1. 9 Killed, 44 Injured in Suicide Attack on Church in Pak
Two suicide bombers attacked a packed church during a Sunday service in the restive Pakistani city of Quetta, killing eight people and injuring 44 others in a targeted assault on the minority Christian community ahead of Christmas in the Muslim nation.
The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack. The group's Amaq News Agency posted a statement online, saying attackers had stormed the church in Quetta – the capital of Balochistan province. But the terror group provided no evidence for the claim.
Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said that at least two suicide bombers were involved in the attack on the Bethel Memorial Church on Zarghoon road in Quetta. Balochistan's Inspector General Moazzam Ansari said there were 400 worshippers inside the church when it was attacked.
Ansari said that police assigned to the church's security reacted in a timely manner and averted a much larger tragedy. "It was a coordinated attack," he said, adding that the security forces have cleared the church.
Dr Wasim Baig of Civil Hospital said that nine people were killed in the attack, including two women. Two women were among the dead, and 10 women and seven children were among the injured, hospital officials said.
(Source: PTI)
2. Minor Girl Raped by 3 Men in Northwest Delhi
Three men allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl in a park in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh on Saturday, 16 December, when the country was marking the fifth anniversary of the "Nirbhaya" gang-rape.
The girl, who works as a domestic help, was sitting in a park near Haiderpur slums with a male friend, when the three men came and picked up a fight with him, they said.
She was raped after she tried to stop the accused from beating her friend. They also threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident, the police said.
The trio also took her mobile phone, which was switched off, they said.
(Source: PTI)
3. Man Thrashed for Raping Minor, Paraded With Garland of Shoes
A man, accused of raping an eight-year-old girl, on Sunday, 17 December, was allegedly thrashed and paraded by locals with a garland of shoes around his neck in Uttar Pradesh's Deoband, the police said.
Four people were also arrested for assaulting the accused and making him wear the garland, they said.
The incident took place on 7 December, when she went to attend her uncle's marriage. Ravi, a resident of Hasimpura village, who was also at the function, raped her there, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Vidyasagar Mishra said.
He left the girl in a bus hired for the marriage and fled, the officer said.
The girl's health deteriorated on reaching home after which her family came to know about the incident. They then lodged a police complaint, the SP said. On Sunday, Ravi was caught by villagers from a bus stand and thrashed. He was also paraded with a garland of shoes.
(Source: PTI)
4. Former MLA's Son Shot Dead
The son of a former BJP MLA was shot dead at a spot close to the Uttar Pradesh legislature complex on Saturday, 16 December, and the law and order issue is again likely to rock the state Assembly and the Legislative Council.
Vaibhav Tiwari (36), son of former Domariyaganj MLA Prem Prakash Tiwari, was allegedly shot at from point blank range at the Kasmanda House, barely 300 metres from the UP legislature building and the state BJP headquarters, police officials said.
His father was the BJP MLA from Domariyaganj in 1989, 1991 and 1993. In 2014, he had joined the Samajwadi Party though in this year's Assembly polls, he campaigned for the BJP.
(Source: PTI)
5. Miscreants Shoot Man, Loot Rs 2 Lakh
Gunmen on Sunday, 17 December, shot at a man and looted Rs 2 lakh from him near Enai village in Bihar's Saran district, police said.
The incident took place when Indal Singh, a businessman, was returning home when seven motorcycle-borne miscreants shot at him and decamped with the money, Bhagwan Bazaar police station SHO Surendra Kumar said.
Singh has been admitted to Chapra sadar hospital, the Station House Officer (SHO) said, adding, search is on to nab the culprits.
(Source: PTI)
6. Man Convicted for Molestation; Spared Jail by Judge
A local court has convicted a 28-year-old man for outraging the modesty of a minor girl in 2010, but did not send him to jail and only imposed a fine.
First Class Judicial Magistrate R T Ingle, in his order on Saturday, 16 December, said he was not in favour of sending the convict, Mandar Jagtap, to jail considering his age when the incident took place.
The judge, however, slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict and said the amount should be transferred to the account of the District Legal Aid Services.
Jagtap had committed the crime when he was 21.
"At the time of the incident, the accused was 21 years of age. Usually, such mistakes happen in the said age. The trial has run into seven years which was a constant burden on the accused and a punishment in itself," the judge said.
(Source: PTI)
7. HC Rejects Bail Plea of Driver in Bus Accident That Killed 37
The Bombay High Court has rejected the bail plea of the driver of a luxury bus that plunged into a river off the Mumbai-Goa highway four years ago, killing 37 passengers and injuring 15 others.
The driver, Santaji Kirdat, was convicted on charges of rash driving, negligence, and culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and was given 10 years in jail by a trial court earlier this year.
Kirdat had filed a plea in the HC challenging his conviction and demanding that his sentence be suspended and he be released on bail till the appeal was decided.
Justice AM Badar, who heard the bail plea rejected it on Friday, 15 December, observing that Kirdat had been speeding on a narrow stretch of a bridge at the time of the accident, and had knowingly put the lives of the passengers at risk.
The incident occurred around 3 am on 19 March 2013.
(Source: PTI)
8. Nitish Expresses Concern Over Dip in Conviction Rate for Crimes
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday, 17 December, expressed concern over decline in conviction rate for crimes and asked officials to expedite the process of speedy trial to achieve the desired results as in the past.
On his assuming power of Bihar for the first time in 2005, Kumar had successfully used the process of speedy trial to expedite conviction rate for crimes as an effective measure to control law and order in the state.
He was emphasising on the same successful weapon to control crimes.
"The concerted and coordinated steps that increased conviction rate since 2006 has now weakened,” he said, expressing concern while addressing a day-long seminar attended by High Court Judges, and top civil and police officials, among others, in Patna.
The seminar on ‘Effective Investigation, Speedy Trial and Timely Justice’ was organised by the Home Department in association with Bihar Judicial Academy.
(Source: PTI)
9. American Man Recaptured After 5-Day Indonesia Manhunt
Authorities have recaptured an American citizen who escaped from an overcrowded and understaffed prison on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, police said on Sunday, 17 December.
Christian Beasley, 32, is believed to have escaped during heavy rain last Monday, 11 December from the Kerobokan penitentiary in Bali's provincial capital, Denpasar, by sawing through a ceiling and then climbing over a 6-meter (20-foot) -high wall behind the prison.
The head of the prison, Tonny Nainggolan, said earlier that another American inmate, Paul Anthony Hoffman, 57, who has been serving a 20-month sentence since July for robbery, was captured while trying to escape along with Beasley.
Beasley was arrested in August at a post office in Bali's Kuta tourist area while allegedly trying to pick up a package containing 5.7 grams of hashish. He stood trial and the verdict was due last Tuesday, a day after his escape.
(Source: PTI)
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