City Briefs

Gangrape victim turns hostile: three acquitted
A Delhi court has acquitted three men of the charges of abducting a girl from a bus stop near the Supreme Court and raping her for almost a month in captivity. Noting that since the victim went back on her earlier stand,the court said: “The prosecution witnesses (the girl and her mother) examined by the prosecutor turned hostile and did not support the case. The victim testified that she had accompanied the accused with her consent,” District and Sessions Judge S P Garg said. The three on Friday acquitted are — Amit Nagar,Anshul Kumar Pandey and Bhal Balender Pathak.

4 get life for killing woman,mother
A Delhi court on Friday awarded rigorous life imprisonment to four persons for killing a mother-daughter duo,both practising lawyers,after robbing their house nearly four years ago. The court,which also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each on the convicts for murder and robbery,did not allow the prosecutor’s plea for awarding the death penalty. The convicts,Bhasker Mahalik,Bhagwan Mahalik,Niranjan Mahalik and Jagbandhu Dass,had killed Swarna Mahajan (73) and her daughter,Anuradha.

Boy found murdered at Lajpat Nagar
A 16-year-old boy was found murdered by his mother at his Lajpat Nagar residence on Friday evening. The victim,identified as B Naveen,was a student of the Hindon Public School,police said. Naveen,who had turned 16 that day,had asked his mother to come home early for dinner. However,when she arrived at 5 pm,she found the boy lying in a pool of blood. The body has been sent for an autopsy,the police said.

Aussie mela OzHAAT to be held today
Australia’s NGO mela OzHAAT,now in its tenth year,will be held on the Australian High Commission grounds in Chanakyapuri from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday. Entry to the mela,which would showcase innovative products produced by NGOs,is free. All the profits would go directly to charity. As many as 50 vendors would be selling a range of products,ranging from Christmas decorations to pottery,shawls,gift items,books and eatables.