A woman, who was allegedly raped by her own step son for months and also her husband’s friends, has written a letter to President Draupadi Murmu seeking permission for ‘death by euthanasia.

The 30-year-old woman has written that she has lost all hope for justice.

She said in her letter that the police deliberately did not arrest any of the accused despite an FIR on October 9 at Puranpur Kotwali police station even after court orders.

She added that she has been getting frequent death threats from them, asking her to stay quiet about her abuse.

“I have struggled enough and don’t think I will get any justice. So, I want to end my life with your (President’s) permission,” she wrote in the letter.

According to the woman, she had married a 55-year-old farmer from Chandigarh, also a divorcee, the second time after her divorce three years ago.

She alleged that her step son approached her in April for an illicit relationship and she has been sexually assaulted, repeatedly, ever since.

The step son threatened her with ‘consequences’ which initially forced her to remain quiet.

She further claimed that when she became pregnant and was mercilessly hit in her stomach when she wanted to go for a DNA test.

Later, she was forced for an abortion at a private hospital in Puranpur.

The victim further stated that on July 18, she was taken to a farmhouse of her husband’s friend where one of his relatives and two colleagues raped her. Her written complaints to the local police and other senior officials fell on deaf ears.

Left with no choice, she moved court which issued an order to the police to lodge an FIR.

The FIR was recently registered by Puranpur Kotwali police station and five men, including her husband and step son, were booked under IPC sections 376-D (gang-rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

But no arrests have been made.

The woman currently lives in Bareilly with her mother, brother and six-year-old son from her earlier marriage.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police, Dinesh Kumar Prabhu, said, “This is a complicated case with layers of facts and evidence. We are holding a fair investigation and it will be completed soon. Thereafter, action will be taken accordingly.”

CHANDIGARH, Oct 23: Movement of drones for airdropping drugs, arms and ammunition continues to pose a challenge for security agencies with over 150 such activities noticed this year so far at several points along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, said officials.
They said the use of drones for the smuggling narcotics, arms and ammunition first came to notice in 2019 in Punjab.
The Border Security Force, which is guarding the 553 km stretch of border with Pakistan, has this year shot down 10 drones–three in the last week–besides thwarting intrusion of many unmanned aerial vehicles, the officials said.
“More than 150 drone activities have been spotted so far,” said a senior official of the BSF (Punjab Frontier).

One drone was shot down near the Shahpur border outpost in Amritsar on October 14, two were gunned down on October 16 and 17 in the Amritsar sector, said the officials.
The officials said smugglers backed by Pakistan’s spy agency ISI are using sophisticated and high-end Chinese drones, with minimum sound and capable of flying at higher level.
A drone which was shot down on October 14 was a quadcopter (DJI Matrice) and a holding and releasing mechanism also found with this drone.

Most drone activities have been concentrated in areas along the international border in Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, said the officials.
However, drone movements have also been spotted in Ferozepur and Gurdaspur areas, they added.
The BSF had coordinated with the Punjab Police in busting a gang involved in smuggling of narcotics and weapons from across the border in Tarn Taran area this year, said the senior BSF official.
Last month, the BSF had decided to shoot Indian smugglers who come to collect narcotics and weapons, smuggled from Pakistan, near the international border.
“If a smuggler comes to receive the consignment or attacks, the law permits us to fire at the smuggler,” said the BSF official.
The BSF has also decided to reward its personnel who gun down a drone sneaking into Indian territory.
In April this year, the BSF had announced to give Rs 1 lakh reward to a person who provides information leading to the arrest of persons using drones for smuggling of narcotics, arms and ammunition from Pakistan. (AGENCIES)

Uttarakhand, Oct 23: Doors of Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath temple will remain closed on October 25 on the solar eclipse, said the temple committee.
After the eclipse, the pujas will be performed in the evening, the Chief Administrative Officer of the Shri Kedarnath-Badrinath Temple Committee added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at Badrinath temple on Friday. Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami accompanied Prime Minister at the shrine.
Before arriving in Badrinath, PM Modi visited Kedarnath Dham in Rudraprayag and offered prayers donning a traditional pahadi outfit, Chola Dora, that was gifted to him by Himachali women during his tour to the state.

PM Modi arrived at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun earlier in the day and was received by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh. He later laid the foundation stone of the Kedarnath ropeway project and after that visited the Adi Guru Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal.
He reviewed the progress of development works along Mandakini Asthapath and Saraswati Asthapath. PM Modi also interacted with the construction workers engaged in the Kedarnath Dham development project.
According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the ropeway in Kedarnath will be around 9.7 km long and will connect Gaurikund to Kedarnath, reducing the travel time between the two places from 6-7 hours at present to only about 30 mins

The Hemkund ropeway will connect Govindghat to Hemkund Sahib. It will be around 12.4 km long and will reduce the travel time from more than a day to only about 45 mins. This ropeway will also connect Ghangaria, which is the gateway to Valley of Flowers National Park, said the PMO statement.
The ropeways, which will be developed at a cumulative cost of around Rs 2,430 crore, are an environmental friendly mode of transport that will provide a safe, secure and stable mode of transport. This major infrastructure development will give a boost to religious tourism, which will give a fillip to the economic development in the region and lead to the creation of multiple employment opportunities as well.
Foundation stone for road widening projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore will also be laid during the visit. The two road widening projects – from Mana to Mana Pass (NH07) and from Joshimath to Malari (NH107B) – shall be another step towards providing last-mile all-weather road connectivity to our border areas. Apart from boosting connectivity, these projects will also prove beneficial from a strategic point of view as well.
Kedarnath and Badrinath are among the most important Hindu shrines. The area is also known for one of the revered Sikh Pilgrim site – Hemkund Sahib. The connectivity projects are aimed to ease access and improve basic infrastructure in places of religious significance. (Agencies)

New Delhi, Oct 23: The Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), a non-government organisation associated with the Gandhi family, for alleged violations of the law, officials said.
The action came after investigations carried out by an inter-ministerial committee formed by the home ministry in 2020.
“Yes, the FCRA licence of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has been cancelled after an investigation against it,” an official said.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of RGF while other trustees include former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former finance minister P Chidambaram, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Set up in 1991, RGF worked on a number of critical issues including health, science and technology, women and children, disability support, etc., from 1991 till 2009. It also worked in the education sector, according to its website. (Agencies)

New Delhi, Oct 23: With 1,994 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 4,46,42,742, while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 23,432, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.
The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 5,28,961 with four more fatalities, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.
The active cases account for 0.05 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.76 per cent, the ministry said.
A decrease of 611 cases was recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, it added.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.24 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.99 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 4,40,90,349, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent.

According to the ministry, 219.55 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered to the beneficiaries across the country.
India’s Covid tally crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 2020, 40 lakh on September 5, 2020 and 50 lakh on September 16, 2020.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 2020, 70 lakh on October 11, 2020, 80 lakh on October 29, 2020, 90 lakh on November 20, 2020 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore Covid cases on May 4, 2021, the three-crore mark on June 23, 2021 and four crore cases on January 25 this year.
Of the four fatalities recorded in the 24-hour period, one each was reported from Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Nagaland. (Agencies)

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping was on Sunday re-elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China for a record third five-year term, a privilege only accorded to party founder Mao Zedong.
Xi, 69, was elected to the powerful Central Committee a day earlier by a once-in-a-five-year Congress despite crossing the official retirement age of 68 and completing 10-year tenure.
Several senior leaders including the number two leader Premier Li Keqiang either retired or failed to make it to the Central Committee resulting in a major shakeup of China’s politics and government.
The Central Committee members on Sunday elected a 25-member Political Bureau which picked the Standing Committee members to govern the country.
Soon after his election, Xi appeared before the media here on Sunday along with the newly elected Standing Committee.
Xi, in his brief closing remarks at the 20th Congress on Saturday, said that the revision of the Constitution sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party’s overall leadership.
“Dare to struggle, dare to win, bury your heads and work hard. Be determined to keep forging ahead,” he said.
“We must be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms,” he said.
“Confronted with drastic changes in the international landscape, especially external attempts to blackmail, contain, (and) blockade… China, we have put our national interests first,” he said, apparently referring to the growing negativity against China in the US and West. (Agencies)