Indian hanged in Kuwait

Dubai (PTI): An Indian was hanged to death in Kuwait on Tuesday for killing his Kuwaiti employer in 2003.

Shakrullah Ansari, who was in his early 20s and hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, was hanged after his mercy petition was rejected by the emir of Kuwait.

He had been sentenced to death by a local court.

Ansari was convicted of murder, possessing firearms and ammunition, as well as stealing money from his employer before burying the body, the official Kuwait News Agency quoted judge Najeeb al-Mulla, the director of the criminal execution office, as saying after the execution.

Ansari, who had come to Kuwait in 2001, had complained to the Indian embassy three years ago that he was being harassed by his employer, who used to beat him and often did not give him food, sources in the mission said.

He was among five persons hanged to death on Tuesday, the largest number of executions carried out on a single day in Kuwait in 16 years.

Hours before he was hanged, Ansari had called up his home and wanted to speak to his family, particularly his father, not knowing that he had died two years ago. He did speak to other family members. “He was so simple. How could he have murdered anyone?” his mother asked repeatedly.

Rapist challenges verdict

Mumbai (PTI): Sunil More, the dismissed constable who was convicted of raping a minor inside a police post, has challenged the conviction in Bombay High Court.

Advocate Prakash Wagh filed More’s appeal challenging the conviction on the ground that More was falsely implicated in the case.

More is undergoing a 12-year term.

The dismissed constable was convicted of raping a 17-year-old in Marine Drive police post, barely a 10-minute walk from the state secretariat on April 2005.

Bangladeshis

Jammu (PTI): BSF personnel apprehended seven Bangladeshis on Tuesday when they were trying to sneak into Pakistan through the Samba sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

The group of four men and three women were held at the Suchetgarh border outpost in the sector, BSF officials said.

Demolition stay

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court stayed the demolition of a slum near Pragati Maidan on Tuesday. The court passed the order on a petition of the slumdwellers that argued the demolition was a violation of the right to shelter under Article 20 of the Constitution. The demolition started after Delhi High Court passed an order in April.

Dowry burning

Sonepat (PTI): A woman sustained serious injuries after she was set on fire allegedly by her husband and in-laws over dowry demands at a Haryana village, five km from here.

A school teacher in Nagapattinam has come across two neolithic stone axes with the Indus Valley script. Experts feel that the axes could be as old as 3,500 years and date back to 1500 BC.