Feature
Sadhu cuts off genitals over blamed of having an affair with woman
Lucknow: In a shocking as well as strange incident, a 45-year-old sadhu allegedly cut off his genitals after several people blamed him of having an affair with a local woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district.
The incident was reported from Kamasin town under Banda district on Thursday after a man identified as Madani Baba who was admitted to hospital after he slashed his genitals over allegations linking his having affair with a woman.
The 28-year-old sadhu claimed that the allegations were a part of a conspiracy hatched by a group of people who were against the sadhu building an ashram on an empty land.
He further alleged that the group had tarnished his image after rumours of him having an affair with a woman from the neighbouring area surfaced.
Speaking to media persons, district hospital officer Balveer Singh said that the sadhu was a resident of Kamsin village and his treatment was underway. The district police have also launched an investigation into the case.
While the injured sadhu is said to be in a serious condition after undergoing surgery at the district hospital, the police on Friday lodged an FIR under relevant sections of IPC against two men in this connection.
Angry sadhu linked of having love affair with woman cuts-off genitals:
The DySP (City) Raghvendra Singh told journalist that the sadhu has been living in an ashram on a land which was lying vacant near Dando road forest cover in Kamasin since the past few years.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) said, “The sadhu, who was on a nine-day Navratri Vrat (fast), was disturbed over allegations of love affair with a village woman being levelled against him by some villagers.”
He has held two people responsible of trying to tarnish his image by linking his name with a village woman. They had also threatened him to vacate the place along with his belongings. We have lodged an FIR against them and investigating the matter.”
The matter came into light after the villagers found the sadhu lying in a pool of blood at his ashram on Thursday. They alerted the police, who rushed the sadhu to a nearby PHC from where he was referred to the district hospital.
Doctors stated the condition of the sadhu to be serious. “The sadhu has used a razor and nearly 80-90 per cent of his genital has been cut off from the body. A surgery has been performed on him,” said a doctor treating the sadhu.
Villagers told the police that in January the sadhu had tried to cut off his tongue in Kameshwar temple.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
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.