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Pulwama martyr Major Dhoundiyal’s wife Nikita Kaul pays a fitting tribute to her husband by joining the Indian Army

OpIndia Staff
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Pulwama martyr Major Dhoundiyal’s wife Nikita Kaul pays a fitting tribute to her husband by joining the Indian Army

Nikita Kaul, the wife of Pulwama martyr Major Vibhuti Dhoundiyal, is all set to carry her husband’s legacy as she joined the Indian Army on Saturday. Nikita Kaul had taken a vow to join the Armed Forces when her husband Major Dhoundiyal was posthumously awarded Shaurya Chakra in 2019 for his supreme sacrifice to the nation. Within 6 months after her husband’s demise, she had begun preparations to join the Indian Army.

Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal was martyred during a terrorist attack in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir in February 2019. Major Dhoundiyal had sustained gunshot wounds on his neck and abdomen. He was evacuated to the 92 base hospital in Srinagar but succumbed to his injuries soon and was declared dead.

Over two years after his martyrdom, his wife, Nikita Kaul, today paid a befitting tribute to the slain soldier by joining the ranks of the Indian Army. It was a proud moment for her as she got the stars on her shoulders from Army Commander Northern Command Lt Gen YK Joshi himself.

Nikita had vowed to join the Army after her husband’s ultimate sacrifice in Pulwama in 2019

Major Dhoundiyal was married for just 9 months before his sad demise, leaving behind him his 27-year-old wife Nikita Kaul Dhoundiyal. However, Major Dhoundiyal’s supreme sacrifice did not go in vain as his wife did not sit around sobbing for her husband’s loss. She resolved to join the Army and started preparing for the Armed Forces.

While bidding the soldier farewell, an emotional Nikita had said, “You said you loved me, but the fact is you loved the nation more. I am really proud. The way you love everyone is entirely different because you sacrificed your life for the people who you may have never met, but still you decided to give your life for them. You are such a brave man. I am very honoured to have you as my husband. I’ll love you till my last breath. I owe my life to you.”

Just six months after her husband’s sad demise, Nikita had filled the Short Service Commission (SSC) form. She cleared the exam and the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview as well in 2020 and was waiting to join the force. She has passed out of the Officers Training Academy on May 26 this year. On Saturday, she was formally commissioned at Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai for her training.

Watch: Long queues outside vaccination centres in China as people struggle to get inoculated amidst resurgent COVID-19 outbreak

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Long queues outside vaccination centres in China as people struggle to get inoculated amidst resurgent COVID-19 outbreak

While China has long been claiming that it has successfully managed the COVID-19 crisis and vaccinated its people, videos emerging from several cities of the country paint an entirely different picture. The videos puncture the claims made by the Chinese Communist Party and demonstrate how China is struggling to effectively vaccinate its citizens.

A video that was recently shared on Twitter by a Chinese human rights activist showed a huge crowd of people, presumably in the hundreds, lining up outside a vaccination centre at Jixian County of the Jiangxi province of China. In the video, one can see hundreds of people jostling each other outside the vaccination centre, trying desperately hard to get inside and get themselves vaccinated.

Long queue of people waiting to get vaccinated seen outside a hospital in Guangzhou

Similarly, another video from Guangzhou, a sprawling port city northwest of Hong Kong, showed inordinately long queues of people standing outside a hospital to receive their COVID-19 jab. The video was shot by a bystander who rode a bicycle for approximately 2:12 minutes along the length of the queue which stretched to out many blocks away from the hospital. Thousands of people were seen patiently waiting in the queue as the user rode along the line.

It is being reported that there has been a fresh surge of infections in many cities of China, including Guangzhou where people rushed to the vaccination centres, resulting in long queues outside vaccination centres. Consequently, the Chinese government issued a stay-at-home orders for residents in several streets that have seen resurgent coronavirus outbreak.

The Guangzhou government in South China’s Guangdong Province issued a directive, asking residents in five streets in Liwan district to stay at home, and allowing only one person of each household to buy necessities every day.

Nevertheless, the videos of desperate people thronging to vaccination centres run counter to the claims made by China that it has been successful in warding off the coronavirus threat and is efficiently vaccinating its people. Questions are now also being raised on the efficacy of the Chinese-made vaccines—whether they are good enough to prevent the vaccinated people from contracting the infection.

The world’s most vaccinated country, Seychelles, recently reported an inexplicable rise in the COVID-19 cases, raising doubts on China’s Sinopharm vaccine that is used to vaccinate its people. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are now mulling over giving a third dose of Sinopharm to their people after the previous two doses proved to be largely insufficient to stop the spread of the virus in their respective countries.

After trying to bully Baba Ramdev, IMA says they will withdraw complaint and defamation suit if he retracts his remarks entirely

OpIndia Staff
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After trying to bully Baba Ramdev, IMA says they will withdraw complaint and defamation suit if he retracts his remarks entirely

After trying to intimidate Yoga Guru Ramdev with a police complaint and a Rs 1000 crore defamation suit over his statements on Allopathic medicine, the IMA chief said on Friday that IMA will consider taking back the police complaints lodged against Baba Ramdev and also the defamation notice sent to him if he withdrew his remarks against modern medicine.

“We have nothing against yoga guru Baba Ramdev. His statements are against vaccination for Covid-19. We think his statements could confuse people, may divert them. This is our big concern as he has many followers,” Dr Jayalal said. Commenting on Baba Ramdev already withdrawing his comment vis-a-vis modern medicine and Covid-19, he said it has to be withdrawn in its entirety.

Following controversial remarks made by Baba Ramdev over the efficacy of modern medicine, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had on May 27 filed a complaint against Yoga Guru Ramdev at IP Estate Police Station in New Delhi.

IMA files police complaint against the Yoga Guru

The complaint, signed by General Secretary of IMA, Dr Jayesh Lele, said that Ramdev, along with his associates, “operated in furtherance of their illegal and dishonest intention with a view of obtaining wrongful gain and consequently causing wrongful loss to the medical fraternity and general public in large”.

In its complaint, the IMA claimed that Baba Ramdev had committed cognizable offences and is liable to be prosecuted under all applicable and relevant provisions of the law, including Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

IMA wants to sue Baba Ramdev for Rs 1,000 crore

On Wednesday, the IMA had sent Rs.1,000 crore defamation notice to Yoga Guru for his statements on allopathic medicine. The IMA has threatened Baba Ramdev, saying that if he does not post a video countering the statements given by him and tender a written apology within the next 15 days, they will be demanding Rs 1,000 crores from him.

Ramdev had withdrawn the statement

It may be noted that Baba Ramdev has already withdrawn his statement at the request of union health minister Harsh Vardhan. On 23rd May, the union minister had written to Ramdev asking him to withdraw the statements against Allopathic medicine. The minister had said that the Yoga guru’s statement on allopathic medicines was “extremely unfortunate”, and had asked him to withdraw the remark, saying it disrespects ‘corona warriors’ and can break the morale of healthcare workers.

Following the letter from the union minister, Ramdev had responded by saying that he is withdrawing the statement. ”Hon’ble Minister, I have received your letter. I withdraw my statement, putting to rest the controversy over various medical practices”, he had said. In a reply sent to the union health minister, he had said he respects the contributions made by the doctors in the war against Coronavirus. However, he had pointed out how some allopathic doctors are defaming Indian medicine, Ayurved and Yoga as Pseudo-Science, saying it hurts the sentiments of crores of people.

But it seems IMA is not satisfied with Ramdev withdrawing his statements in the letter to Dr Harsh Vardhan, as they said they want Ramdev to withdraw his comments in its entirety.

IMA vs Ramdev

The latest controversy between IMA and Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev erupted after a video of Baba Ramdev went viral on social media platforms, where he was heard saying that allopathy is a hollow practice and that many people have lost their lives due to allopathic medicines.

To this, the Indian Medical Association had taken a strong objection and had threatened to move Court if the Union Health Ministry does not take cognizance of the remarks made by Ramdev. The Health Ministry had issued a letter to Ramdev directing him to retract his statements.

In response to IMA’s attacks, Baba Ramdev too had launched an attack on the Indian Medical Association on Tuesday, firing 25 pointed questions at them. With these questions, Ramdev tried to highlight the shortcomings of allopathy and asking for permanent solutions to some of the most common diseases.

Centre recalls West Bengal Chief Secretary to Delhi, asks the state govt to release him with ‘immediate effect’

OpIndia Staff
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Centre recalls West Bengal Chief Secretary to Delhi, asks the state govt to release him with ‘immediate effect’

The feud between the central government and the West Bengal government hit the pinnacle after Mamata Banerjee disrespected the Prime Minister and the Governor of West Bengal. On Friday, she had deliberately made them wait for 30 minutes at the Kalaikunda Air Base in Bengal’s West Midnapore district during the PM’s review of cyclone Yaas. The same evening, the central government issued an order to recall West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay from the state.

A letter signed by an under-secretary in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions reached Nabanna on Friday evening, hours after Banerjee chose to skip the meeting with PM Modi to assess the impact of Cyclone Yaas, ordering the state government to “relieve Bandyopadhyay with immediate effect”.

Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-cadre IAS officer, known to be very close to CM Mamata Banerjee, has been deputed to the Ministry of Public Grievances and Pensions. He has been asked to report DOPT, North Block, New Delhi at 10 AM on May 31.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay was granted extension of services four days ago

The decision came barely four days after the centre granted an extension of services to Alapan Bandyopadhyay for three months at the request of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

In a notification, issued on May 24 from the West Bengal state secretariat, Mamata Banerjee had asked for a three-month extension of service of current chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay. Accordingly, Bandyopadhyay’s tenure was extended as the chief secretary by the central government on May 24.

On May 24, Banerjee, while announcing the extension, had said: “Our chief secretary has got an extension for three months. We are happy because he has got the experience of working during last year’s Amphan as well as during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic”.

Though Mamata Banerjee had not reacted immediately to the central government’s decision to recall Bandyopadhyay, people close to her have confirmed that the CM was “clearly unhappy” with the decision.

TMC criticised Centre’s move to recall the West Bengal Chief Secretary

Criticising the centre’s move, Trinamool MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said: “Has this ever happened since Independence? Forced central deputation of a Chief Secretary of a state. How much lower will Modi-Shah’s BJP stoop? All because people of Bengal humiliated the duo and chose Mamata Banerjee with an overwhelming mandate.”

This is, however, not the first time the centre has recalled top bureaucrats from states to Delhi. Just before the assembly election in Bengal this year, three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were recalled.

The Home Ministry is the cadre controlling authority for IPS officers, while the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which gave the order today to recall the Bengal Chief Secretary, comes under the Prime Minister’s Office or PMO.

According to reports, the centre invoked Section 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules while ordering the recall of the Bengal Chief Secretary.

The provisions read that a “cadre officer may, with the concurrence of the state governments concerned and the central government, be deputed for service under the central government or another state government. Provided that in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the central government and the state government or state governments concerned shall give effect to the decision of the central government.”

NIA exposes Pakistan backed Hizbul Mujahideen’s sinister plot to force a Hindu exodus from Jammu and Kashmir: Details

OpIndia Staff
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NIA exposes Pakistan backed Hizbul Mujahideen’s sinister plot to force a Hindu exodus from Jammu and Kashmir: Details

According to a chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before a special court in Jammu, Pakistan based terror organisation Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists have been working on a ploy to root out the Hindus from Jammu and Kashmir, especially in the erstwhile Doda district, reported News 18 on May 27.

All the activities being carried out by the terrorist outfit was intended towards forcing Hindus to “run away from the area”, according to a National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge-sheet filed in a Kishtwar weapon-snatching case.

The 37-page charge-sheet specified that the Hizbul’s planned to revive terrorism in the erstwhile Doda district, which was later trifurcated to create Kishtwar, Ramban and Doda districts, and carry out targeted killings of Hindus in the area.

The charge sheet read that by carrying out activities like looting of arms and ammunitions or targeting prominent and influential Hindus in the area, Hizbul was executing the larger conspiracy to create terror amongst the community in order to force them to run away from the area.

NIA reveals how Hizbul is creating terror to force Hindus exodus

“During the investigation, it has been found that the Hizbul-ul-Mujahideen (HM) terrorists conspired to strike terror in the minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in general and Kishtwar district in particular by carting out terror acts of targeting persons of a particular community and committing daylight looting of weapons,” the charge sheet read.

“…it has been found that the incident…is one amongst the four incidents committed in the period November 2018 to September 2019, by Hizbul Mujahideen,” the charge sheet read.

The targeted killings of BJP’s Parihar brothers and that of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Chander Kant Sharma and his personal security officer (PSO) at the district hospital in Kishtwar, were mentioned in the charge-sheet to labour the point.

NIA files charge sheet in Kishtwar weapon snatching case

The counter-terrorist task force outlined the Hizbul’s plan in the charge sheet which is filed before a special court in Jammu on May 22, against Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists, namely Jaffer Hussain, Taraq Hussain Giri (both residents of Kishtwar) and Tanveer Ahmed Malik of neighbouring Doda, who was involved in weapon snatching in hilly Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.

On March 3, 2019, two Hizbul terrorists barged into the rented resident of head constable Daleep Singh, the escort in charge of the then deputy commissioner of Kishtwar, and snatched his service rifle, an AK-47. The case was transferred to NIA in August 2019.

France: Islamic terrorist on watch list stabs a woman police officer inside police station, injures two others in Nantes terror attack

OpIndia Staff
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France: Islamic terrorist on watch list stabs a woman police officer inside police station, injures two others in Nantes terror attack

A radical Islamic terrorist, who was on a watch list for potential terrorist threats, stabbed a policewoman inside a police station and injured two others in western France on Friday before being shot by the police.

According to the reports, the 40-year-old terrorist, who had been on a watch list for Islamic radicalism, entered the police station in La Chappelle-Sur-Erdre in Nantes, France, on Friday morning and stabbed the woman police officer several times with a knife. Two others have also suffered serious injuries during the terrifying terror attack on Friday.

The woman officer, identified as Katell Lerech, is fighting for her life after being stabbed in the terror attack. The terrorist, who reportedly belongs to Tunisia, has been shot dead by the police after he escaped with the officer’s pistol. Katell, who is in her 40s, lives in Les Touches of Nantes with her partner.

The victim was seriously wounded but expected to survive, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. “He was flagged in 2016 for a strict practice of Islam, for radicalisation,” Minister Darmanin said.

Terrorist stole pistol from officer, fled the spot

The terrorist – Ndiaga Dieye-was released from prison in March after serving an eight-year sentence for violent crime. He was on a security services register for his”rigorous” religious practices and was considered a terrorism risk. The terrorist had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The attacker fled the spot in a car, but he crashed. Later, he entered an apartment building where he held a young woman hostage for more than two hours.

More than 250 officers launched a manhunt to nab the terrorist. Hours later, the suspect emerged onto the balcony of his captive’s flat and opened fire on officers. According to the witness, the attacker was brandishing the pistol taken from the police officer he stabbed.

After firing at the officers, he fled into a field where he fired several more times at officers, before being killed in an encounter.

In April, in a similar incident, a female police officer in France was stabbed to death in Rambouillet, a town southwest of Paris. The attacker was identified as a Tunisian migrant. He was shot dead by her colleagues in the aftermath of the stabbing. The attacker allegedly shouted ‘Allahu-Akbar while carrying out the attack. The attacker was reportedly unknown to the intelligence officials or the police. 

France has been a victim of Islamist terror attacks since the beheading of Samuel Paty and Emmanuel Macron’s defence of freedom of expression.

Kerala High Court slams state govt’s over 80% minority scholarship quota for Muslims, says legally not sustainable: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala High Court slams state govt’s over 80% minority scholarship quota for Muslims, says legally not sustainable: Details

On Friday (May 28), the Kerala High Court upheld that ‘subclassification’ of the Muslims within the minority community and disproportionate awarding of scholarships to them is not legally sustainable. The Court’s observation comes to a major setback to the Kerala government which sought to provide scholarships to Muslims and Latin Catholics/converted Christians in the 80:20 ratio.

A petition was earlier filed by one Justine Pallivathukal before the Kerala High Court, seeking quashing of the Kerala government’s order. The petition read, “The State of Kerala under the guise of promoting the minority communities is showing undue favouritism to the Muslim community to the detriment of other minority communities. In the case of the Christian community, other than Latin Catholic and converted Christians, no benefit is given to the rest of the group resulting in total discrimination.”

The petitioner argued that the Kerala government’s order meted undue favouritism to the Muslim community at the expense of other religious minorities. Furthermore, the petition sought for the redressal of the discriminatory order and requested that scholarships be distributed uniformly. Justine Pallivathukal, in an alternate prayer, also urged the Court that the scholarships be distributed in accordance to the population of the minority communities.

Observations made by the Kerala High Court

The matter came up for hearing before the Division Bench of Justice Shaji P Chaly and Chief Justice Manikumar. During the hearing, Justice Shaji P Chaly directed that the scholarships must be provided on merit-cum-means basis to all notified ‘minority communities’ in equal proportion. The Court ruled, “We hereby direct the State Government to pass requisite and appropriate Government Orders providing merit-cum-means scholarship to the members of the notified minority communities within the state equally, in accordance with the latest population census available with the State Minority Commission.”

The Kerala High Court pointed out that while there was nothing wrong in providing support to notified minorities, the State government has to treat them equally. It emphasised that the State had no powers to treat them unequally. “But here is a case where without taking into account the entitlement of the Christian Minority community within the State available from the population ratio, State is indulging in providing scholarship to the Muslim minority community at 80%, which according to us, is an unconstitutional act and unsupported by any law,” the Court added.

Further slamming the Kerala government, the High Court said that the Executive Orders issued by the State government cannot overrule Article 29 and provisions of the Minority Commission Acts of 1992 and 2014. The Court ruled, “Therefore, deducing the facts, circumstances and the laws, we are of the considered opinion that the action of the State Government in sub-classifying the minorities by providing merit-cum-means scholarship at 80% to the Muslim community and 20% to the Latin Catholic Christians and Converted Christians cannot be legally sustained.”

The Background of the Case

Reportedly, the Kerala government had decided to award 80% of the scholarships to Muslims and 20% to Latin Catholics on the basis of a proposal submitted by an 11-member Committee. It must be mentioned that the Committee was asked to implement the recommendations of the contentious Sachar committee report in Kerala. The State government initially handed out 5000 scholarships to female Muslim students exclusively for graduate and post-graduate studies.

In February 2011, the Kerala government decided to extend it to Latin Catholics/Converted Christians. It must be mentioned that the State government’s minority scholarship contradicted another such scholarship announced by the UPA-I government in 2006.

In its defence, the Kerala government had argued that Muslims were more impoverished in the State as compared to Christians. It said that there were only 3% landless Christians as compared to 37.8% Muslims. The State government also justified the exclusion of Christians, Roman Catholics and other sects by claiming that they were not ‘backward communities.’

Kerala HC refuses to stay reforms initiated by Lakshadweep administration, the plea was filed by Congress leader KP Noushad Ali

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Kerala HC refuses to stay reforms initiated by Lakshadweep administration, the plea was filed by Congress leader KP Noushad Ali

On Friday, the Kerala High Court refused to stay the implementation of the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) 2021, Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA), among other administrative measures recently introduced, including a beef ban, by the Lakshadweep administration, reports Live Law.

According to the reports, the Kerala High Court issued a notice to the Centre and the Union Territory administration asking to respond to the public interest litigation in the next two weeks.

Congress leader KP Noushad Ali had filed the plea in the Kerala HC against the reforms initiated by the centre in Lakshadweep. In his petition, Ali has claimed that the regulation will destroy the unique culture and tradition of the Arabian Sea archipelago. He has said the new regulations give sweeping, arbitrary, and unchecked powers to Lakshadweep’s administration and will even affect possession and retention of property by islanders.

Hearing the plea, the Kerala High Court bench comprising Justice Vinod Chandran and Justice MR Anitha observed that it was a policy matter and asked all stakeholders to share their views with the court. The court also sent notices to the Union government and island administration and posted the hearing after two weeks.

Lakshadweep has been in the eye of a political storm after the Union Territory’s new administrator, Praful Khoda Patel, issued a set of orders and brought in new rules and regulations. The administrative reforms initiated by Lakshadweep administrator Praful Khoda has met with stiff resistance, especially by the opposition parties, claiming that the new rules will hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslim population living on the island.

The opposition parties, including Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, have claimed that the new reforms are aimed at “destroying the unique culture and tradition” of the islands.

After his ‘Indian Corona’ trope, Congress’ Kamal Nath says ‘Bharat mahan nahi, badnam hain’, stirs another controversy

OpIndia Staff
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After his ‘Indian Corona’ trope, Congress’ Kamal Nath says ‘Bharat mahan nahi, badnam hain’, stirs another controversy

Barely a week after an FIR was lodged against him over his controversial comments over Coronavirus and asking his party workers to set the country on fire over farmer protests, Congress senior leader Kamal Nath has stirred fresh controversy on Friday as he termed India “badnam, not maha” (infamous, not great).

Kamal Nath’s made the controversial remark while addressing the media during a religious visit to Maihar town of Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. He was speaking about Covid handling in India when he said: “Mera Bharat mahan nahi hai, badnam hai (My country is not great but infamous). The whole world is looking at the worst condition of Covid-19 in India. Indians, who are working in the US are facing discrimination. A person told me that the people in New York are afraid of sitting in taxis driven by Indians.” 

Nath, the Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, also attacked the BJP government led by Shivraj Sigh Chouhan for allegedly covering up Covid-19 deaths in the state.

Reacting to Kamal Nath’s remarks, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “Madhya Pradesh’s Congress chief is calling India badnam. Is Congress shameless? After taking birth on this land, you are calling India badnam. Does this not amount to being a traitor, or is this the ideology of Congress?” 

Furthering that Kamal Nath has lost his mental balance after losing his government, the Madhya Pradesh CM asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to clarify whether the party is in conjunction with Kamal Nath. He said that Sonia Gandhi should either accept that she agrees with Kamal Nath or sack the MP Congress chief. 

Prior to this, the Congress senior leader had made a similar disparaging comment absolving China for giving coronavirus to the world and implicating India for the raging pandemic. In a video that surfaced, Kamal Nath was heard saying: “Today, the world calls it Indian corona”.

Interestingly, Kamal Nath’s remarks jibe exactly with the instructions laid down in the toolkit that was exposed on May 18. The Congress toolkit that was exposed on social media opened a Pandora’s Box as it brought to fore the party’s malicious attempts to tarnish the image of India, central government, and PM Modi. Congress, however, later claimed the toolkit is fake and threatened legal action.

Turkey: Muslim man stabs wife 46 times, judge cites ‘good behaviour’ to reduce jail term

OpIndia Staff
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Turkey: Muslim man stabs wife 46 times, judge cites ‘good behaviour’ to reduce jail term

On Tuesday (May 25), a court in Turkey reduced the life sentence of a Muslim man to 18 years for the gruesome murder of his 37-year-old wife named Tuba Erkol, reported Duvar English.

The accused has been identified as one Bejir Erol. He was found guilty of killing his wife on August 8, 2019, in Konya in Anatolia province in Turkey. During the crime, Erol mercilessly stabbed his wife 46 times, leading to her death. Despite this, the Konya 4th Heavy Penal Court ruled that his aggravated life sentence be reduced to 18 years on account of ‘unjust provocation’ by his wife and the accused’s ‘good behaviour.’

It must be mentioned that his wife Tubal Erkol had filed a complaint against him for constant violence. Bejir, however, violated the restraining order and murdered Tuba in front of the children, just four days later. The prosecutors had demanded an aggravated life sentence for the Muslim man on account of committing murder with ‘monstrous feelings.’ They had also urged the Court to not make him eligible for sentence reduction.

The judges had initially sentenced the accused to an aggravated life sentence. However, on May 25, the Court reduced his sentence to 18 years and 4 months for ‘unjustified provocation’ and ‘good behaviour’ during the trial process. It must be mentioned that Article 29 of the Turkish Criminal Code says that the sentence of a convict can be reduced if the crime was committed in a ‘state of anger or severe distress caused by the unjust act.’

While the notion of ‘unjust provocation’ is arbitrary and left to the discretion of the judges, convicted criminals reportedly make several excuses to seek a reduced sentence and influence the decision of the Judiciary. Similarly, the sentence awarded to a convict can also be reduced in Turkey on account of his/her ‘good behaviour’. Like ‘unjust provocation’, the interpretation of good behaviour is also left at the judges’ discretion. Employing both these arbitrary rules, the Court reduced Bejir Erol’s aggravated life sentence.

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