Police say that this is the first judgement of its kind in the country where a juvenile in conflict with law is sentenced to two life imprisonments.

Telangana News: In what is being touted as the first judgement of its kind in India, a court in Hyderabad on Thursday sentenced a juvenile in conflict with law, to double life imprisonment for sexual assault and murder of a 10-year-old boy.

The 17-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 5 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault and under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for murder. The accused was also sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for ‘unnatural’ offence, 10 years for kidnapping and 7 years for disappearance of evidence under various sections of the IPC.

According to Telangana Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy, this is the first judgement of its kind in the country where a juvenile in conflict with law is sentenced to two life imprisonments. The gruesome incident had occurred in Barkas area of the old city of Hyderabad two years ago.

On June 28, 2017, the accused had taken a 10-year-old along with him on the pretext of playing. The victim was taken to terrace of a government school, where the accused allegedly raped him and then murdered him by hitting on his head with an iron pipe.

The accused, who was the victim’s neighbor, hid the body for eight days. The case under the limits of Chandrayangutta police station was solved after the police picked him on suspicion and… continue reading full story

An age-old disease, India had in 2005 declared that there was less than one case of leprosy out of 10,000 people. A decade later, experts realised that leprosy had been largely ignored in the country.

Telangana News: 10-year-old Lakshmi* was waiting for her turn at the Leprosy Training Centre, Hyderabad, and her mother was desperate for a solution. The hands of the student — who will soon move to Class 5 — have now begun to take the shape of a claw. Her fingers bleed every time she has to write a little more than usual in class and she is sent home. Lakshmi has Hansen’s disease, widely known as leprosy, due to which she has lost the fingertips of her ring and pinky finger.

Lakshmi’s mother, Rama*, a daily wage labourer, ran from pillar to post seeking treatment for her daughter. The leprosy had not been detected or treated in time, which lead to Lakshmi’s disability. And after visiting almost a dozen clinics, they had all told Rama the same thing — her daughter would require surgery for her clawed hand.

The existence of leprosy has been known for over a century, with the bacterial pathogen reportedly identified as early as 1873. However, the disease doesn’t have a vaccine and it takes a long time for it to show visible signs, which can lead to disabilities if not corrected in time. Though there is a cure for the disease, a lack of awareness has turned leprosy patients into social pariahs, bringing hardship to their professional and personal lives.

In 2005, the disease had been declared ‘eliminated’ — a label that can be used when a country has less than one case out of 10,000 people — which meant that the disease wouldn’t be treated as a… continue reading full story

The news templates of television channels, meant to publish breaking news on social media platforms, are often tampered with to peddle fake news.

Tamil Nadu News: In an era where fake news parading as facts is far too common, media outlets play an important role. However, it is often that these media outlets themselves are targeted by fake news and misinformation campaigns, often without their knowledge. One such phenomenon among Tamil news TV channels involves misusing news templates to peddle fake news.

A news template refers to graphic cards bearing text used by media houses in order to quickly deliver breaking news or current news. This is primarily used on the official social media accounts of news channels. They carry the official logo and names of their official social media handles, just like an official letterhead would. More often than not, these templates are used to relay statements made by leaders and hence, also carry the photos of the leaders being quoted.

However, many Tamil news channels are often the victims of fake news by miscreants who alter their official template to make false claims. The miscreants change the quote by the said leader or alter the news seen on the official template to peddle fake news. In addition to affecting the person being deliberately misquoted, it also damages the credibility of the media outlet in an already charged political landscape. These fake news templates are largely circulated through WhatsApp and… continue reading full story