Muzaffarnagar:

The disappearance of a bride-to-be just hours before her wedding in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, a police complaint alleging abduction, and a social media post about her “death” sent investigators into a tizzy and sparked a massive manhunt, which ended after the woman was found in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.

According to police sources, the chaos began on Tuesday evening, when the woman, Sushmana Sharma left her house to visit a beauty parlour, just hours before her marriage with Bharat Bhushan.

After the woman failed to return home and could not be traced, her family filed a police complaint, alleging she was abducted.

However, in a bid to save face in front of guests and relatives, the groom’s family posted on social media that the wedding could not take place as Sushmana died of a heart attack, the sources said.

The social media post, the sources added, went viral as netizens extended their sympathies to the groom’s family over the “devastating” development. 

The inconsistent claims by the woman’s family and the groom’s side left police puzzled, prompting them to launch a thorough investigation into the matter. 

New Mandi Circle Officer Rupali Roy Chowdhary told reporters that with the help of CCTV footage, the investigators tracked the bride’s movement and after hours of an intensive search, found her in Gwalior at around 8am on Wednesday. 

“Immediately upon receiving information about the woman’s disappearance, the police registered a case and formed two teams to trace her. She was found in Gwalior the following morning,” Ms Chowdhary said. 

The police did not provide any details but the sources said the woman escaped because she was not ready to marry Bharat. The sources also said the woman escaped with the help of a female friend. 

Asked about the rumour about the woman’s death on social media, Ms Chowdhary said: “A probe is underway.” 

Jhansi:

An illustration by a four-year-old girl, whose mother was found dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi on Monday, has raised suspicion that the woman was assaulted and murdered by her husband, after years of alleged harassment, the police said. 

The incident, which took place at Panchavati Shiv Parivar Colony under Kotwali area of ​​Jhansi, came to light when the 27-year-old woman’s in-laws told her family that she died by suicide. A drawing and a statement of the woman’s daughter, however, suggested that she was killed by her husband, and her body was hanged to make it appear as a suicide.

The woman was identified as Sonali Budholia and her husband, a medical representative, as Sandeep Budholia. Their daughter’s name is Darshita.

“Papa assaulted and killed mummy. He then said ‘die if you want to’. He hanged her body and hit her head with a stone. Later, he brought down the body and dumped it inside a sack,” Darshita, who later lit the pyre, told reporters, as she showed a drawing of the purported assault. 

The child also alleged that her father had threatened to kill her mother earlier. “I had told him once that if you touch my mother, I will break your hand. He used to beat her, saying she should die and that I should meet the same fate as her,” she said. 

Sonali’s father Sanjeev Tripathi, a resident of Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh, said she and Sandeep got married in 2019 but have since shared a troubled relationship.

“On the wedding day, I gave them Rs 20 lakh in cash as dowry but days later, Sandeep and his family began making new demands. They wanted a car. I told them it is beyond my means to buy them a car. He and his family then started assaulting my daughter. I even approached the police over this once and we had arrived at a compromise,” he said.

The situation, however, worsened after Sonali gave birth to a girl, Sanjeev said. “Sandeep wanted a boy. After the delivery, he and his family left my daughter alone in the hospital. I had to go to the nursing home to complete the payment. I took her home. Sandeep came a month later to receive Sonali and Darshita,” he said. 

Sanjeev said recently, Sonali was attending her cousin’s wedding in Jhansi’s Samthar when Sandeep called and asked her to return home. 

“This morning, I got a call, saying my daughter’s health has deteriorated. After some time, I received another call, saying she hung herself. As soon as I reached there, I learnt that she was dead,” he said. 

Kotwali City Police officer Ramveer Singh said the body has been sent for an autopsy and the report is awaited.

“We got a call about the woman’s death at her husband’s house under mysterious circumstances. Her parents have alleged that she was murdered. We are probing the case,” Mr Singh said.

(With inputs from Vinod Kumar Gautam)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday directed Uttar Pradesh authorities to respond as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for razing a portion of a mosque at Kushinagar in alleged disobedience of the apex court’s direction.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih also directed that until further orders, there shall be no demolition of the structure in question.

The bench passed the order while hearing a contempt plea against the authorities concerned in Kushinagar for their alleged wilful disobedience and failure to comply with the top court’s November 13 last year directions.

In its November 13, 2024 verdict, the top court laid down pan-India guidelines and barred demolition of properties without a prior show cause notice and 15 days’ time to the aggrieved party to respond.

The fresh petition, filed through advocate Abdul Qadir Abbasi, said the authorities had demolished the outer and front area of the Madni mosque in Kushinagar on February 9.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioners, said the structure in question was constructed on a private land owned by the petitioners.

He said the construction was with due sanction of municipal authorities according to a sanction order of 1999.

Ahmadi argued that the demolition was carried out in “egregious contempt” of the directions issued by the apex court in its November last year judgement.

“Issue notice as to why proceedings for contempt should not be initiated against the respondents,” the bench said and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.

“It is further directed that until further orders, there shall be no demolition of the structure,” the top court said.

At the outset, the bench told Ahmadi that the apex court was asking the petitioners alleging contempt in demolition matters to approach the jurisdictional high courts with their grievances.

While referring to the directions issued by the top court in its last year verdict, the senior advocate said, “Please see the manner in which they have demolished this (structure).” The plea alleged that the demolition was carried out without following the due legal process and in clear contravention of the guidelines issued by the top court.

It claimed the authorities failed to provide the mandatory opportunity of a hearing to the petitioners before proceeding with the demolition.

“This act of proceeding without affording opportunity of hearing is a violation of the fundamental principles of natural justice, which were explicitly expected to be followed by the authorities, as outlined in the directions issued by this court,” the plea said.

“The administration, by taking such an action in haste, has shown complete disregard for the religious sentiments of the local Muslim community, who rely on this structure for their religious practices,” it said.

The plea said the land on which the mosque was build upon was purchased by the petitioners through registered sale deeds dated June 29, 1988, March 28, 1989, June 30, 1989 and February 23, 2013. It said the map for construction of mosque was sanctioned in September 1999 by the nagar panchayat, Hata.

The plea alleged that a local politician had lodged a complaint in December last year claiming encroachment of the land in question.

It said the SDM of Hata had carried out an inspection and filed a detailed report which said there was no encroachment by the petitioners.

The plea sought direction to the authorities to maintain status quo at the mosque.

It also sought directions for restoration or suitable compensation to rectify the situation caused by the demolition.

Passing a slew of directions, the apex court in its November 2024 verdict made clear that they would not be applicable in case of unauthorised structures in a public spaces such as roads, streets, footpaths, abutting railway lines or a river or water bodies apart from cases where there was a court order for demolition.

“No demolition should be carried out without a prior show cause notice returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days time from the date of service of such notice, whichever is later,” said the top court verdict.

The judgement had come on plea seeking guidelines on demolition of properties.

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

Sonbhadra:

Six people lost their lives and three others sustained injuries after a collision between an SUV and a truck in Ranitali village, under Hathinala police station limits here on Sunday, officials said.

The accident occurred around 7:30 pm on the Varanasi-Shaktinagar State Highway when a truck crossed the divider, veered into the opposite lane and collided head-on with a Hyundai Creta car going from Chhattisgarh towards Robertsganj.

According to Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Meena, the deceased include four occupants of the car, the truck driver and the driver of another vehicle crossing the road.

Among the identified victims are Sanaullah Khalifa (40), a resident of Ramanujganj, Chhattisgarh, and Ravi Mishra (45) of Medical College Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh. Another victim, Umashankar Patel, son of the late Banarasi Patel, was a truck driver from Adalhat, Mirzapur. The identities of the three other deceased remain unknown.

The injured include two women and a man, who were rushed to the district hospital by police teams from Hathinala and Duddhi police stations. Given the severity of their injuries, they are being referred to a higher medical center.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the deceased have been sent to the Duddhi mortuary.

Senior police officials inspected the accident site and an investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the truck’s deviation into the opposite lane.

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

Bareilly:

A Class 11 student of a girls school was allegedly made to stand outside her classroom for an hour after she requested a sanitary pad during her examination, sparking outrage and prompting an official inquiry into the matter, officials said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday when the student who started her menstrual cycle, sought help from the principal. Instead of assistance, she was allegedly ignored and mistreated, they said.

According to the complaint lodged by the girl’s father, his daughter had gone to the school to appear for examination when she realized her period had started.

Upon requesting a sanitary pad from the principal, she was allegedly asked to leave the classroom and was made to stand outside for nearly an hour, the complainant said.

The father has submitted written complaints to the District Magistrate, the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), the State Women’s Commission, and the Department of Women Welfare.

The District Inspector of Schools, Devki Nandan, confirmed that the matter is being investigated, and action will be taken based on the findings. 

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

A groom in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli abruptly called off his wedding over an alleged delay in serving food, leaving the bride and her family stranded at the venue, only to tie the knot with his cousin later that day.

The bride and her family then approached the police, demanding justice, and also claimed that they had given Rs 1.5 lakh to the groom’s family hours before the ceremony was to take place. 

Speaking to the media, the bride said her marriage was arranged with Mehtab seven months ago. On December 22, as the wedding procession arrived at her house in Hamidpur village, Mehtab and his relatives were extended a warm welcome by her family. 

“I was ready since morning. The groom and his family arrived, ate and then abused and assaulted my parents before leaving the spot. I later approached the police for justice,” she said. 

The bride said that as the wedding guests sat down to eat, there was a slight delay in serving food to Mehtab. He got angry after his friends teased and poked fun at him and he and his family then allegedly abused the bride’s family and relatives, leading to an argument.

The village elders tried to intervene to resolve the issue but Mehtab refused to tie the knot and returned to his house.

As the bride’s family grappled with the shock, Mehtab married one of his cousins later the same day. 

Police Complaint

On learning about Mehtab’s wedding, the bride and her parents visited the police post in Industrial Nagar on December 23 to file a complaint. Alleging inaction, they later escalated the issue to the Superintendent of Police Aditya Laghe. 

In the complaint, the woman’s mother said the family had suffered a loss of Rs 7 lakh because they had paid for all the arrangements and catered to around 200 guests from the groom’s side.  

An amount of Rs 1.5 lakh was also handed over to the man’s family hours before the wedding, she said in the complaint. 

Sources said Mr Laghe summoned both parties, who agreed to resolve the matter amicably. 

“A written agreement was signed by both parties that an amount of Rs 1.61 lakh would be given to the woman’s family,” Circle Officer Rajesh Rai said.

(With inputs from Santosh Jaiswal)

A school teacher allegedly beat up an eight-year-old boy who found him watching an obscene film in the classroom, in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi, police said on Saturday.

The student, along with his classmates, was reportedly laughing at the teacher Kuldeep Yadav over watching the video in the classroom, when he grabbed the boy by his hair and slammed his head against the wall.

The teacher has been taken into custody for questioning and a probe is underway, the police added.

According to the student’s father, Mr Yadav was reportedly watching a porn video on his mobile phone in the classroom, when the students started discussing his act and laughing among themselves. 

“The students’ reaction angered Mr Yadav, who then abused and brutally thrashed my son. He grabbed my son by his hair and slammed his head against the wall. He also thrashed him with a cane. My son sustained injuries, including in his ear. I have registered a police complaint against the teacher,” the victim’s father said. 

Superintendent Of Police (Rural) Gopinath Soni said a case has been filed and a detailed probe is underway. “We have taken the teacher into custody for questioning,” Mr Soni said.

Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh):

Security has been heightened in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya on Friday in view of the 32nd anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.

Police personnel, Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) commando have been deployed to ensure law and order in the city.

Speaking to ANI, Superintendent of Police Security for Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Balachari Dubey said that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), PAC, ATS and Civil Police are deployed for security. He added that attention is being paid to ensure that devotees face no inconvenience.

“In Ayodhya, for security reasons, CRPF, PAC, ATS, and civil police officers are patrolling the area. Vehicles and people are being checked. Attention is being paid to ensure that devotees face no inconvenience.”

Security has also been increased in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district ahead of Friday prayers at Shahi Jama Masjid, following a stone-pelting incident on November 24.

The stone-pelting incident occurred on November 24 during the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASIs) examination of the Mughal-era mosque, resulting in the deaths of four individuals and injuries to several others, including officials and locals.

The ASI survey followed a petition filed in a local court, claiming that the mosque’s site was originally a Harihar temple.

Following the incident, Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders on December 4 tried to visit Sambhal to meet with the relatives of the victims who had died. However, they were stopped by police at the Ghazipur border and were unable to proceed to the violence-hit area of Sambhal. As a result, they returned to Delhi.

The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, in Ayodhya by a large group of ‘kar sevaks’.

In the aftermath, many Muslim residences in Ayodhya were ransacked, torched, and destroyed. Riots erupted across various parts of the country, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 people.

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

Deoria:

A wedding procession from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur to neighbouring Deoria district Wednesday night took a wrong turn when a man, mistakenly accused of theft, was brutally beaten on camera. The video of the beating has since gone viral. 

The events took place in Tarkulwa village of Deoria, where the wedding party had arrived at a local marriage hall. One of the participants, visibly drunk, wandered off from the group and lost his way. Around midnight, the man knocked on the door of a house. Mistaking him for a thief, locals began shouting “thief, thief,” fueled by the recent memory of a theft that had occurred in the neighbourhood the previous day.

A crowd quickly gathered, and the man was forcibly tied to an electric pole. Despite his protests, he was beaten with kicks and punches as the mob interrogated him. During the assault, several bystanders filmed the brutal scene, later sharing it on social media, where it quickly went viral.

The police were alerted and arrived at the scene to find the man severely injured. He was taken to the local police station where his wounds were treated. In the morning, the victim’s family arrived to collect him and took him home.