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Hindustan Times
31-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Notorious Meerut gangster shot dead near police outpost
A notorious gangster, Mohd Salim, also known as Mowgli, was shot dead on Wednesday evening near the Hashimpura police outpost in Meerut's busy Civil Lines area. The attack took place right in front of the police post, yet the assailants managed to flee, brandishing weapons. Police inspect the crime scene in Meerut's busy Civil Lines area (HT Photo) According to initial investigations, the attackers began following Salim from the court premises, about three kilometers away, where he had gone earlier in the day. Salim, a resident of Pahalwan Nagar under Lohia Nagar police station and known for his involvement in property dealings, was riding a motorcycle with his acquaintance Sajid, a resident of Shalimar Garden under the Lisadi Gate area. Both were returning home from the court around 5:30 pm when they were ambushed. Near Purwa Sheikh Lal Masjid under the Civil Lines police station, right beside the Hashimpura police outpost, two assailants on a motorcycle opened fire. A bullet hit Salim in the back and exited through his chest, causing him to fall along with his motorcycle and die on the spot. No one from the police outpost stepped out. After some delay the local police personnel responded, followed by the arrival of the Civil Lines police team. A forensic team was later called to examine the crime scene. The gravity of the situation prompted Civil Lines CO Abhishek Tiwari to summon additional forces from Kotwali, Lisadi Gate, Nauchandi, and other stations to tighten security in the area. Superintendent of police City Ayush Vikram Singh confirmed that Salim faced over 12 criminal cases across various police stations, including Lisadi Gate, Civil Lines, Brahmpuri, Nauchandi, and Medical College. Charges included attempted murder, attacks on police, Arms Act violations, NDPS Act violations, and other serious offences under the Criminal Law Act and Goonda Act. Preliminary findings suggest property disputes and personal enmity as the primary motives behind the killing. Senior superintendent of police, Vipin Tada said, 'Police teams have seized CCTV footage from the court area and the route leading to the crime scene. These visuals are being analyzed to track the movements of the killers. Under the supervision of SP City, three special police teams have been formed to investigate the murder and apprehend the accused'.
Hindustan Times
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Bring down age of consent from 18 to 16 yrs, SC told
New Delhi, The Supreme Court has been urged by amicus curiae and senior advocate Indira Jaising to read down the statutory age of consent from 18 to 16 years. Bring down age of consent from 18 to 16 yrs, SC told Jaising, who is assisting the top court in "Nipun Saxena v. Union of India" case, has filled her written submissions challenging the blanket criminalisation of sexual activity involving adolescents aged 16 to 18 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act , 2012 and Section 375 of IPC. She has argued the current law criminalises consensual romantic relationships among adolescents and violates their constitutional rights. Jaising said the legal framework wrongly equates consensual relationships between adolescents with abuse, ignoring their autonomy, maturity, and capacity to consent. 'There is no rational reason or empirical data to justify the increase in the age of consent from 16 to 18 years,' Jaising submitted, noting that the age had remained at 16 for over 70 years until it was raised by the Criminal Law Act, 2013. She pointed out the increase came without debate and went against the Justice Verma Committee's recommendation to retain 16 as the age of consent. The amicus curiae submitted adolescents today attain puberty earlier and are capable of forming romantic and sexual relationships of their choice. Scientific and social data, including findings from the National Family Health Survey, indicate sexual activity among teenagers is not uncommon, she said. Jaising cited a 180 per cent rise in prosecutions under POCSO involving minors aged 16–18 between 2017 and 2021. 'Most complaints are filed by parents, often against the girl's will, in cases involving inter-caste or inter-faith relationships,' she said, cautioning criminalising consensual sex 'forces young couples into hiding, marriage or legal trouble, instead of encouraging open dialogue and education". To address this, she urged the court to read into the law a 'close-in-age' exception, which would exempt consensual sexual acts between adolescents aged 16 to 18 from prosecution under POCSO and IPC. 'Criminalising sex between teenagers is arbitrary, unconstitutional, and against the best interests of children,' she said. The senior lawyer referred to international norms and Indian jurisprudence to argue that legal capacity is not strictly age-bound. Quoting the UK's Gillick ruling and India's own Puttaswamy privacy judgment, she said 'autonomy in decision-making is central to the right to privacy' and must extend to adolescents capable of informed sexual choices. The submission also pointed to trends in various high courts, including Bombay, Madras, and Meghalaya, where judges have expressed disapproval over the automatic prosecution of adolescent boys under POCSO. These courts have stressed not all sexual acts involving minors are coercive, and the law should distinguish between abuse and consensual relationships. Jaising concluded urging the top court to declare consensual sex between adolescents aged between 16 and 18 was not a form of abuse and must be excluded from the purview of POCSO and rape laws. She called for a review of the mandatory reporting obligations under Section 19 of POCSO, which deter adolescents from seeking safe medical care. 'Sexual autonomy is part of human dignity,' she said, "and denying adolescents the ability to make informed choices about their own bodies was a violation of Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution." This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Irish Daily Mirror
27-04-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Wife and brothers of killer Jozef Puska to go on trial tomorrow
The wife and brothers of murderer Jozef Puska are scheduled to go on trial tomorrow over allegedly withholding information that could have led to his prosecution. Marek, 34, and Lubomir Puska, 35, are charged with withholding information that could have led to the arrest or prosecution of their brother Jozef Puska for the murder of 23-year-old schoolteacher Ashling Murphy in January 2022. Puska's wife Lucia Istokova, 34, is also charged with withholding information on a date unknown between January 12, 2022 and January 27, 2022 at Tullamore Garda Station. All three are accused of failing without reasonable excuse to disclose as soon as was practicable to a member of An Garda Siochana information which they are alleged to have known or believed might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of Jozef Puska for the murder of Ashling Murphy. The offences are contrary to Section 9 of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998. The trio are set to appear before Judge Paul McDermott in the Central Criminal Court on Monday morning. They have all been on bail since being charged and first appearing before Tullamore District Court in December 2023. Jozef Puska is currently serving a life sentence for Ms Murphy's murder after a lengthy and highly publicised trial in 2023. Two other women have also been charged in connection with the same case - but with separate offences. Jozefina Grundzova, 31, and Viera Gazoiva, 38, are charged with impeding the apprehension of Jozef Puska. Both women are accused of committing the offence on a date unknown between January 12, 2022 and January 14, 2022 at an address in Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly. In particular where another person committed the murder of Ms Murphy, she's accused of knowing or believing that person to be guilty of the said offence or some other arrestable offence and without reasonable excuse acting with intent to impede that person's apprehension or prosecution. The offence is contrary to Section 7(2) and (4) of the Criminal Law Act, 1997. Jozef Puska brutally stabbed Ms Murphy 12 times and sliced her neck in a random and shocking attack while she was out for a run at the canal in Tullamore. His sentence came after harrowing and extremely powerful victim impact statements from Ms Murphy's partner Ryan Casey, her mother Kathleen, and sister Amy. Mr Casey became tearful and emotional throughout his powerful speech, in which he turned to the killer sitting in the dock and said: 'I don't care where you end up, or what happens to you after today. 'But you smirked, you smiled, and you showed zero remorse throughout this trail, which sums up who you really are, the epitome of pure evil, but one thing is for sure, you will never ever harm or touch another woman ever again and when your day of reckoning comes, may you be in hell a whole half hour before God even knows you're dead.' In her own victim impact statement, which was read out by family liaison officer Sergeant Lucy McLoughlin, Ashling's mother Kathleen told of a heartbreaking final conversation she had with her daughter on the day she was killed - warning her not to go running by the canal. 'Before she left that morning, Ashling told me she was going to be home from school a little bit later that afternoon. 'She was going for a jog on the canal line after work. I begged her not to go there as it has always made me feel ill at ease and asked her to go jogging out near home. 'She responded, 'Ah mum, I am 23 years old.' She gave me a big hug as she said, 'I love you, you're the best mum in the world,' and walked out the door,' she said. 'As a parent you want your child to go out into this world and live a full and meaningful life yet being acutely aware of how fragile their safety is, wanting to protect them. I couldn't protect my darling Ashling and now she's gone forever.' Ashling's sister Amy said she was haunted by the thought that no one was able to save her sister - and how she fought for her life. Speaking directly to Puska, who refused to look at her, she said: 'I agonise over whether you had already inflicted your first blow before she was hurled off the canal pavement. 'Had you time to place your bike down into the ditch as you knew she had already sustained a fatal injury and the rest was yet to come. 'Ashling's last 10 minutes on this earth must have felt like the longest 10 minutes of her existence as she fought for her life. You stole her life, you took her voice, you robbed us of our family of five.' Following the incredible statements, Judge Tony Hunt said there was nothing further that he could add. He told the court that Puska's sentence was 'richly deserved' before saying that the one question that remains unanswered is 'the why.' He said that "unless that becomes known, the question of your safe return to society must be an open one."
