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Friday, December 26, 2025
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Girl held captive for 10 years by Rahman was a minor at the time of kidnap, Kerala police misleading public: Complaint before NCPCR

By
The Commune
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A minor Hindu girl belonging to a Scheduled Caste goes missing in February, 2010 from a small village in Palakkad District of Kerala. Her parents file a complaint with the Police, but to no avail. They think that their daughter had been killed and resign to their fate. Last week, she was miraculously found locked up in a very small room in her neighbor Rahman’s house. Rahman lived in that house along with his parents, sister and sister’s daughter. However, nobody in the house supposedly knew that a girl was living with them, inside their house, for the past ten years.

When the incident caught the attention of the media, Sajitha told the media that she had voluntarily left her house to live with Rahman and that it was her choice to live confined to a small room for ten years without any connection with the outside world. Without giving it any further thought, social media and some sections of media in Kerala immediately portrayed it as a case of ‘true love’ between a Hindu girl and a Muslim man, where the Hindu girl had to make huge sacrifices to live with her loved one.

Kerala Police has told the media that Sajitha was not a minor at the time she went missing. That claim and the statements given by Sajitha were cited by Police to refuse to register a case. Now the actions of Kerala Police are under scanner with a complaint filed by the legal advocacy group Kerala People’s Front.

“Kerala Police is dragging its feet and making false statements to media to support the false narrative being spread through media and social media that the case is one of “eternal love” between Sajitha and Rehman”, states the complaint filed before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

As per the complaint, Sajitha was born in April, 1992 and she was a minor in February, 2010 when she was reported missing by her parents. It states that irrespective of whether she went voluntarily with Rahman or was kidnapped by him, an offence under Section 361 of IPC (kidnapping from lawful guardian) will have to be registered by Police.

The complaint also states that the statements of Sajitha made after coming out of captivity for 10 years should not be accepted at face value as she could be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. The complaint demands that Sajitha be evaluated by medical experts before the Police acts based on her statement.

It also makes a serious note of the possibility of Sajitha still being held against her consent, and seeks immediate intervention by the NCPCR.

Since the woman reportedly belongs to the Scheduled Caste, the complaint also seeks registration of an FIR against Rahman and his family under Sections 344, 346, 361, 365, 366, 367 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Sections 3(1)(w) and 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Interestingly, Sajitha who made her initial appearances before the media wearing a headscarf has today appeared before the media without the headscarf, sporting a tilak on her forehead.

“What was portrayed as a case of ‘eternal love’ is turning out to be a sordid tale of kidnapping and mental torture”, the complainant said speaking to The Commune.

The parents of Rahman have told the media that their son is lying about Sajitha living in their house for 10 years. There are many unanswered questioned in the case. However, it is noteworthy to mention that the Kerala Police has not even registered a case to start an investigation, despite mounting pressure.

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Faculty of MEASI Academy of Architecture accused of sexual harassment

By
The Commune
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Three professors of Muslim Educational Association of Southern India (MEASI) Academy of Architecture, part of The New College, Chennai, have been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by students and alumni of the college.

The issue had come to light after several screenshots of Instagram stories was shared by a former faculty of the college went viral on social media. Many of the female students had shared their experience with the said faculty on Instagram a few days ago.

Most of the screenshots pertained to the abuses and harassment made by Prof. Anwar Shariff who is also a Design Chair of the college.

One of the alumni of the college had narrated an incident when Anwar Shariff had confiscated her phone and called her to his cabin where he grabbed her backside.

In another post, an alumnus of the college had said that Anwar was known for ‘touching’ lady staff members too.

A lady staff of the college who wished to stay anonymous had said that she had been a victim of Anwar’s predatory behaviour. He also allegedly filmed a lady staff without her consent or knowledge.

Another male alumnus of the college belonging to 2011-16 batch had said that he himself had seen Anwar touching the back of a female design staff.

It is noteworthy to mention that Anwar who is more than 70 years old is related to Malayalam film star Dulquer Salman. His grand-daughter is Dulquer’s wife who also studied architecture in the same college. One of the alumni of the college mentioned that even friends of Dulquer’s wife were harassed by Anwar in college.

Anwar had reportedly returned from the US in 2007 and joined the college as a faculty.

Another faculty who has been accused of sexual harassment is Thooyavan Krishnan. One of the students had shared that Thooyavan used to touch at inappropriate places whenever he got the chance.

Solomon, who is reportedly a visiting faculty at the college and runs a private coaching institute for NATA exam (National Aptitude Test in Architecture), had allegedly shown pornographic content to students.

 

All these allegations were made by students and alumni of the college on Instagram. These screenshots which were shared in an Instagram page named ‘Measi Abuse’ have now been taken down.

One of the students who had recently passed out of the college told The Commune that despite several complaints, the management had turned a blind eye as Anwar is influential. She said that they deliberately fail people who voice out. The student told that when 7 people complained about Anwar in 2009, all of them were made to repeat a year of which two were made to repeat another year.

She said that Anwar quite often calls girl students to his cabin where he behaves with them inappropriately.

A petition has been sent through the official alumni association (AAMAA) seeking action against the accused professors two weeks ago. However, it was told that the management has only orally mentioned that they will take action.

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In the coming days 5 million Indians will be vaccinated daily against the Wuhan virus

By
The Commune
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coronavirus vaccination

As the rest of India is again coming out of a lockdown and the third wave of the coronavirus is in its last legs, the chairman of the government’s Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration (EGVAC), RS Sharma has said that the daily vaccinations will go up to five million doses within the next ten days, reports Economic Times.

“We are already vaccinating 3.5 million people every day. I am very sure we will reach five million in a matter of 10 days.” Sharma was quoted as saying

This is indeed great news for Indians as the number of people getting vaccinated daily will now increase just days before the roll-out of the new vaccination strategy wherein the Centre will resume the process of buying and supplying COVID-19 vaccines to the state governments for free of cost.

Sharma also emphasised the need for the state and the private hospitals to indicate vaccine slots for a week to ensure that the daily inoculations go up.

Sharma said, “From the beginning of the vaccination drive we have been emphasising that the states need to publish as long a timetable as possible. The Centre is also giving visibility of vaccine supplies to the states a fortnight ahead. So the states can publish the vaccine slots. But some states are still not doing it.”

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Catholic Bishops in US could stop administer of communion to President Biden for antithetical views

By
The Commune
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According to a report by Reuters, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops will decide the fate of US President Joe Biden and other politicians who support abortion, same-sex marriages and LQBTQ rights that are antithetical to Church teachings and tenets should be given communion which is a sacred ritual for Catholics.

The powerful US Conference of Catholic Bishops will meet from 16 June to Friday 18 June to decide if Catholics who do not support the Church’s doctrine should be given communion.

The ritual of the communion is a sacrament central to the Roman Catholic faith. It is important that the faithful receive the communion which is administered by a priest which is an act of god-eating wherein a piece of bread that symbolizes the body of Jesus and a sip of wine that represents His blood–is conducted at every mass.

The Bishops will take a call on a proposal to ask the ‘Committee on Doctrine’ to draft a teaching document on the topic of Communion.

And if the draft is adopted that would translate into a call to all Catholic Bishops in the US to deny communion to Catholics who support LGBTQ rights, including same-sex marriage, and abortion rights.

When Biden to the oath of office in 2021, he became only the second Catholic to serve as US President– the first was John F Kennedy (1961-1963).

In 2004, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops allowed individual Bishops the liberty to administer or withhold communion to politicians who support abortion rights.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a woman’s willful termination of her pregnancy is “gravely contrary to the moral law”. It also lays down that ‘marital love’ should be shared between men and women, not people of the same sex.

However, Biden has been a staunch advocate of LGBTQ and abortion rights over the past decade and when he took the office, he rolled back federal restrictions on abortion pills to make them more accessible. He also has plans to junk a long-standing ban on federal funding for abortion in his 2022 budget.

This has created a rift in Catholics and the Catholic Church is now alarmed that the US President’s views could cause serious damage to them.A Pew Research poll conducted in March revealed that 67 per cent of Catholics in the US believe Biden’s views should not disqualify him from communion.

Also, many Catholics feel that the Church should not rake up these issues which leads to a divide and further decline in the numbers. Already the Catholic Church membership in the states has dropped nearly 20 per cent in the past two decades compounded by sexual abuse scandals involving predatory priests and increasing division on social issues.

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Madras HC quashes corruption cases against AIADMK ministers as DMK Appavu agrees to withdraw case

By
The Commune
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Madras HC increased security in court campus after country bombs were exchanged among suspects in the Armstrong murder case.

The Madras High Court has allowed Tamil Nadu Speaker Appavu to withdraw the ongoing corruption cases against former ministers SP Velumani and R Kamaraj and dismissed the cases.

Appavu, a member of the DMK and current Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly, had filed a case in Madras high court, a few months ago, against then Minister for Municipal Administration SP Velumani for inflating the price of 23,72,412 LED bulb purchased to be installed across Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, he filed a case against then-Food Minister Kamaraj, accusing him of misappropriating additional food grains allotted by the central government to a rice mill linked to his close relative.

Both these cases were filed in his capacity as former MLA of DMK.

Last February, when the cases were heard before a bench consisting of Chief Justice Sanjiv Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamurthy, an advocate for Appavu told the judges that the case against SP Velumani had been referred to the Lokayukta and the case against minister Kamaraj had been dismissed by the Chief Secretary due to a lack of prima facie evidence.

The cases filed by Appavu came up for hearing before the bench consisting of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy yesterday. The counsel for Appavu submitted that he filed the plea in his personal capacity and that now he was willing to withdraw it, as he was now speaker. Recording the submission, the bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy permitted him to withdraw the plea.

(with inputs from AsiaNetNews)

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DMK cadre assaults AIADMK panchayat chairman near Chennai, police register case under five sections

By
The Commune
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A case has been filed against the former DMK panchayat board chairman, who broke into the house of the AIADMK panchayat board chairman in Poonamallee.

Mohan, who resides in Meppur near Poonamallee in Chennai, is the AIADMK panchayat board chairman of his area. Ilaiya, a DMK cadre who contested unsuccessfully against Mohan, has been involved in frequent disputes with Mohan after his defeat.

In this scenario, Kuppusamy, a resident of Ilaya’s house, reportedly injured Mohan by mistake while playing cricket on the road. When Mohan asked Ilaya’s tenant Kuppusamy not to play in the road, Ilaya, who had been waiting for a chance to pick a conflict with Mohan, started arguing with him.

Ilaya and his friends allegedly broke into Mohan’s house, assaulting him and his belongings.  Mohan, after suffering serious injuries to his chest, was taken to a private hospital for treatment. After receiving the complaint, Nasaratpet police filed a case against Mohan under five sections of IPC.

After returning from the hospital, Mohan blamed the police for not arresting Ilaya and his friends. He further stated that Ilaya and his associates have created an unsafe environment in his area for people and that if the police do not take action against them, he will organize a protest.

(with inputs from NewsJ)

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Baloch Human Rights Council asks G7 to act against Pakistan for crimes against humanity

By
The Commune
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As the G7 nations unveiled their ambitious Build Back Better World (B3W) policy initiative to counter the predatory Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) has urged the Group of Seven (G7) leaders to investigate the heinous crimes committed by Pakistan in the region.

The BHCR has made claims of systematic genocide in Baluchistan by Pakistani security forces as the region has been given to China to exploit.

In a memorandum addressed to the G7 leaders, BHCR urged them to send a UN fact-finding mission to investigate the extra-judicial killings and mass disappearances of the Baloch political and social activists and initiate cases against them in the international court of justice in The Hague who have committed heinous crimes against humanity in Baluchistan.

“The Baloch are facing a systematic genocide. They are pinning their hopes on getting support from the international community. In the face of heinous crimes being committed by the Pakistani security forces in Baluchistan, the silence of the international community is incomprehensible,” said Samad Baloch, General Secretary of BHRC.

The BHCR then gave multiple classifications of crimes against humanity being committed in Pakistan which includes the enforced disappearance of political and social activists, extra-judicial killings, the formation of death squads by the army, rape camps, the formation of proxy Islamic militant religious organisations, open patronisation of the narcotics business, and the ruthless exploitation of natural resources by Chinese corporations.

Samad Baloch in his memorandum said, “Pakistani officials have accepted more than 6000 missing persons, and we genuinely believe that their lives are in grave danger. Abductions of students, doctors, teachers, journalists, and human rights activists are taking place daily in Baluchistan. The irony is that the Pakistani army is fighting a war in Baluchistan without witnesses. The whole province has been declared a no-go area for even the national journalists for the last 15 years,”.

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China upset with G7 nations on Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and origins of the coronavirus pandemic

By
The Commune
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As the Group of Seven (G7) leaders met in London and responded over human-rights abuses in Xinjiang against Uyghur Muslims, the ongoing crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, and also seeking new investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, China has taken strong exception to the group by saying that it ‘deliberately slandered’ the country and was indulging in ‘political manipulation’

The G7 summit issued a communiqué criticising China’s actions in Xinjiang province, the overthrow of democracy in Hong Kong, and the threat China often gives to Taiwan. But the topic that stung China the most was the “forced labor” and “unilateral attempts to change the status quo” in the East and South China Seas.

The G7 leaders urged Beijing “to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law”.

The G7 nations also called for “a timely, transparent, expert-led and science-based WHO-convened phase 2 Covid-19 origins study including, as recommended by the experts’ report, in China”.

The G7 had earlier unveiled an unprecedented global infrastructure plan called “ to counter Beijing’s multi-trillion-dollar Belt And Road Initiative(BRI) in Asia, Africa and South America.

The Chinese embassy in London in a statement said,” it was strongly dissatisfied with the join statement and resolutely opposed to mentions of Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan that distorted the facts and exposed the “sinister intentions of a few countries such as the United States”.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and global economy sluggish, the international community needs unity and cooperation of all countries rather than “cliquey” power politics sowing division, it added.

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Madras HC slams HR&CE dept for helping corrupt officer in evading legal action

By
The Commune
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The Madras High Court has slammed the Hindu Religious Charitable Endowment (HR & CE) Department for allegedly assisting a temple official in escaping legal action by deliberately delaying a reply to his voluntary retirement after he reportedly swindled crores of temple funds.

Justice R Vaidyanathan of Madras High court, who was hearing a plea moved by the said Executive Officer R Muthuswamy challenging his suspension, said, “The petitioner, in this case, is said to have misappropriated several crores of temple properties. But it’s clear that such misappropriation is impossible in the absence of helping aid extended by his Superior Officers, who may be hand in glove with the petitioner for looting the temple properties.”

“From their attitude, it can easily be inferred that they want to make the petitioner escape from the clutches of law by throwing sand in everyone’s eye in the garb of passing some order, knowing full well that such an order will not stand in the eye of law and will easily be interfered with by this Court,” the court said, noting that the court is unable to digest the manner in which the authorities performed their official duties in this case and that it is unknown why they waited until the eleventh hour to pass an order.

“According to mythology, God has created this world and dictated a man’s destiny. Maybe, at the time of creation, God would have forgotten to remember that people will start looting His own temple properties in Kaliyuga, which, according to me, has become advantageous to the petitioner and his superior officers,” Justice Vaidyanathan observed.

The Judge added that the court, being the temple of justice, is not in a position to render justice to the Temple and is inclined to allow this Writ Petition filed by a miscreant due to the flaws committed by the HR & CE.

The petitioner attempted to get out of the suspension by claiming that the department had failed to make a decision on his VRS application within the three-month deadline, and thus he should be deemed to have retired voluntarily from service at the end of the notice period, according to the legal regulations, and his retirement benefits should be paid to him.

(with inputs from Thanthi)

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Pune-based firm comes up with 3D-printed Masks Coated with Anti-Viral Agents

By
The Commune
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An integration of 3D printing and pharmaceuticals has resulted in a novel type of mask which attacks the virus when viral particles come in contact with it. Developed by Pune-based start-up firm Thincr Technologies India Private Limited, these masks are coated with anti-viral agents known otherwise as virucides. The virucidal mask project is among the earliest projects to have been selected for commercialization, by Technology Development Board (TDB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as part of the Government’s fight against COVID-19.

The project received financial support from TDB as part of its search for novel solutions to fight COVID-19, in May 2020. Following this, an agreement was signed on 8th July, 2020 for developing the masks. The 2016-incorporated firm claims that these cost-effective masks are more effective in checking the spread of COVID-19, in comparison with ordinary N-95, 3-ply and cloth masks.

Thincr Technologies India works in development of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D-printers to discover new pharmaceutical formulations and drug-loaded filaments of different drugs. Founder Director Dr. Shitalkumar Zambad explains: “We started thinking of the problem and possible solutions, during the initial days of the pandemic. We sensed that use of face masks will become nearly universal as the most important tool to prevent infection. But we realized that most masks which were then available and within the reach of common people were homemade and of relatively low quality. It is this need for high-quality masks which led us to undertake a project to develop and commercialize cost-effective and more efficient virucidal coated masks, as a better approach to reduce the spread of infection”.

With this aim, Thincr Technologies began to focus on developing virucidal coating formulations. It was developed with support from Merck Life Sciences located in Nerul, whose research facility was used for the purpose. The coating formulation has been utilized to coat the fabric layer and the 3D printing principle was employed to achieve uniformity of coating. The coated layer can be incorporated as an additional layer in N-95 masks, 3-Ply masks, simple cloth masks, 3D printed or other plastic cover masks, along with reusable filters. These masks thus provide an additional protection beyond the protection achieved by filtration mechanisms.

The coating has been tested and shown to inactivate the SARS-COV-2 virus. The material used for coating on the mask is a Sodium Olefin Sulfonate based mixture. It is a soap forming agent with hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. In contact with enveloped viruses, it disrupts the outer membrane of the virus. The ingredients used are stable at room temperature and are widely used in cosmetics

The filters of these reusable masks have also been developed using 3D printing. Further, Dr. Zambad says that the masks have been found to have bacterial filtration efficiency higher than 95%. “In this project, for the first time, we used 3D-printers to make multilayer cloth filters to precisely fit for plastic-moulded or 3D-printed mask covers”

Thincr Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. has applied for a patent for this product. Commercial scale manufacturing has also started, informs Dr. Zambad. Meanwhile, 6,000 virucidal masks have been distributed by an NGO to four Government Hospitals in Nandurbar, Nashik and Bengaluru, for use by healthcare workers and also to a girls’ school and college in Bengaluru.

(Published from PIB)

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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