TRIVANDRUM, 16 November — Kerala police have arrested the principal of a residential school for orphans in Thrissur district for allegedly abusing a minor girl for more than five years and presenting her to two Arab sponsors. The principal, C. Haneefa (44) of Edavanakkad, was produced before the Chavakkad First Class Magistrate who remanded him in custody for 15 days, police said. Others are absconding. The police could not identify the nationality of the two Arabs, Abdurrahman and Abdul Manaf, who are among the seven accused. “We have registered cases against them on the basis of the statement by the girl. She identified two of her tormentors are Arabs who used to donate substantial amounts of money to the Shaheed Faizal Orphanage at Farooque Nagar in Vadanappally,” Circle Inspector Ramachandran, who is investigating the case, told this correspondent over telephone from Thrissur. “We are questioning witnesses to establish their true identities”. Police have launched a manhunt in the state for four others, watchman Saidu, electrician Fabian, and Saidu’s friends Ali and Habeeb. The girl has undergone medical examination at the Thrissur Medical College and the doctors have confirmed sexual harassment. The case came to light after the girl approached Kerala Women’s Commission members P. K. Zainab and advocate V. Santhakumari seeking help. They took her to the local police station, where she gave a statement. The authorities of the orphanage, controlled by the Jamaat-e-Islami, have issued a statement denying the allegations. The statement said the whole case was fabricated to tarnish the image of the institute and its promoters. The electrician and watchman are no more working there.
Pressure on Antony
Pressure is mounting on the government to sack the director of the country’s largest cancer hospital here who ordered the trial of untested drugs on unsuspecting patients. A drug called MN4 was allegedly surreptitiously administered to 27 patients at the Regional Cancer Center (RCC) between Nov. 12, 1999 and April 8, 2000 as part of clinical testing by its director M. Krishnan Nair. All the 27 were oral cancer patients awaiting surgery. They were given M4N or G4N injections before the surgery to see whether the drugs would be effective. Admission by the world famous US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has admitted that one of its scientists tested the cancer drugs at RCC without federal or university approvals has belied Nair’s claims that the trials were part of a combined research. The revelation is putting pressure on Chief Minister A. K. Antony, who is the chairman of RCC, to sack Nair whom he has been accused of shielding since the controversy broke out. The director’s service has been extended thrice. V. N. Bhatahiri, one of the doctors at the RCC, blew the lid on the trials early this year when he went to the state human rights commission with the complaint that the testing experiment had been done on his patients without his knowledge. Reports here say the cancer patients and their close relatives are planning lawsuits against the RCC and Nair for compensation, emboldened by JHU’s denials.
Subsidy for rubber
The government has decided to enhance and peg the state export subsidy on natural rubber to 3.50 rupees a kg, Finance Minister K. Sankaranarayanan said. The export subsidy was increased in view of the five percent purchase tax cut on rubber being limited to procurement by Marketing Federation, Warehousing Corporation and Rubber Producers’ Society. The Kerala Government is actively considering a proposal to introduce tax on cable television operators, Local Administration Minister Cherkkalam Abdullah said. The proposal is part of a series of measures being planned to increase the resources of local bodies. The new building tax and property tax structure would come into effect on April 1, 2002.
Users fee at govt hospitals
Government has no plans to review the recently hiked users fee at the government hospitals, Health Minister P. Sankaran informed the House. The main purpose of the fee hike was to finance improvement of the basic facilities. Seventy-five percent of the total fees would go to the respective hospitals, which could utilize the amount to improve the facilities. Those living below the poverty line had already been exempted from the fee hike. The government proposes to open pay clinics in district and taluk hospitals. As a pilot project, pay clinics would be opened in one district hospital and one taluk hospital soon.
Regulatory commission
The Kerala government told the High Court that an Electricity Regulatory Commission would be constituted as per Section 17 (05) of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act. The Additional Advocate General submitted before the Court that the State Government order dated Sept. 26, 2001, prescribing qualifications for the Chairman and Members of the Commission was withdrawn in pursuance of a Cabinet decision.
