Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the swearing-in ceremony of Adhikari. Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, Vijay is still grappling with the numbers to claim power. DW has the latest.
Police have reported multiple cases of rape, gang rape and sexual assault across Bihar in recent weeks, including: Buxar: A woman was allegedly gang-raped; police arrested all five accused, according to the Times of India .
Belaganj: A woman was allegedly gang-raped; five people were arrested, the Times of India reported.
Patna: A minor girl was sexually assaulted; police arrested two suspects while one remained at large, according to the Times of India .
Gayaji: In April, a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped; all four accused were arrested, news website Patna Press reported.
Amas: A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped, Dainik Bhaskar newspaper reported.
Gopalganj: Two women were allegedly held hostage for three days and gang-raped by six men. One person has been arrested, according to Jagran newspaper.
Nalanda: Police arrested eight men in connection with the public molestation and attempted rape of a woman, the New Indian Express reported.
Saran: In March, a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by five men. Police arrested one suspect, news website News Gram reported.
The incidents have highlighted persistent violence against women in India. Nationwide, 29,536 rape cases were reported in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. The were 441,534 cases of crimes against women reported What does the data shows?
In Bihar alone, NCRB data for 2024 recorded: Rape cases: 1,165 Cases of murder linked to rape or gang rape: 9 Attempted rape cases: 45 Assaults with intent to outrage modesty: 225 Cases of sexual harassment: 62 The cases come months after an Indian court sentenced three men to death in February for raping an Israeli tourist and a local woman and killing a man near a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Bihar's Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, from Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), earlier this month, asked the police to ensure swift action in cases of sexual violence against women and minors.
(Mahima Kapoor contributed to this entry) How political impunity in India impacts rape cases To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video https://p.dw.com/p/5DWPC Skip next section Indian sailor killed after cargo dhow catches fire near Strait of Hormuz 05/09/2026 May 9, 2026 Indian sailor killed after cargo dhow catches fire near Strait of Hormuz An Indian sailor was killed and four others were injured after a wooden cargo dhow caught fire and capsized near the Strait of Hormuz, Indian media reported, citing government sources.
The vessel was traveling from Dubai to Yemen with 18 Indian crew members on board when the incident occurred early Friday near the strategically vital maritime route.
Seafarers' association representatives said the dhow may have been caught in crossfire between Iran and the United States , though officials said the exact cause of the fire was still under investigation.
The deceased was identified as engine driver Altaf Talab Ker from Gujarat's Dwarka district.
The remaining 17 crew members were rescued by a passing vessel and taken to Dubai.
Subramani will also serve as Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and will assume office after General Anil Chauhan completes his tenure on May 30, 2026.
The CDS is the senior-most military appointment in India and oversees coordination among the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force .
Subramani will be the third officer to hold the post since it was created in 2019.
Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office at a ceremony in Kolkata attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and senior BJP leaders In the election, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended the 15-year rule of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.
After Banerjee refused to resign following her party's poll debacle, alleging irregularities by the BJP, the governor dissolved the state assembly on Thursday.
"I have not lost ... I will not tender resignation," Banerjee told a press conference on Tuesday.
Critics have alleged that mass voter deletions after a monthslong Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise helped pave the way for the BJP.
The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, while the TMC secured 80.
Adhikari is a former minister in Banerjee's government, and his father served as a Union minister under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The past five days have seen intense political wrangling after Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) failed to immediately translate its sweeping election victory into government formation.
Governor Rajendra Arlekar said the party had not demonstrated the majority support needed to stake a claim to power. Despite precedents to the contrary, the governor maintained that proving majority support was "essential" for government formation.
On Friday, three parties — the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) — were reported to have extended support to TVK, giving the party the requisite numbers to form a government.
However, as of Saturday, there was still uncertainty over the reported support.
What do the numbers say?
Seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly: 243 Seats won by newcomer TVK : 108 Seats required to form a government: 118 TVK seats with the support of the Congress party: 113 Meanwhile, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) leader TTV Dhinakaran alleged that a letter of support from his party's legislator had been forged by the TVK .
This is Shakeel from DW's New Delhi studio, bringing you the latest news from across India.
You might think political wrangling would take a back seat over the weekend, but that is not the case. In Tamil Nadu, Vijay is working to shore up the numbers for his TVK party in a bid to claim power.
In West Bengal, the BJP is cementing its dominance with the swearing-in of new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony.
Meanwhile, in Bihar, a recent spate of gang rapes has put the spotlight on the state's law-and-order situation.
For all this and more, stay tuned to our India live blog.
