Indian police have arrested a man suspected of killing his neighbour with a home-made bomb to avenge the alleged rape of his wife.
Suresh Lodha, 32, from Bilpak village in Ratlam district in central Madhya Pradesh state, was arrested on Monday on suspicion that he had planted an explosive near a bore-well that killed Lal Singh.
On January 4, Mr Singh was working on his farm when the explosive device exploded, killing him on the spot.
A team of forensic experts found that the explosive was made of gelatin rods and a detonator, which is often used by villagers to dig up wells.
During the investigation, police found that a similar explosion had taken place near a tube-well on the farm of former village head Bhanwar Lal in August last year. He had sustained minor injuries.
The police interrogated villagers and found Mr Lodha and his family were missing. They detained him two days later from the neighbouring Mandsaur district and said he confessed to his crimes.
“He confessed to us that he had planted the explosive to avenge his wife’s gang-rape,” Deepak Sejwar, police inspector, told The National.
“He said Lal Singh, Bhanwar Lal and a third man named Dinesh Lodha were his neighbours. Last year the three men had barged inside his home and allegedly raped his wife and beat him up when he tried to stop them,” Mr Sejwar said.
Police said he did not report the incident because he was threatened by the three with “dire consequences".
Mr Lodha was also said to be worried that reporting the incident would bring shame and dishonour to his wife and family.
To take revenge, he learnt to assemble the bomb from the internet and then used the technique on Bhanwar Lal, but when he survived, he used more gelatin rods for his attack on Lal Singh, the police said.
Bhanwar Lal and Dinesh Lodha have been arrested on charges of gang-rape.
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
