Around five years ago, a Spanish couple embarked upon an ambitious plan to travel the world on motorcycles. Sixty-three countries and 170,000 km later, their journey hit a harrowing bump in the quiet corners of Jharkand’s Dumka, roughly 300 km from the state capital Ranchi. The woman, 28, was allegedly gang-raped by seven men when she was spending the night with her partner in a makeshift tent. 

The couple’s journey, initially tracing from Bangladesh on two motorcycles, was intended to continue through Bihar and ultimately reach Nepal. However, the night took a dark turn as the alleged attackers targeted the unsuspecting tourists, leaving the survivor in a harrowing state. 

“Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone. Seven men have raped me,” the woman shared on social media, along with images showing horrific injuries to her face.

The woman and her partner, 64, later took down the video from social media, claiming that the Jharkhand Police asked them not to “disturb” the investigation. 

“The police told me to turn off the post so as not to disturb the investigation. I will post it later,” the woman shared on her Instagram stories. In a video uploaded a few hours later, the woman’s face can be seen swollen and bruised following the attack. 

“My face looks like this, but it’s not what hurts me the most. I thought we were going to die. Thank God we are alive,” she wrote. 

Manhunt On 

The police have arrested three individuals allegedly involved in the crime. A manhunt is now underway to apprehend the remaining accused. In response to the severity of the incident, a special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted to ensure a thorough and swift inquiry.

Dumka Superintendent of Police (SP), Pitambar Singh Kherwar, said yesterday that the local police patrolling team discovered the distressed couple late on Friday night. Speaking in Spanish, the victims struggled to communicate the tragedy they had endured. The police, sensing the urgency, immediately transported them to a local hospital, where the grim reality of the situation unfolded.

The survivor, a 28-year-old woman, and her 64-year-old husband are currently undergoing treatment at Phulo Jhano Medical College and Hospital in Dumka. Although both are out of immediate danger, doctors are monitoring the couple for possible trauma.

“Both are out of danger and are undergoing treatment at the hospital. The man has sustained minor injuries. The medical examination of the victim will be done by a medical board comprising three gynaecologists, a radiologist, an orthopaedic and a dentist, headed by superintendent of the medical college, Dr Anupuran Purti,” a doctor at the hospital said as quoted by news agency PTI.

Condemnation

A National Commission for Women (NCW) visited Dumka and criticised the police’s alleged incapability in promptly apprehending all the accused. NCW Chairperson, Rekha Sharma, has reached out to the victim, promising support.

Local authorities have faced criticism from various quarters. Jharkhand BJP president, Babulal Marandi, expressed deep concern, alleging laxity within the law and order machinery in the state. The incident came up in the Jharkhand Assembly during its concluding day of the budget session, leading to adjournments and heated debates.

The political finger-pointing gained momentum with the Opposition’s demanding for the suspension of the Dumka SP and the formation of a probe committee. The alleged crime occurred on the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concerns about the alleged law and order situation in Jharkhand during a rally in the state.
 

Amid a massive backlash over the BJP fielding him from Asansol Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, Bhojpuri actor-singer Pawan Singh has said he would not be contesting the election.

“I thank the BJP leadership for trusting me and announcing my name as the candidate from Asansol, but I won’t be able to contest the election for some reason,” he said in a tweet in Hindi this afternoon.

The choice of 38-year-old Singh, a resident of Bihar, for the Bengal seat had sparked a huge row. Many had also pointed to his discography, which has several songs with objectionable references to Bengali women. The backlash on social media did not go unnoticed and the BJP, sources said, anticipated that Mr Singh’s candidature may harm its prospects in Asansol. A decision to drop him was taken and he was informed accordingly, the sources added. Then came the tweet in which the actor-singer said he is pulling out.

The Asansol Lok Sabha seat is currently replaced by Trinamool Congress’s Shatrughan Sinha. Mr Sinha was elected in a 2022 bypoll after singer-politician Babul Supriyo, who won the seat for the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, switched to the Trinamool.

Shehbaz Sharif, returning as Pakistan’s prime minister for a second time on Sunday when his brother declined a fourth term, has played a crucial role holding together a disparate coalition for 16 months after rival Imran Khan was ousted.

Sharif, 72, won a parliamentary vote for premier, resuming the role he had held until August when parliament was dissolved ahead of last month’s elections. Pakistan has had a caretaker government since then.

He was named by his party and coalition allies to head the South Asian nation, despite his elder brother Nawaz Sharif winning a seat in the assembly and being favourite to be sworn in again.

Nawaz Sharif did not want to run a minority coalition government, having had clear majorities in his three previous stints as prime minister, his daughter Maryam said in a post on X.

The brothers’ Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party won only 80 of the 264 seats up for contest in the elections but was supported by other parties for a majority.

In addition to holding the coalition together after Khan was voted out in 2022, Shehbaz Sharif helped Pakistan secure a last-gasp International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout last year.

He regained the top job as the PML-N buried differences with the powerful military in the face of their common rival, Khan, who was at odds with top generals over policy differences.

At the time, Nawaz Sharif was in self-imposed exile in London and disqualified from holding public office. He returned to Pakistan in October.

Before his stint as prime minister, the younger Sharif was known more as an administrator than a politician, having served as chief minister thrice in the country’s largest province, Punjab.

But as prime minister, he quickly took on the role of peacemaker between coalition parties often at odds with one another over key policies.

Shehbaz Sharif’s biggest achievement in his short tenure was clinching the IMF bailout with Pakistan on the brink of a debt default. The deal was signed after Sharif personally called on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva in June.

However, under his government, inflation touched a high of 38% with record depreciation of the rupee currency – mainly due to structural reforms necessitated by the IMF programme to stabilise the economy.

He blames the economic meltdown on Khan’s government, which he says broke an agreement with IMF just before he was ousted. Sharif said his government had to introduce a slew of reforms and scrap subsidies, causing inflation to surge.

KEY CHALLENGES

Pakistan continues to be enmeshed in economic crisis with inflation remaining high, hovering around 30%, and economic growth slowing to around 2%. February inflation dipped slightly to 23.1% from a year earlier, in part due to a high base effect.

Sharif will need to emulate his feat of securing a short-term IMF bailout with the current programme expiring next month and a new extended deal needed to keep Pakistan on a narrow path to recovery.

But his main role will be to maintain ties with the military, which has directly or indirectly dominated Pakistan since independence. Unlike his elder brother, who has had a rocky relationship with the military in all his three terms, the younger Sharif is considered more acceptable and compliant by the generals, analysts say.

For several years, the military has denied it interferes in politics. But it has in the past directly intervened to topple civilian governments three times, and no prime minister has finished a full five-year term since independence in 1947.

Privatising some lumbering state giants, including the national airline, and securing foreign investment will also be key to ease the economic crisis. The Sharis have close ties with rulers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which could help in securing investments in several projects Pakistan has lately showcased for sale.

Although defence and key foreign policy decisions are largely influenced by the military, Sharif will have to juggle relations with the U.S. and China, both major allies. He is also faced with dealing with fraying ties with three of Pakistan’s four neighbours, India, Iran and Afghanistan.

‘WORKAHOLIC’

Sharif was born in the eastern city of Lahore in a wealthy Kashmiri-origin family that was in the steel business. He started his political career as the chief minister of Punjab in 1997 with a signature “can-do” administrative style.

His cabinet members and bureaucrats who have worked closely with him call him a workaholic.

As chief minister, the younger Sharif planned and executed a number of ambitious infrastructure mega-projects, including Pakistan’s first modern mass transport system in Lahore.

He was caught up in the national political upheaval when his brother was ousted from the premiership by a military coup in 1999 and he went into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Sharif entered the national political scene when he became the chief of the PML-N after the elder Sharif was found guilty in 2017 on charges of concealing assets related to the Panama Papers revelations.

Married twice, Shehbaz Sharif has two sons and two daughters from his first marriage but none from the second. One of the sons is in politics but the others are not in public life.

His second wife is Tehmina Durrani, the well-known author of “My Feudal Lord”, an autobiography about an abusive married life with an earlier husband.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)