Mumbai: The sessions court has convicted two brothers for setting their sister-in-law ablaze while she was sleeping in Shivaji Nagar in March 2018. The two, Tejim Shaikh and Kafil Shaikh, were found guilty based on the victim, Farida Shaikh’s dying declaration and sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the accused were residing with Farida and her husband Aftab Shaikh in Rafiq Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, due to work-related reasons. It was alleged that Farida was under physical and mental pressure following the death of her three-month-old daughter and was subjected to harassment over an insufficient dowry.

As per the case registered with the Shivaji Nagar police, a quarrel broke out on March 6, 2018, after Farida allegedly refused to allow Aftab to join his brothers. Later that night, around 2am, Farida felt kerosene being poured over her. She stated that Tejim was pouring the kerosene while Kafil stood nearby, and that Kafil then set her on fire with a matchbox.

Aftab later tried to extinguish the flames and rushed her to Rajwadi Hospital. Farida suffered burn injuries over about 92-95% of her body. Her statement was recorded by police during treatment, followed by a formal dying declaration before a Naib Tahsildar. She succumbed to her injuries on March 11, 2018, after which the accused were booked for murder and dowry harassment.

The defence argued that Farida had committed suicide by pouring kerosene on herself and challenged the dying declaration. However, the court rejected the claim and relied on her statement.

The court did not accept allegations of cruelty against the other family members, noting that they were vague and lacked specific details. It also acquitted Aftab, observing that Farida had not accused her husband of any role in the incident and had instead stated that he attempted to save her after she was set on fire.

Hyderabad: A man from Maharashtra killed one of his three children to overcome the two-child norm to contest the upcoming Panchayat elections in that state.

Pandurang Kondmangale, a resident of Kerur village in Mukhed taluka of Maharashtra’s Nanded district, pushed her six-year-old daughter into a canal in Telangana’s Nizamabad district.

Nizamabad Police on Monday announced the arrest of Pandurang (28) and village sarpanch Ganesh Ramachandra Shinde.

Nizamabad Police Commissioner P. Sai Chaitanya told media persons that the body of a girl was found in the Nizam Sagar canal in Yedapally a few days ago. The investigation led to her identification as Prachi (6), a resident of Kerur village in neighbouring Nanded district of Maharashtra.

Police picked up her father for questioning. He tried to mislead the police by stating that she was undergoing treatment at a health centre. When grilled by the investigating officer, he confessed to killing the child.

What he revealed during the questioning was shocking for everyone. Pandurang, who runs a barber shop in his village, was keen to contest the upcoming Panchayat elections. As he had a three-year-old boy and twin girls aged six, he was ineligible to contest in view of the two-child norm for candidates contesting local body polls in Maharashtra.

He consulted his friend and current sarpanch of the village, Ganesh Shinde how to overcome the norm. They conspired to get rid of one of his children, Prachi, the elder of the twins.

According to police, they initially considered putting Prachi up for adoption. But that would not have served the purpose because she would still be registered as his child in the birth certificate.

Pandurang also thought of abandoning the child, but was worried about the consequences in the event of her return. They then conspired to kill the child and make it seem like an accident.

As Nizamabad district is only a few kilometres away from his village, Pandurang took Prachi on a motorcycle to the Nizam Sagar canal. He pushed her into the canal and fled. Some villagers who were working in the field nearby heard something plunge into the water and rushed there to find the girl’s lifeless body floating in the canal. They alerted the police, which launched an investigation.

The girl’s pictures were circulated widely on social media. Someone from the Maharashtra village identified Prachi when they saw her photo as the display picture on the WhatsApp number of one of the police personnel.

A police team reached the village and began an investigation, which led to the arrest of Pandurang and the sarpanch.

Mumbai, Feb 3: The Indian equity markets surged sharply by around 3 per cent early on Tuesday with broad-based buying across sectors, buoyed by the announcement of the India-US trade deal.

As of 9.25 am, Sensex added 2,421 points, or 2.97 per cent, to reach 84,088, and Nifty gained 741 points, or 2.96 per cent to settle at 25,829.

India and United States have agreed to a trade agreement under which reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods will be slashed to 18 per cent from 25 per cent, and the additional 25 per cent duty on purchases of Russian crude oil will be eliminated. The trade deal will be “effective immediately”, President Donald Trump said, following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Monday, offering immediate tariff relief for India.

Main broad-cap indices posted strong gains, as the Nifty Midcap 100 surged 3.10 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 added 3.25 per cent.

All sectoral indices were showed huge gains with realty, auto, consumer durables and IT being the major gainers, up 4.47 per cent, 3.78 per cent, 3.69 per cent and 3.04 per cent, respectively.

At 18 per cent, India’s tariff rate is now lower than that of several major export-oriented Asian economies. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Vietnam face tariffs of 20 per cent, while Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan face tariffs of 19 per cent.

Immediate support for Nifty lies at 25,600-25,800 zone, while resistance is anchored at 26,200–26,350 zone, market watchers said.

“The dramatic announcement of the long-awaited US-India trade deal and the US decision to cut tariffs on India from 50 per cent to 18 per cent is a game changer for the Indian economy and stock markets as its delay was the single important factor weighing on the markets,” an analyst said.

According to market watchers, India’s growth rate will rise to around 7.5 per cent in FY27, assisted by higher exports to the US from the deal, and corporate earnings already on revival could accelerate to around 16 per cent to 18 per cent in FY27.

Analysts also said that the rupee will rebound sharply, adding that the combination of US-India trade deal, the EU-India trade deal and the growth-oriented Budget will boost the market sentiments. The positive sentiment could trigger immediate foreign capital inflows, potentially turning India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) position.

Large caps including banking leaders, non-banking financials, telecom, capital goods and IT, which are trading the favourites of FII can see huge inflows, market watchers said.

In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index gained 0.38 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.93 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei surged 3.23 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.11 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi surged 5.04 per cent.

The US markets ended largely in the green in the last trading session as Nasdaq gained 0.56 per cent. The S&P 500 advanced 0.54 per cent, and the Dow added 1.05 per cent.

On February 2, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 1,832 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 2,446 crore.