Delhi Reels From Rape Reports More Cases Taint the Capital’s Reputation

PROTESTS\\ India’s capital continued to struggle with the label of being called the “rape capital” of the nation in May 2013 when two more prominent cases were brought to the forefront. One of them, the torture of a five-year-old, shook the nation. A five-year-old was abducted on April 15, 2013, and kept hostage without food and water in her attacker’s room. The 25-year-old accused, Manoj Kumar, was later arrested and upon interrogation Kumar revealed that one of his friend had also raped the toddler. Police arrested the second accused from Bihar. The victim, currently under treatment at AIIMS, is believed to have recovered from her injuries. D.K. Sharma, the hospital medical superintendent, was quoted as saying, “She slept well on Saturday night, and is alert, conscious and speaking to her parents. Her vital parameters are stable, and the colostomy tube is functioning well. At this stage, as such there is no danger to her life.” With the news of the rape, there were also reports of police callousness—as some officers refused to take FIR against the accused. This news further aggravated public rage. Soon, there were protests against the rape in the national capital which led to three Metro stations in central Delhi being closed.

Kejriwal to Contest Delhi Polls

CONTEST// The Aam Aadmi Party on April 15, 2013, declared that its party president Arvind Kejriwal will contest the Delhi Assembly polls. The party, however, refrained from declaring the constituency from which he will fight the poll. “Kejriwal will fight the elections but we can-not say at the moment which constituency is he planning to run from. There is a huge demand for him to fight the Delhi elections,” AAP chief spokesperson Manish Sisodia said. Sisodia declared the party's procedure for candidate selection at a press meet. Starting April 15, interested candidates can download application forms from the AAP website or pick them from AAP's office. The candidate filing the form needs to have at least 100 supporters from the constituency. A list seeking their names and contact numbers must be attached to the form.

Twin Quakes Shake Tehran Nation Struggles to Get Back on Feet

QUAKE// Then on April 16, 2013, a major earthquake centred on a border area of southeast Iran killed at least 13 people in neighbouring Pakistan, destroyed hundreds of houses and shook buildings as far away as India and Gulf Arab states. Communications with the area, a sparsely populated desert and mountain region, were largely cut, leading to conflicting preliminary reports of casualties in Iran. An Iranian provincial governor later said there were no deaths there. The epicentre was far from any of Iran’s nuclear facilities. It was the second big quake to hit Iran in a week. On April 9, a powerful 6.3 magnitude quake struck close to Iran's only nuclear power station, killing 37 people, injuring 850 and devastating two villages. Most of Iran’s nuclear-related facilities are located in central Iran or its west, including the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast. “It is far from Bushehr and other nuclear-related facilities,” Iran expert Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group think-tank told Reuters. “However, the recent tremors are ominous reminders of how earthquake prone Iran’s terrain truly is and how critical it is for the Iranian government to be prepared for a nuclear emergency,” Vaez said.