Korba Mar 27 PTI A teenage girl was allegedly raped and killed by a 23-year-old man in Chhattisgarhs Surajpur district and the latter tried to pass it off as a case of suicide police said on Sunday The incident took place on March 24 and during a probe into it the police on Saturday arrested the man identified as Sabir Ali alias Baba Khan who allegedly strangled the victim to death and then hanged the body from a ceiling fan at her house in Bhatgaon police station limits Surajpur Additional Superintendent of Police Harish Rathore said As per preliminary investigation the victim a Class 12 student appeared for her practical exam on Thursday and then returned home in Surajpur located around 300 km from the state capital Raipur Her mother was in Bilaspur to take care of her ailing father who was admitted in a hospital there while her younger brother had gone out of home to play the official said On finding the victim alone in the house the accused went there He allegedly raped her and then strangled her to death with her scarf The man then hanged the body from a ceiling fan and wrote a note on her hand with a pen to make it appear as a case of suicide the official said Later the victims brother and neighbours found her hanging and informed the police he said Based on the investigation the accused was arrested and booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 murder 376 rape and other relevant provisions the official said The exact age of the deceased is yet to be ascertained and if she is found to be a minor provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act will be included in the case he added On Saturday a large number of people gathered in Jarhi area of Surajpur to pay tributes to the victim and demanded death sentence for the accused PTI COR TKP GK GK

Raipur Feb 23 PTI A special court has sentenced a man to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment for abducting and raping a five-year-old girl in Chhattisgarhs Balod district Special POCSO judge Mukesh Kumar Patre on Tuesday convicted Ramkumar Salam 25 a resident of Bhainsbod under Balod police station limits of charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO Act and IPC special public prosecutor Channu Lal Sahu said The accused was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3500 was imposed on him he said According to the prosecution in November 2021 Salam abducted the minor girl and sexually exploited her The child returned home and narrated the entire incident to her parents A complaint was lodged by the victims parents and an offence was registered with Balod police station Taking swift action in the case the police arrested Salam immediately and the chargesheet was produced in the court within 48 hours of the incident The court has passed the judgement in 87 days said Balod Superintendent of Police SP Sadanand Kumar PTI COR ARU ARU

Korba Sep 29 PTI A 35-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Chhattisgarhs Surajpur district taking the count of such fatalities to 12 so far this month officials said The incident took place on Tuesday night when the victim Narayan Pawle a native of Sarhari village under Pratappur forest range was heading to his home on a bicycle a forest official said Pawle came face to face with a jumbo near the village and was trampled to death he said As the news of the incident spread locals staged a protest and blocked Podi-Pratappur road blaming the forest department for the death However they were later pacified by forest and district administration officials The kin of the deceased were provided an immediate aid of Rs 25000 each while the remaining compensation of Rs 575 lakh will be disbursed on completion of necessary formalities the official said With this 12 people have been killed in elephant attacks in different districts of Chhattisgarh so far this month As per government records 204 people were killed in elephant attacks while 45 jumbos died in the state in the last three years Last week state Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar chaired a meeting with officials and had directed them to take stern action under the Wildlife Protection Act against people who deliberately go close to elephants or their herds despite being warned by forest staffers The minister had directed officers of all the departments to seriously address the issue of human-elephant conflict and take coordinated steps to control it an official said Akbar had also asked divisional forest officers DFOs to submit a proposal to name herds of elephants roaming in their respective jurisdiction for effective monitoring of their movement they said According to officials the movement of at least 266 elephants in 14 herds has been recently reported from different parts of the state especially Surajpur Raigarh Mahasamund Korba Balrampur Jashpur Balod districts PTI COR TKP ARU ARU