Sirpurkar Commission inspects Disha crime scene
The Hindu
Panel members briefly interact with victim’s father and tell him that they empathise with his feelings
The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Sirpurkar Commission inquiring into the alleged encounter of the four accused in the rape and murder of Disha on December 6, 2019, inspected the crime scene on Sunday.
Accompanied by investigating officer J Surender Reddy, the Commission’s chairman and Supreme Court retired judge Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, members - Justice Rekha Sondur-Baldota and former director of CBI Dr. D.R. Karthikeyan, first went to the safe house (Ravi guesthouse) at Mirjaguda, where the four accused - Mohammed Arif, Ch. Chennakesavulu, Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen - were questioned during their police custody.
Later, they went to Chatanpalli underpass to have first-hand experience of the scene of offence where Disha’s body was set on fire by the four accused after she was sexually assaulted and killed in the late hours of November 27, 2019. “As the underpass was filled with water, they had a look at the spot by standing on the National Highway,” an officer said.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.