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India anger over alleged sexual assault on woman inside police station

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A protest condemning the rape and murder of a female doctor in India [BBC]

A retired Indian high court judge will investigate allegations that a woman was physically and sexually assaulted by a group of police inside a police station in the eastern state of Odisha, the authorities say.

After the allegations, levelled last week by the 32-year-old woman and her fiancé – an army officer – led to a huge outcry, four police officials, including three women, were suspended. A fifth policeman was transferred. The action came after the state’s crime branch opened an inquiry into the case.

A video of the woman, a law graduate who runs a restaurant in the state capital Bhubaneswar, detailing her alleged abuse by police early on the morning of 15 September has been shared many times on social media.

The footage makes for a difficult watch.

In a wheelchair, with a collar around her neck and one arm in a sling, the woman repeatedly breaks down while narrating to journalists what she says happened to her.

She said she had gone to Bharatpur police station with her fiance after closing her restaurant at around 01:00 because they had been harassed by a group of men on the road. They asked police to send a patrol car quickly to intercept the men who couldn’t have gone far, she said.

“The police refused to take down our complaint, instead they abused us. When I told them that I was a law graduate and knew my rights, they got even more angry.”

Subrat Kumar Pati People gathered outside the police headquarters to protest against the alleged sexual assault of a woman in police custody.
Former defence officials and activists have held protests against the alleged assault in Bhubaneswar [BBC]

The situation escalated after the police put her fiance in the lockup, she alleged.

“When I objected, two female officials started pulling my hair and beating me. I kept pleading with them to stop. But they dragged me through the corridor and one of them tried to strangle me. When I fought back, they tied my hands and legs and locked me up in a room,” she said, sobbing.

“One male officer came in and took off my bra and started kicking me in my breasts. At around 06:00, the officer in charge of the police station came into the room. He pulled my pants down. Then he lowered his pants and threatened to rape me multiple times unless I stopped screaming for help,” she alleged.

Reports in the Indian media last week quoted police as saying the army officer and his fiancee had arrived at the station drunk and the woman had been aggressive. They alleged that she had slapped a policewoman and bitten another officer.

She was arrested and a magistrate placed her in custody.

But three days after the alleged assault, the high court freed the woman on bail and criticised the police and the lower court that jailed her.

“On careful examination of the record, it appears that the allegations are very serious in nature… They are anathema to the very concept of a democratic and orderly society,” Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra said, adding that the “police had failed to follow the procedure laid down in law while arresting her”.

“Drastic action has been taken against the erring police officers… and appropriate action shall be taken against those found guilty,” the judge’s order said.

The magistrate had also “failed to apply their judicial mind” in denying the woman bail, Justice Mohapatra added.

Getty Images Activists hold placards during a protest to condemn the alleged gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Bool Garhi village of Uttar Pradesh state, in Mumbai on October 6, 2020.
In India, women are often victim-shamed for wearing Western clothes or drinking alcohol in public [BBC]

Since then, many in India have taken to social media to express their anger at alleged police brutality. A large number of former and serving army officials have shared the viral video of the woman and pledged support to her fight since her father is a retired army brigadier.

The Indian army has also written a letter to the chief justice of the high court in Odisha saying that a “serving officer had been kept in custody for nearly 14 hours without any charge” and because of “the grave incident… his prestige was demeaned”.

“The modesty and dignity of his fiancee, who also happens to be the daughter of a retired brigadier, was grossly outraged by the police authorities,” the letter adds.

Her father, who told the BBC that he had spent hours frantically trying to locate his daughter that night, said the police had not even informed him or his family about the allegations against his daughter.  “Some army officers informed me that my daughter had been arrested and sent to jail. I was allowed to meet her only the next afternoon,” he said. “I hope we will get justice.”

The state government said it “respects the Indian army” and is “concerned about the dignity, safety and rights of women”. It has nominated retired Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash to hold an inquiry and submit a report within 60 days.

Getty Images A file photo of An Indian woman looking at her hands after making a hand impression on a banner during a street march against sexual harassment and marital violence to mark International Women's Day in New Delhi
India records tens of thousands of crimes against women every year [BBC]

The woman’s allegations are being investigated and her statement has been recorded, crime branch official Narendra Behera told the media. The seven men accused of harassing the couple were arrested by police and released on bail.

On social media some have commented on the woman’s clothing while others have questioned “the character of a woman who argues with men and drinks alcohol”.

Namrata Chadha, lawyer and women’s rights activist who met the woman in hospital, told the BBC that it is “heart-breaking to see this kind of victim shaming”.  “She has an injured shoulder, a cut on her face and swelling around her eye. She is very traumatised. While talking to me, her eyes welled up several times. I told her, ‘You’ll have to be courageous and face it all.’ She said she will fight to the end.”

Ms Chadha says the police have to follow a standard operating procedure when a woman lodges a complaint.  “It’s their duty to hear her patiently. They are trained to deal with a woman if she is aggressive or agitated. They have to offer her a glass of water, calm her down. But from what she has alleged, it appears that basic rules were not followed.

“Also, how come there were no CCTVs when the Indian Supreme Court mandates it for every police station?” she asks. The police station in question opened only four months ago and is supposed to be a role model for other stations in the area.

Ms Chadha says the case has received a lot of attention because the woman is from a privileged background.  “But no-one know what goes on in this – and other – police stations when ordinary women go to seek help. “We tell our daughters that if you are in trouble, go to the nearest police station. We tell them it’s the second safest place – after their home. What do we tell them now? Where will a woman go now?”

[BBC]



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Zambian ex-president to be buried in South Africa after funeral row

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Edgar Lungu served as Zambia's sixth president from 2015 to 2021 [BBC]

The family of Zambia’s former President Edgar Lungu says he will be buried in South Africa in a private ceremony following a row with the government over the funeral arrangements.

Late on Thursday, President Hakainde Hichilema cut short a period of national mourning after Lungu’s family refused to allow his body to be repatriated from South Africa as planned. His funeral had been set for Sunday in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.

The family now says it will announce later when Lungu will be buried in Johannesburg in “dignity and peace”.

It will be the first time a former head of state of another country is buried in South Africa.

In his will, Lungu said that Hichilema, his long-time rival, should not attend his funeral.

The government and his family later agreed he would have a state funeral before relations broke down over the precise arrangements.

“We wish to announce that the funeral and burial of our beloved Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu will take place here in South Africa, in accordance with the family’s wishes for a private ceremony,” family spokesperson Makebi Zulu said in a statement.

Mr Zulu thanked the South African government for “non-interference” and honouring the family’s decision and desire during “this deeply emotional period”.

In his address on Thursday, President Hichilema said that Lungu, as a former president, “belongs to the nation of Zambia” and his body should therefore “be buried in Zambia with full honours, and not in any other nation”.

However, because of the row, he announced an immediate end to the mourning period, saying the country needed to “resume normal life”.

“The government has done everything possible to engage with the family of our departed sixth president,” he said.

The national mourning period initially ran from 8 to 14 June but was later extended until 23 June, with flags flying at half-mast and radio stations playing solemn music.

President Hichilema and senior officials had been prepared to receive Lungu’s coffin with full military honours on Wednesday.

However, Lungu’s family blocked the repatriation of his remains at the last minute, saying the government had reneged on its agreement over the funeral plans.

The opposition Patriotic Front (PF), the party Lungu led until his death, has stood with the family over the funeral plans.

“The government has turned a solemn occasion into a political game,” said PF acting president Given Lubinda. “This is not how we treat a former head of state.”

Civil society groups have called for an urgent resolution of the matter, with a section of religious leaders saying the stand-off was “hurting the dignity of our country”.

“We appeal for humility, dialogue, and a resolution that honours the memory of the former president while keeping the nation united,” said Emmanuel Chikoya, head of the Council of Churches in Zambia.

Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died earlier this month in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.

After six years as head of state, Lungu lost the 2021 election to Hichilema by a large margin. He stepped back from politics but later returned to the fray.

He had ambitions to vie for the presidency again but at the end of last year the Constitutional Court barred him from running, ruling that he had already served the maximum two terms allowed by law.

Despite his disqualification from the presidential election, he remained hugely influential in Zambian politics and did not hold back in his criticism of his successor.

[BBC]

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Investigators find cockpit voice recorder from crashed Air India flight

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Investigators are trying to piece together why the Air India plane crashed seconds after take-off (BBC)

Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the crashed Air India flight, a key step in uncovering what caused last week’s deadly accident.

The London-bound Air India aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed soon after taking off on Thursday from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. At least 270 people have been killed, most of them passengers.

The CVR captures audio from the cockpit, including pilot conversations, alarms and ambient sounds.

The flight data recorder (FDR), which logs crucial flight parameters like altitude, speed and engine performance, had been recovered from the debris on Friday.

Both the CVR and FDR collectively form what is commonly known as the “black box” of a plane. It is a vital tool in air crash investigations, helping experts reconstruct the flight’s final moments and determine the cause of the incident.

The black box, unlike the name suggests, is actually two bright orange devices – one for the CVR and the other for the FDR – painted with reflective strips for easier recovery after a crash. Both these devices are designed to survive a crash.

Getty Images A relative of a victim, who died or is severely injured due to the Air India Boeing Dreamliner plane crash, waits for news outside a hospital on June 13, 2025 in Ahmedabad, India
Dozens of families are waiting to collect the remains of their loved ones after DNA tests confirm a match (BBC)

India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the inquiry into the cause of the crash, helped by teams from the US and the UK.

On Sunday, officials from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) surveyed the site of the plane crash.

“The AAIB has launched a detailed investigation, and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a parallel probe under international protocols, since the aircraft is American-made,” a statement released on Sunday said.

Indian media outlets have reported, citing sources, that officials from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – the US aviation safety agency – also visited the site.

Separately, a high-level committee set up by the Indian government to examine the reasons behind the crash is expected to hold its first meeting on Monday.

The committee will submit a preliminary report within three months, the Air India radio said,  and will propose new standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help prevent similar incidents in future.

As the investigation continues, families on the ground are still grappling with disbelief and trauma.

Less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, the AI171 flight crashed into a doctors’ accommodation building at the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital.

All but one of the 242 passengers and crew members were killed. Officials have also been trying to establish how many people were killed on the ground and continuing the slow process of matching DNA samples to confirm the victims’ identities.

Over the weekend, doctors said 270 bodies had been recovered from the site of the crash.

More than 90 victims have been identified  through DNA matching, Dr Rajnish Patel of Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital said on Monday. He added that 47 of the identified bodies have been sent to their families.

Among the identified victims is Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat, whose funeral will be held on Monday. Rupani, whose political career spanned more than 50 years, will be laid to rest with full state honours in Rajkot city.

For many other families, the agonising wait continues.

Officials told the BBC that the identification process has been slow and painstaking, as many of the bodies were badly burned in the crash and are being processed in small batches.

Mistry Jignesh, waiting outside the hospital for updates on his niece, told the BBC on Saturday  that officials told him that it might take longer for them to hand over his niece’s remains as the search for bodies is still ongoing. He had earlier been told that the body would be handed over by Sunday, after the 72 hours it normally takes to complete DNA matching.

“When people are still missing, how can they complete the DNA process by tomorrow? What if my niece’s remains haven’t even been found? The wait is killing us,” he said.

(BBC)

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Air India plane crash claims at least 241 lives as one passenger survives

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The plane's tail was found embedded in a building [BBC]

Air India Flight AI171 travelling from India to London crashed within moments of take-off on Thursday, killing 241 passengers and crew, and more people on the ground.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which took off from the city of Ahmedabad, in western India, ploughed into a residential area, hitting a hospital complex and medical student hostel.

One passenger survived the disaster – a British national, who was sitting in seat 11A and who later told family he had no idea how he walked away.

It is not yet clear what caused the crash, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as “heartbreaking beyond words”.

Officials warned the death toll could rise in what was quickly described as one of the deadliest aviation disasters in India’s history.

Air India Flight AI171 departed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 13:39 local time (08:09 GMT), and was due to touch-down at London’s Gatwick Airport at 18:25 BST.

There were 230 passengers on board, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese citizens, one Canadian and 12 crew members.

The local police chief told the BBC that 204 bodies had been recovered so far – but it is not known how many of those victims were on the plane or were on the ground.

Images from the scene show debris scattered across a large crash zone, with parts of the aircraft embedded in buildings.

The extraordinary news that one person had survived the disaster quickly made international headlines, as the British national, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, was filmed limping towards an ambulance, with smoke billowing in the background.

“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise… it all happened so quickly,” he told local media from hospital.

His cousin, Ajay Valgi, said  Ramesh called his family to say he was “fine”, but he does not know the whereabouts of his brother, also called Ajay, who was on the plane with him.

Thursday’s incident was the first fatal crash involving a 787 Dreamliner, first introduced in 2011.

Boeing said in a statement that it “stands ready” to support the investigation, which is being led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

“We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected,” the bureau said.

US and British investigators will travel to India, with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) saying it will assist Indian authorities.

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the aircraft issued a mayday call seconds after take-off.

It lost contact with air traffic control shortly thereafter, crashing just outside the airport’s perimeter.

Graphic showing where the plane crashed after taking off from Amedabad Airport.

The crash site lies within a medical campus with 10 specialised centres. The BBC’s Sachin Pithva described scenes of chaos, with rescue workers retrieving the remains of those who perished.

Thick smoke was still billowing from the buildings hours after the crash, and passengers’ passports were strewn around, he reported.

Gujarat’s Additional Chief Secretary for Health confirmed the aircraft struck the students’ hostel and staff quarters of Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital.

Reuters A police officer stands in front of debris at the crash site. He is inside a building and there is an enormous hole in the wall, where part of the plane can be seen.
The plane crashed into several buildings in a residential area of Ahmedabad [BBC]

“It crashed into the hostel mess and then bounced off on to one of the hostel buildings,” the hospital’s dean, Dr Meenkashi Parekh, told the BBC.

The crash happened at lunchtime when many students were in the canteen, she added. Photos show a huge part of the plane stuck in one of the hostel buildings, and a dusty, deserted mess hall with plates of uneaten food still on the tables.

“Most of the students escaped… but the building caught fire and the smoke was extremely thick. So, 10 to 12 students were trapped,” the dean said.

She added it was possible that several students had been killed. Officials said dozens were in hospital.

Tata Group, which owns Air India, has said it would give one crore rupee – the equivalent of about £86,000 – to the families of each person who was killed in the crash.

Prime Minister Modi wrote on X: “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”

Both Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said they are being kept updated as the situation develops, while King Charles expressed his “deepest sympathies” to all those affected by the crash.

Starmer confirmed that a UK team had been dispatched to Gujarat to join the investigation as he urged families and friends of anyone affected to contact the Foreign Office.

[BBC]

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