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India: 5 baby orangutans rescued, smuggling suspected
India: 5 baby orangutans rescued, smuggling suspected
Seerat Chabba Reuters, AFP and Indian media sourcesPublished 09/09/2026Published September 9, 2026last updated 09/09/2026last updated September 9, 2026Five young orangutans, not native to India, were found in an Odisha forest, sparking suspicion of an international smuggling operation. Meanwhile, India said it was not involved in the BAPS-Eiffel Tower row.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MITSWhat you need to know
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It was a roundup of the top headlines from India from Wednesday, September 9.
- Forest officials have rescued five baby orangutans thousands of kilometers from their native habitat
- Indian officials say they have nothing to do with the BAPS-Eiffel Tower controversy
- Preparation for the BRICS summit is in full swing, but staying at a luxury hotel could burn a serious hole in your pocket
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Skip next section Suspected 'honor killing': Father, brother allegedly kill woman, stage road accident09/09/2026September 9, 2026Suspected 'honor killing': Father, brother allegedly kill woman, stage road accident
Dmytro Hubenko EditorA murder investigation has been opened into the death of a 22-year-old woman in Ahmedabad, after traffic police found that what was initially reported as a fatal road accident was allegedly an honor killing carried out by her father and brother, local media reported.
The victim died on August 13 at a local hospital from severe head injuries. Her brother, Habil F., 38, initially told police that an unidentified vehicle struck their motorcycle from behind late August 12, while the victim was riding pillion.
Later, investigators determined that no such collision had occurred.
The Indian Express newspaper cited local investigators in saying that the woman's father, Mohammed F., 56, and her brother had reprimanded her months earlier over a video showing her interacting with a young man that had circulated on social media.
Police allege the two men later conspired to kill her, brought along a metal hammer before driving her to an isolated area, where the brother allegedly struck her on the head, causing her death. He then filed a false police report about an accident to cover it up, police said.
Investigators said the men chose the reported accident site as they believed there were no CCTV cameras nearby, according to Inspector U B Dhakhada, who told the Indian Express that footage from a roadside camera showed no collision had taken place at the time described.
A postmortem examination found the victim died of a brain hemorrhage caused by injury, Dhakhada said.
Both men have been detained, the Times of India reported, and remain in police custody.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MKFESkip next section Supreme Court rules human rights courts can act without prior approval09/09/2026September 9, 2026Supreme Court rules human rights courts can act without prior approval
India's Supreme Court has ruled that criminal cases involving human rights violations can proceed directly to special human rights courts, without first requiring an inquiry or recommendation from a human rights commission.
Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said the India's 1993 human rights law creates two separate systems: human rights commissions that investigate complaints and can recommend action, and human rights courts, which have the power to actually try such cases.
The court found nothing in the law requiring a commission's involvement before a case can move forward in court, stating that adding such a requirement "would amount to supplying a condition which parliament itself has not enacted," the Hindustan Times reported
The ruling overturned a 2025 Karnataka High Court decision that had thrown out a case against police officers accused of violating the rights of a man in custody.
That case began when Sayad Asifulla, who was himself an accused in a criminal case, filed a complaint directly with a human rights court in Vijayapura, Karnataka. He alleged violation of his human rights by police officials, leading to an investigation and charges.
The state's high court later said the local rule allowing such direct complaints was unconstitutional and dismissed the case, a decision the state government appealed to the Supreme Court.
Asifulla also contested the ruling.
The Supreme Court disagreed, upholding the rule that allowed the complainant to approach the court, confirming that victims, their representatives, or approved organizations can bring complaints straight to a human rights court.
The court said this does not amount to double jeopardy, as a commission's involvement isn't equivalent to a prosecution.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MJozSkip next section WATCH — Is India becoming Russia's trade lifeline?09/09/2026September 9, 2026WATCH — Is India becoming Russia's trade lifeline?
The war in Ukraine has reshaped trade between India and Russia. Oil still dominates, but Indian companies are gaining ground in a wider range of sectors.
How India has become Russia's trade lifeline
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MJl7Skip next section Delhi faces luxury hotel crunch ahead of BRICS summit09/09/2026September 9, 2026Delhi faces luxury hotel crunch ahead of BRICS summit
As New Delhi prepares to host world leaders for the 18th BRICS summit set for this weekend, the Indian capital's luxury hotel sector is experiencing a shortage of space along with price increases, according to local media reports.
A check of booking platforms found no availability at the Taj Mahal and The Oberoi for September 11-12, while the Taj Palace had no rooms for September 10-12 and The Leela Palace wasn't accepting bookings for the same dates, according to local media.
At the ITC Maurya, where rooms were available, starting nightly rates exceeded Rs 230,000 ($2400/€2100), news agency PTI reported.
India's difficult BRICS chairship
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K B Kachru, president of the Hotel Association of India, said the summit is exposing gaps in India's hospitality capacity.
"The BRICS Summit alone will put considerable focus on room inventory and that spotlight is exposing a hard truth: our hospitality infrastructure has not kept pace with our tourism ambition," he said.
He told PTI that India has only about 200,000-220,000 branded hotel rooms nationwide.
The summit is also compressing demand across a wider window as delegates arrive early and extend stays, potentially forcing other travelers to pay a premium, look farther from central Delhi, or shift travel dates.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MJkNSkip next section India distances itself from Eiffel Tower row over Hindu group's visit09/09/2026September 9, 2026India distances itself from Eiffel Tower row over Hindu group's visit
India's Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday distanced itself from the controversy arising from Hindu group Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha's (BAPS) visit to the Eiffel Tower.
BAPS had earlier apologized after the Eiffel Tower closed Monday when staff went on strike over allegations that female workers were sidelined during a visit by roughly 100 members of the organization.
"As to the particular issue pertaining to the Tower, this is a matter purely between the entities concerned," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing, confirming India was aware of the controversy following BAPS's inauguration of France's first traditional Hindu temple near Paris on Sunday.
Jaiswal also addressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's virtual address at the temple's opening, calling it standard practice for the government to convey "good wishes" on such occasions and saying there was "no cause for any comment" on the matter, local media reported.
BAPS said the visit had been pre-coordinated with the tower's operators and that, to its knowledge, no one was denied access, though it apologized to anyone "hurt or inconvenienced."
Outrage in France over Eiffel Tower removing female staff
Tower operator SETE acknowledged accepting a request to limit "interactions with women," calling it a mistake it should not have agreed to.
Eiffel Tower staff, in their own statement, condemned what they called instructions that left female employees "sidelined, replaced, and rendered invisible based on their gender," saying some were told to leave their posts or avoid certain areas while the delegation was present.
Read more about the controversy here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MJ54Skip next section Baby orangutans rescued, sparking international smuggling probe09/09/2026September 9, 2026Baby orangutans rescued, sparking international smuggling probe
Indian forest officials rescued five baby orangutans in the eastern state of Odisha on Tuesday, with authorities suspecting the great apes were smuggled into the country from Southeast Asia.
The animals, not native to India, were found in a forest in the Balasore district. Local legislator Goutam Buddha Das told The Telegraph newspaper that villagers first spotted the orangutans dangling from a tree and initially mistook them for monkeys, before alerting forest officials that their appearance didn't match.
He said the area's coastal location suggested the animals could have arrived by sea from Indonesia.
"I demand a high-level inquiry to find out who is involved in the racket," Das said.
Balasore forest officer Pratik Prakash Indalkar said the three male and two female orangutans were examined by veterinarians, found to be in good health, and given food and oral rehydration solution before being transferred to Nandan Kanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar for quarantine.
Odisha Environment Minister Ram Singh Khuntia said the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is now investigating how the animals reached India.
"We suspect that an international racket might be involved in this," he told the IANS news agency. Authorities are also examining whether the animals were destined for sale to buyers in Kolkata.
Orangutans are native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Only about 104,000 remain in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, down from more than 230,000 a century ago.
Borneo's orangutans fight to survive
The Tapanuli orangutan is critically endangered, with fewer than 800 animals thought to be left.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MIgoSkip next section Welcome to our coverage09/09/2026September 9, 2026Welcome to our coverage
Seerat Chabba | Wesley Rahn EditorHello! This is Seerat from DW's Studio Delhi, once again bringing you the latest from across India.
When forest officials in India's Odisha state found five baby orangutans on a patrol, thousands of kilometers from their natural habitat, the officials suspected they were trafficked into the country from Southeast Asia.
In other news, the Indian government has steered clear of controversy in the row over Hindu group BAPS's visit to the Eiffel Tower.
Finally, New Delhi is gearing up to host the 18th BRICS Summit from September 11 to 13. With security protocols being heightened and hotel prices skyrocketing, the non-high-profile Delhi visitors may be in for a hit to their pockets.
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