatras and urge the elephant-headed deity to bless devotees with an early arrival next year.

The oldest Ganeshotsav mandal in the city, which hails from Keshavji Naik chawl in Girgaum, escorts its dear little 2.25-ft Ganpati in the traditional 'palkhi'. The procession is accompanied by dhol, lezim and saffron flags in dignified fashion. The 1893 mandal inspired by Lokmanya Tilak, does not believe in an extended yatra spanning 12-14 hours, and is usually home sooner than most.

The procession of the Lal Maidan Ganesh of Parel does last 10-12 hours for it halts at regular intervals as people arrive to offer aarti. "Although 2,000 people join the parade, we are cautious to see that nobody is drunk or engages in unruly behaviour," says spokesperson Surendra Vishwakarma.

Acharya Ravindra Nagar of New Delhi says immersion may cause devotees to experience heartbreak, but the process imparts a lesson as well. "The act of visarjan teaches you to let go of something you love deeply and have nurtured so long. Moreover, human beings are egotistical about their intellect, and visarjan teaches you to surrender to faith over intellect," he says.

People who live near prime immersion locations are also mindful of the enormous effort invested by government agencies. Residents of K N Bhatia building at Prarthana Samaj junction offer free breakfast, lunch and dinner to 2,000-odd policemen, traffic police, SRP and home guards on duty this day, says organizer Hiten Sundhani.

Large Ganpati idols that cannot be lifted are carried to the seashore atop the very mobile trolleys they were built on.The final aarti is performed on the beach before immersion.

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Cops speak to officer's wife, neighbour

MUMBAI: Police spoke to the wife of senior IPS officer Ranjit Kumar Sahay, who suffered 55% burns in an "unfortunate incident" around Sunday midnight, and recorded the statement of Sahay's neighbour who helped rush him to hospital late on Monday.

The officials remained tightlipped about what they learnt from the two, both key witnesses to the incident at Avanti Apartments in Malabar Hill. Sahay's wife was home at the time of the incident and additional director-general of police (planning and coordination) K L Bishnoi is Sahay's neighbour in the building that is home to top police officers.

Earlier during the day, little headway had been made in uncovering the details of the incident that scalded the 52-year-old additional DGP who is posted with the Maharashtra State Housing and Welfare Corporation because doctors have restricted Sahay from speaking as it could damage his vocal chords.

Home minister R R Patil said the house has been locked up and the keys are with his wife, but echoed state police chief Sanjeev Dayal's statement that no suicide note has been found.

The police have initiated an inquiry and it will take sometime before they reach to any conclusion, he added . "I have spoken to the doctors and the best treatment is being provided to him."

Doctors at Bombay Hospital, where Sahay is admitted in the ICU, said his health condition deteriorated early on Monday and he had to be put on ventilator after difficulty in breathing. The 1986 batch IPS officer suffered burns on the face, neck, scalp and abdomen. His respiratory tract was also badly injured due to inhalation of hot fumes.

Plastic surgeon Dr Vinay Jacob, who is treating Sahay, said his condition continued to be critical but stable . "His face and neck have swollen something common in burn injuries. He has been started on sedatives," he said. Sahay is not completely unconscious though he cannot communicate , said hospital sources.

Some IPS officers suspect it could be attempted suicide, but few were willing to hazard a guess on the possible trigger (see box). "It seems some officers are trying to cover up. Sahay is considered a good officer, but was frustrated. There is also talk that he was not on good terms with his immediate boss, DGP Pravin Dixit, who also has a very clean image," said a senior IPS officer. It is learnt that for several months, Sahay had been meeting senior officials and a few politicians . "We don't know the nature of these meetings," said the officer.

Another theory doing the rounds is that Sahay took the extreme step at his official residence after a fight with his wife over her refusal to serve non-vegetarian food during Ganeshotsav .

Another senior officer who helped the family rush Sahay to hospital said it was Sahay's wife, who doused the fire using water. "She was untouched in the fire and it is wrong to say that Sahay tried to set her on fire," he said, referring to speculation that Sahay had tried to set his family on fire after afight.

Many officers described Sahay as short-tempered and said frequent arguments between him and his wife had been a talking point in the IPS officers' circle. But the senior IPS officer said the idea that Sahay could set himself on fire over non-veg food was far-fetched .

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Doesn't BMC want us to pay property tax? System down as deadline nears

MUMBAI: The property tax payment deadline is just 15 days away, but the BMC's collection system has been on the blink since a week, hugely inconveniencing Mumbaikars. It may take afew more days to be up again.

The approaching deadline has left tax-payers anxious. They have demanded the BMC extend the last date for payment.

The crashing of the system, which was unable to cope with the load of applications for calculation, collection and complaint redressal as well as the voluminous data, has severely hit bill payment at citizen facilitation centres (CFCs).

Online payment was discontinued after the new property tax system was introduced. Queuing up at CFCs across the 24 wards is, therefore, the only option available. And currently, they are not functional.

One harried Mumbaikar, who lives in Vile Parle and owns two properties in south Mumbai , said, "Since we can pay the tax at any ward office, I landed up at Andheri (West) to pay more than Rs 2 lakh in tax. Thinking it would be crowded, I reached the office exactly at 10am. Instead, I found the counter window was shut. The staff asked me to come after a week as the software had crashed." He is now worried that if the issue is not resolved till the September 30 deadline, he may be penalized "for no fault of mine".

This year, the BMC has sent across bills to 2.8 lakh properties across the city. The first set of bills for three years-2010-2013- were issued in January and calculated on the basis of the new capital value system (see box). The other bills for 2013-2014 , also issued under the new system, were sent in June. The deadline to pay both is September 30.

Civic officials said following the software and server glitch, the system stopped accepting payment information and generating receipts.

"The system is overloaded. But we have almost sorted out the issue. By Monday, transactions were even carried out at some centres. But it will take another three to four days for it to normalize," S S Shinde, joint municipal commissioner, told TOI. The system is being upgraded.

SOFTWARE SETBACK

BMC's property tax system has been on the blink since a week due to data and application overload. This has hit tax payment across all the 24 wards

BILLS AND PAYMENT DEADLINE

This January, BMC sent final bills for 2010-2013 after switching over from the rateable value system to the capital value system Similarly, in June, it processed bills for 2013-2014 The deadline to pay both the bills is September 30 More than 2.8 lakh bills have been sent across.

WHAT IS CAPITAL VALUE SYSTEM?

The new structure will be based on a property's current market value.

Tax will be calculated on the basis of 5 factors - property's price, area, building's age, use and type of construction.

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ZyFin estimates GDP growth of 4.4% for July 2013

MUMBAI: The GDP growth indicator of ZyFin Research (formerly BluFin), a financial research and analytics company, has estimated the growth at 4.4% for July 2013, compared to July 2012. The corresponding GDP growth estimate for June 2013 was 2.9% indicating that growth accelerated in July 2013.

Commenting on the July GDP numbers, Surjit S Bhalla, senior advisor, ZyFin Research said, "After declining for five straight months, the month-on-month growth estimates are pointing towards a moderate improvement in growth for July 2013. However, the GDP average growth of 4.3% for the first four months of this fiscal year as estimated by ZyFin Research still suggests a struggling economy. The economy needs to accelerate to an average growth rate of 6% for the rest of the fiscal year to meet the 5.3% GDP growth estimate of the PM's economic advisory council, which appears to be difficult."

Analyzing the reasons for the jump in inflation, Debopam Chaudhuri, VP research, ZyFin Research, said: "Food inflation coupled with rising import costs had an adverse impact on overall inflation in the month of July, as indicated by ZyFin's GDP deflator growth estimate. However, with a good monsoon coupled with early indications of rapid growth in the agriculture sector, we expect inflation to remain below Reserve Bank of India's comfort level of under 5% for the WPI."

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ZyFin estimates GDP growth of 4.4% for July 2013

MUMBAI: The GDP growth indicator of ZyFin Research (formerly BluFin), a financial research and analytics company, has estimated the growth at 4.4% for July 2013, compared to July 2012. The corresponding GDP growth estimate for June 2013 was 2.9% indicating that growth accelerated in July 2013.

Commenting on the July GDP numbers, Surjit S Bhalla, senior advisor, ZyFin Research said, "After declining for five straight months, the month-on-month growth estimates are pointing towards a moderate improvement in growth for July 2013. However, the GDP average growth of 4.3% for the first four months of this fiscal year as estimated by ZyFin Research still suggests a struggling economy. The economy needs to accelerate to an average growth rate of 6% for the rest of the fiscal year to meet the 5.3% GDP growth estimate of the PM's economic advisory council, which appears to be difficult."

Analyzing the reasons for the jump in inflation, Debopam Chaudhuri, VP research, ZyFin Research, said: "Food inflation coupled with rising import costs had an adverse impact on overall inflation in the month of July, as indicated by ZyFin's GDP deflator growth estimate. However, with a good monsoon coupled with early indications of rapid growth in the agriculture sector, we expect inflation to remain below Reserve Bank of India's comfort level of under 5% for the WPI."

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