What's wrong with these teachers? Headmaster held for sexual harassment

[email protected] (CD Network)
July 31, 2014

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Karkala, Jul 31: Even as the public outrage mounted across the state over the increased cases of rape and sexual harassment in schools, another shameful incident was reported from a government high school at Hebri in Karkala taluk of Udupi district.

Karkala police on Thursday nabbed the headmaster of Hebri Government High School on charges of alleged sexual harassment on a female student. The accused headmaster has been identified as Venkataramana Kalkura.

Kalkura's subordinate teachers Prabhavathi and Veena and Hebri Gram Panchayat president Suresh Shetty also have been taken into custody by the police for allegedly supporting the main accused and trying to cover up the issue.

The police swung into action within hours after the victim lodged a complaint against the headmaster and other accused.

The complainant stated that Kalkura had been sexually harassing her for the past six months. She said that even though she brought the issue to the notice of two female teachers – Prabhavati and Veena – they backed the headmaster and scolded her.

The girl's parents said that when they approached Gram Panchayat president Suresh Shetty the latter also supported the accused.

The girl's parents finally approached district Superintendent of Police Dr Boralingaiah, who directed Karkala ASP Annamalai to look into the matter and take immediate action. Soon after the complaint was registered the ASP visited the school and questioned teachers and students before arresting the main accused.

It is learnt that Kalkura, who was earlier working in a Government High School in Kundapur, was transferred to Hebri following complaints of misbehaviour and sexual abuse in the school in 2013.

Ironically, a group of activists of Bharatiya Janata Party staged a protest in front of jurisdictional police station to express their solidarity with Gram Panchayat president Suresh Shetty who had allegedly tried to cover up the issue.

They argued that Mr Shetty was unnecessarily dragged into the case by the police even though he had not involved in the issue directly.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Gokarna (Uttara Kannada): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Congress will decide about making him the Chief Minister in future, bringing to the fore again the issue of leadership change.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the Chief Minister's post after the Assembly election results in May last year, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.

There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a "rotational Chief Minister formula," according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-half years but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.

During a temple visit here, a priest prayed that God's blessings may be showered on Shivakumar, and he became the Chief Minister.

Speaking to reporters here in Uttara Kannada district, Shivakumar, who has in the past made no secret of his ambition to become Chief Minister, amid speculations of change in guard mid-way of the Assembly term, responded to talk in some political circles about the leadership issue.

"What's wrong if a priest expresses his desire before God while praying? The priest has expressed his desire. Now Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister, I'm working as Deputy Chief Minister under him, also as party's state President. People speak about it and desiring it (Shivakumar should become CM) is a different matter, it will be decided by our party," Shivakumar said.

"Now we are all working under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, and our desire is that the state should progress further under his leadership," he said.

"There will be people including supporters and priests, who pray for us, they will express their opinion. Can we stop them from doing it? At the temple it is between God and his disciple, they have expressed their feelings to God," Shivakumar added. 

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News Network
March 17,2024

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Beltangady, Mar 17: A three-year-old boy was crushed to death under the wheels of an auto-rickshaw in front of his house at Panakaje Mundadi in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada. 

The gut-wrenching tragedy took place on Saturday, March 16 morning when the boy ran out of home to the road. 

The victim has been identified as Kaushik, the son of Chandrashekhar and Usha couple. Their home is situated adjacent to the main road at Panakaje.

It is learnt that the auto-rickshaw failed to notice the boy who suddenly darted towards the road and hit him. 

Even though the injured boy was rushed to a private hospital in Ujire and later to Mangaluru, he breathed his last. 

The Beltangady traffic police have registered a case in connection with the incident.

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News Network
March 26,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The preliminary probe has revealed that the two suspects were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

The NIA sleuths have picked up the suspects from an area in the state capital. However, a statement is yet to be made by the NIA in this regard.

Even as the investigating agencies, both NIA and state special wing CCB teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber’s images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the incident.

Sources said that the sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookfield area. Low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.

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