Feature
Moga molestation: Girl’s family agrees to autopsy, cremation
Moga (Punjab): The family of the 13-year-old girl who died after she was molested and pushed out of a private bus owned by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s company on Sunday agreed to her post-mortem examination and cremation.
The father of the girl and some members of her family said they agreed to the post-mortem examination, and that her body will be cremated later on Sunday.
Chaos prevailed at the Civil Hospital complex in Moga town on Sunday as local authorities and the police tried to get the consent of the family for conducting the post-mortem examination and cremation.
Moga Deputy Commissioner Parminder Singh Gill said the family has agreed to the post-mortem examination and cremation. “The post mortem will be the most crucial piece of evidence related to the death of the victim,” he said.
Heavy police deployment was made outside and inside the hospital complex Sunday afternoon as scores of people protested the authorities’ bid to pressurise the victim’s family to give its consent for a post-mortem examination followed by cremation.
Though the girl, Arshdeep Kaur, a Dalit, died on Wednesday evening, the family had refused to allow her autopsy and cremation till the owners of the Orbit Aviation transport company, implying Sukhbir Badal and others, were booked. The row continued for the past three days.
Protesters, including Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists, alleged that the authorities and police under pressure from the Badal family had coerced the victim’s father to give consent for the autopsy and cremation. They alleged that the government had offered to pay a compensation of Rs.20 lakh and a government job to a kin of the victim.
The victim, her mother and brother had boarded the bus at Moga town for Baghapurana town, which is 20 km away, on Wednesday evening. The mother and daughter were soon targeted with indecent gestures and molestation by some goons on the bus. When the mother an daughter resisted, the molesters, including three bus staff, pushed them out of the speeding bus.
The girl died immediately while the mother was admitted the hospital in a serious condition.
Following pressure from various quarters, police arrested four people, including three staff members of Orbit transport company. They were booked for murder, attempt to murder and molestation.
Buses of the Orbit transport company were taken off the road in Punjab on Saturday following orders from Sukhbir Badal.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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