Husband held over alleged dowry harassment, nine-month-old daughter left motherless Ulhasnagar: A 28-year-old highly educated woman allegedly died by suicide at her residence in Ulhasnagar on September 12, following alleged physical and mental harassment by her husband, mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law over dowry, domestic issues and the birth of a daughter, according to a complaint filed by her father. The deceased, identified as Nitya Gaurav Rai, was married to software

Exactly 13 years after rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead on a Pune road the Bombay High Court suspended the life sentence of convict Sachin Prakashrao Andure and granted him bail, pending his appeal against conviction, here on Tuesday. A division bench of Justice S. V. Kotwal and Justice R. R. Bhonsale extended to Andure the benefit of ‘parity’ with co-convict, Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar - who was granted bail by the high court in

Mumbai: Gadchiroli’s Assistant Police Inspector Wasudeo Rajam Madavi - who has 58 encounters with 101 kills during daring anti-Maoist operations - has been awarded the First Bar to his Gallantry Medal, in the President’s Independence Day honours list this year. The 2026 I-Day honours list of 82 awardees from Maharashtra has 21 brave-hearts from Gadchiroli. This is the second coveted distinction in a single year for Madawi , months after he was decorated with the Gallantry Med

The Pune murder case, in which a young man was allegedly killed by his fiancée and her partner, has become an Indian cause célèbre. While the crime is cruel and unforgivable, it begs the question why? If she did not want to marry the man, she could have just said no. The accused – Siya Goyal – is only 20 years old, according to reports, and had said she did not want to marry her fiancé. Socially, it opens up a much larger question that in many Indian families, even today, why

She was reportedly upset over her love relationship with a man from other caste Ulhasnagar: In a shocking incident that has sent shockwaves across Ulhasnagar, a mother allegedly strangled her 19-year-old daughter to death after opposing her relationship with a young man from another caste. According to the police, the accused, identified as Asha Garad, allegedly killed her daughter Amruta Garad in a fit of rage when the latter was preparing to leave home with the man she was

Agency says Pakistani gangster lured youths through social media AI generated image Mumbai: In one of the biggest coordinated counter-terror operations in recent months, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) carried out simultaneous raids and searches at dawn across the state in which around 112 persons were quizzed for their alleged social media links with a Pakistan-based alleged ISI handler-cum-mafiosi Shahzad Bhatti, officials said. According to the ATS, an undisclos

Prominent mountaineering institute urges CM to take steps over digital defamation Mumbai: A prominent mountaineering institute has taken strong objection to the vilification of the historic Lohagad Fort in Pune – now a UNESCO World Heritage (2025) along with 12 Maratha forts – which shot into limelight last month for an alleged murder. Pune-based Akhil Maharashtra Giryarohan Mahasangh (AMGM) has shot off a memorandum to the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking an end to t

India’s rising crimes against senior citizens expose a failure of social protection, policing and community responsibility. AI generated image India is ageing rapidly. With a growing population of citizens above 60 years, the vulnerability of our elderly has become a stark national concern. The latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its ‘Crime in India 2022-24’ report reveals a disturbing trend: crimes against senior citizens are not only persistent but

Mumbai: Pune rape-cum-murder convict Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, 65 - who was slapped with triple death sentences and triple life imprisonments - has emerged as a deeply depraved sexual predator who, according to the historic judgment of a Pune Special (POCSO) Court, spared neither women nor animals to satisfy his lust. The verdict records that he routinely "misbehaved" with farm animals and had once even attempted to have sexual intercourse with a goat. Special Judge S. R. S

Landmark verdict in 60 days as pune court terms crime ‘rarest of rare’; calls ‘brutal’, ‘inhuman’ and ‘barbaric’ Mumbai: In a milestone verdict, a Pune Special Fast Track Court handed triple death and triple life sentences to a 65-year old man for the rape-cum-murder of a three-years and two-months old girl, within barely 60 days of the crime, terming the case as falling in the ‘rarest of rare’ category, on Monday. Special Judge S. R. Salunkhe slapped the verdicts “to be hang

The Siya Goyal case challenges familiar assumptions about gender, violence and the changing nature of crime in India. Crime anywhere in the world, across time, culture and geography, has two clearly defined segments - the perpetrator and the victim. When women are ‘visible’ in media content, the manner of their representation reflects the biases and assumptions of those who define the public - and, therefore, the media agenda. More than fifty years after the international c

Mumbai: A routine commute to home on a dark rain-soaked night in a Mumbai local turned into a nightmare when a 22-year-old commuter was allegedly stabbed to death inside a first-class compartment following a heated argument over shutting the train door, late on Tuesday. The victim, identified as Mayank Lohar, 22, worked as a salesman with a private company in Andheri and lived in Virar, nearly 60 km from Churchgate. According to Western Railway (WR) and Government Railway Pol

India’s surge in juvenile crime is a warning that families and schools are struggling to transmit the values that hold society together. AI generated image The headlines are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Crimes involving minors, once treated as isolated aberrations, are now appearing with unsettling regularity across India. Behind each statistic lies a troubling question: what is driving children and adolescents towards violence, theft, drug abuse and other forms

AI generated image New Delhi: An alleged Rs 200-crore donation theft scandal at the Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya has sparked an intensive investigation after two individuals were detained and large sums of cash were reportedly recovered. With six people now under scrutiny, the controversy has evolved into a major political and administrative issue. The alleged financial irregularities came to light following a routine audit and scrutiny of CCTV footage at the temple. The contro

The death of Twisha Sharma has reignited uncomfortable questions about dowry, domestic abuse and family power structures. Last week, scrolling through some reels on my cell phone trying to find out more about the Twisha Sharma case, I came across a reel on Kiran Bedi’s views on the girl’s tragic end. For some reason, the reel was dubbed in Bengali. I was shocked at what Kiran Bedi said. She questioned why at all did Twisha Sharma, all of 33, well-educated with a career to fal

The death of a young concertgoer has exposed uncomfortable questions about drugs and the hidden costs of Mumbai’s nightlife boom. Mumbai has long prided itself on being India’s city that never sleeps. From luxury lounges and music festivals to celebrity concerts and exclusive nightlife experiences, the city has cultivated an entertainment culture that attracts thousands of young people every weekend. However, recent incidents have once again raised uncomfortable questions abo

A shocking double murder case in Badlapur's Juveli village has sent shockwaves across the city after the blood-soaked bodies of a woman and an Ola driver were discovered inside a locked car. The investigation took a dramatic turn when the woman's three-year-old son, who was reportedly present inside the vehicle during the incident, allegedly told police that "the driver uncle killed my mother." However, the circumstances surrounding the death of the Ola driver remain unclear,

Three weeks after issuing InterPol Notice Ganesh Balaso Kale Mumbai: In one of the swiftest international manhunts in recent years, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), working in close coordination with multiple Indian and foreign agencies, secured the deportation of notorious cybercrime accused Ganesh Balaso Kale from Thailand to Mumbai - barely 21 days after an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) was issued against him. Absconding since nearly a year, Kale was wanted

The Pune police’s crackdown on nightlife and assemblies exposes the uneasy nexus between crime, politics and public security AI generated image Pune: Pune likes to think of itself as Maharashtra’s cultured capital, a city of students, software engineers and retirees. But in the past decade or so, that reputation has taken a beating with the city increasingly turning into a netherworld where criminal gangs operate with growing audacity and where citizens are no longer certain

How my family was pushed into mental and financial trauma During my wife Vrushali’s pregnancy, I witnessed the apathy of the government hospital in Ulhasnagar. The hospital had two operation theatres, yet both were reportedly kept closed simultaneously. The modular operation theatre remained shut from August 21, 2024 to February 20, 2026 while the second operation theatre was also closed for renovation work for several months. I could not understand how a government maternity