A ten-year-old boy from Mira Road here was allegedly sodomised by his building watchman, police said.

PI Jagdeesh Shinde of Mira Road Police Station said the incident took place on Tuesday evening and based on the complaint by the victim’s father, the police today registered offences under section 377 of IPC and also under sections 4 and 6 of POCSO Act.

The boy was riding his cycle in the society premises when the watchman called him into his room and abused the minor, the complaint said.

Immediately after the incident the boy rushed home and narrated the ordeal to his parents who filed a complaint.

The accused, who is absconding since the crime, has not been arrested so far, police added.

The Bombay High Court refused to entertain a plea of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to grant permission to hold their annual Jagannath Rath Yatra at the sprawling Shivaji Park.

ISKCON had sought a direction of the High Court to Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to grant permission to hold the yatra this year.

The plea was made by ISKCON after civic body refused permission on the basis of a May 2010 order of the High Court declaring Shivaji Park as a silence zone.

Justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, disposing of the notice of motion moved by ISKCON, today asked the petitioner to move the appropriate bench as directed by the Supreme Court.

On January 2 last year, another bench of the High Court had refused to grant permission to ISKCON to hold the yatra at Shivaji Park, saying the city’s open public spaces should be allowed to be used only for their designated purpose.

Being aggrieved, ISKCON had moved the Supreme Court which asked them to move the Bombay High again with liberty to file fresh plea before an appropriate bench (the bench which had earlier rejected its plea).

Accordingly, ISKCON today moved the bench of V M Kanade which said that it was not the appropriate bench as directed by the Supreme Court. Therefore, it did not entertain the petitioner’s plea and asked ISKCON to approach the appropriate bench of the High Court.

Earlier, the HC bench, while refusing permission, had observed, “Shivaji Park area is widely used by sportspersons and children for sports and recreation. Allowing the function would mean rendering it inaccessible not only for the day in question but also for some days before and after.

To my mind, the city’s public open spaces such as Shivaji Park should be allowed to be used only for their designated purposes, and the exceptions, if any, should be few,” Justice Gautam Patel had said in the order last year.

The court had also observed earlier that other functions held in the park like Republic Day and Maharashtra Day are both “secular and state-organised functions.”

According to the petitioner, over one lakh people are likely to attend the yatra and that even previously in 2013 the High Court had granted them permission.

Voicing concern over heavy bags carried by school children, the Bombay High Court asked Maharashtra Government to issue a circular within a month fixing a date for implementing recommendations of an expert committee that looked into the issue.

Such a circular should also fix the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations on officers to be appointed by individual schools for the purpose, said a bench of justices V M Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi while hearing a petition.

The HC suggested that the Government Circular — to be sent to all schools — should consider giving lockers to students wherever possible. This would be of course optional for the students, the Judges said.

The circular should state in clear terms the weight limit to be carried by the students, the Bench opined.

Government Pleader Anjali Helekar said there are 1.06 lakh schools in the State and hence it would take some time to inform them about the circular. The HC then suggested that the State inform them through e-mail.

The Judges were hearing a PIL filed by social activist Swati Patil on rising weight of school bags and its adverse impact on the health of children.

Soon after the petition was filed, Government had appointed a committee which submitted several recommendations.

As per the panel’s report, students are lugging school bags 20-30 per cent heavier than what children of their age should carry. Because of this, around 60 per cent students below the age of 10 suffer from orthopaedic as well as stress- induced ailments.

The committee recommended that one book should be used for three months for each subject and the textbook weight can be reduced by using less weight paper and no hardcover.

Further, it suggested use of e-classroom, audio-visual technology and other modern means for teaching.

Salman Khan has warned his fans about a fake Facebook account operating in his name, which claims that the superstar is casting for his new project.

The 49-year-old actor took to twitter to dismiss the false social media account.

“A fake Facebook page claims that I am casting for a film. Beware of fakes and rumors. Neither me nor my managers are casting for any project,” Salman posted.

The “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” star is also miffed with people who click pictures with him and later end up misusing them.

“Some people click pics with me and then misuse them.

This is not okay,” he wrote.

Salman is gearing up for his return as the host of the ninth season of reality show “Bigg Boss”, which will air from October 11.

Gearing up for the occasion of immersion of Ganesha idols, the Maharashtra government has made operational 103 CCTV cameras in south Mumbai to allow the security agencies to keep a close vigil.

Devotees will throng various spots across the city to bid farewell to Lord Ganesha on September 27.

The CCTV cameras (close circuit television cameras) are being installed at various locations as part of a government project to bring the megapolis under the surveillance of CCTV network.

In the first phase of the project, 103 cameras have been made operational.

“There are 103 CCTV cameras that we have made operational in the Zone 1 (south Mumbai) that includes areas like Mumbai Port Trust, Sessions Court, Girgaum Chowpatty, Nariman Point and the stretch from Dockyard to Wadala,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi said.

The cameras will help the police to monitor the law and order situation on the occasion of Ganesha idol immersion, he said.

He said cameras have been installed near Sessions Court and Mumbai Port Trust, besides 32 at Girgaum Chowpatty.

“For now, the monitoring is being done locally. And in the next two days a monitoring centre will be set up at the traffic headquarters in Worli. Later, a permanent master control room will be set up at Mumbai Police Commissioner’s Office,” Bakshi said, adding, that in the first phase, a total of 1,235 CCTVs will be installed.

He said the first phase will be completed by October end this year.

In the second phase, a total of 1,700 CCTVs will be installed at 410 locations in north and east Mumbai and the work will be completed by April 2016, while in the third and last phase, 2,760 cameras will be put up between Bandra and Malad at 585 locations.

The last phase will be completed by October 2016.

“We held a meeting with MCGM, BEST, Mumbai CP, the Chief Secretary and the IT Secretary yesterday. Everyone unanimously agreed to expedite the entire project and all necessary permissions will be granted so that project gets completed before time,” Bakshi said.

The total budget allocated for the project is Rs. 950 crore and the cameras will be installed to keep a watch at 1500 locations.

Social activist Anna Hazare on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India to remove poll symbol from the ballot papers and EVMs as part of poll reforms.

Addressing a press conference at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district, Hazare said poll symbol on ballot paper was needed for benefit of illiterate voters who could not read names of the candidates.

“However, now that the Election Commission has decided to print photograph of candidates on electronic voting machines and ballot papers, there is no need to have poll symbol also on the ballot paper,” Hazare said.

Hazare said he has written to the Chief election Commissioner, asking him to ensure that voters are not get confused with the photo as well as poll symbol on the ballot papers and EVMs.

Removing poll symbol will lead to polls being conducted in a free and fair manner, the social activist said.

Having a poll symbol on ballot paper will lead to ‘unfair advantage’ to some, Hazare said without naming any political party.

Hazare said he has decided to launch a countrywide campaign to bring in poll reforms in the interests of the common man.

In a shocking case, a 12-year-old girl on Monday delivered a baby boy at JJ Hospital, making her one of the youngest mothers in the country.

It was discovered nearly a month ago that the girl from Chembur was more than seven months pregnant.

When asked by police, she had told that her stepfather had repeatedly raped her. The accused is under arrest.

The baby, who weighs 2 kg, was delivered via caesarean section.

The girl’s family realised she was pregnant when she started complaining of pain in the abdomen. “She was prescribed painkillers as a doctor in Chembur didn’t even suspect she was pregnant. It was only after her stomach bloated that we got a sonography done and it revealed she was more than seven months pregnant,” said a relative of the girl.

The girl’s mother then lodged a police complaint, leading to her second husband’s arrest.