Boko Haram slaughters Niger villagers, kidnaps 37 women in cross-border raid
Boko Haram militants © Zanah Mustapha / Reuters
Around forty women have been taken hostage after Boko Haram militants carried out a gruesome cross-border raid on a village in Niger. Security forces have launched an operation to find the captives.
Jihadist Boko Haram fighters attacked the Ngalewa village Sunday evening, local authorities said. Riding camels, the terrorists slit the throats of the villagers and took dozens of women hostage.
”Boko Haram elements... slit the throats of nine people... they took women, 37 women, and departed with them,” the governor of Diffa region, Laouali Mahamane Dan Dano, told state TV Tuesday.
Good grief! Something has changed, I fear. There is a degree of psychological separation between shooting someone and slitting their throats. Boko Haram seem to have bridged that degree and elevated the level of evil they commit. They must be wiped out completely.
“The defense and security forces are already in pursuit, and we hope that in the coming days these women will be found and freed,” the governor added.
The governor said the village most likely became the target of the attack because of its resistance to jihadist rule.
The mayor of the district, Abba Gata Issa, confirmed the nine dead, adding, that dozens of women and children had been kidnapped from the village which lies just 50 km across the Nigerian border, TV 360 Nigeria reported.
The Nigeria-based Boko Haram is considered to be one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world, on par with Islamic State. The terrorist formation has killed tens of thousands of people while displacing over two million since its insurgency campaign began in 2009.
In a 2014 raid on a secondary school in the Nigerian town of Chibok, the notorious terror group kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, most of whom are still missing.
NSW man charged child sex acts in 1980s
GRETA STONEHOUSE Australian Associated Press
A 56-year-old man will face court on 20 charges of assaulting a teenage boy in northern NSW in the 1980s.
Police say the boy, who was known to the man, was sexually and indecently assaulted between 1983 and 1986 in Gunnedah.
Following extensive investigations which began in 2015, detectives arrested the alleged offender on Monday.
Police Chief Inspector Phil O'Reilly has used the incident to encourage victims of sexual and indecent assault to come forward.
"If you have ever been abused, no matter what the circumstance and no matter how long ago it occurred, please get in touch," Chief Inspector O'Reilly said in a statement.
The 56-year-old remains in custody and will appear at Tamworth Local Court on August 28.
Child sex crimes court in session for first time in Malaysia
BY MAIZATUL NAZLINA
PUTRAJAYA: The special court for child sexual crimes has convened for the first time and five cases were brought before it.
Four were for rape while the fifth was an outrage of decency case.
Sessions Court judge Yong Zarida Sazali is presiding in the special court which was launched on June 22 by the Prime Minister to expedite hearings related to the sexual abuse of children.
The court also provides a conducive and safe environment for minors to testify.
For now, the special court will hear only Penal Code offences but when the Sexual Offences Against Children Bill 2017 – which was passed by Parliament in April is gazetted – Yong Zarida will try offences under the new law which covers child pornography, child sexual grooming and cases of people in positions of trust or authority who commit or abet such crimes.
The men charged in the court with rape yesterday are Mohd Haziq Hussain, 29, Lai Jun Kia (age unknown), Mohd Khalifah Hussin, 32, and Muhammad Rafaie Padzil, 18.
The fifth accused, Chua Kim Yap, a 43-year-old salesman, was alleged to have committed gross indecency by kissing and biting a 17-year-old boy on his chest in a hotel room in Kuala Lumpur at about 7.15pm on June 27.
Wow! That is just a week ago! Astonishing!
Chua, who claimed trial, was not allowed bail and the case will be brought before the court again on Aug 8.
Later, Yong Zarida allowed an application by deputy public prosecutor Aimi Syazwani Sarmin for the next case to be conducted in-camera.
“All persons (journalists and those in the public gallery) are requested to leave the courtroom,” she said.
She then began the trial of Mohd Haziq, a food stall worker, who is charged with raping a 13-year-old girl in a house in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur, at about 8.30pm on Feb 15, 2015.
The prosecution called two witnesses to the stand before the court adjourned for a continuation on Aug 7-9.
Mohd Khalifah and Lai, who were previously charged in another court, were not present yesterday.
Mohd Khalifah, a security guard, was charged with raping a young girl at a house in Petaling Jaya at about 6.30pm on April 5.
Their cases have been fixed for mention on July 20 and Aug 8, respectively.
Muhammad Rafaie, a shop assistant, will have his case brought before the court again on July 20.
He is facing two counts of raping a 15-year-old on Aug 11 last year at a house in Shah Alam and the next day at the same location.
Child sexual abuse: Schools to hold counselling sessions
Faryal Rumi | TNN
PATNA: City schools are gearing up to conduct special counselling sessions in which animated short films on good touch and bad touch will be screened to teach the students about the alarming increase in child sexual abuse incidents.
Many a time, students are too young to understand the difference between right and wrong. "Kids should be taught that if something makes them uncomfortable, they must tell somebody they trust. However, many parents do not believe kids and think they are making up stories. This happens because of the lack of awareness. We conduct group counselling sessions every year and hand over pamphlets about good touch and bad touch to kids and parents. We will organize the session this year as well," St Karen's High School principal Seema Singh said on Tuesday, adding it was the responsibility of every individual to protect children.
The primary wing of St Michael's High School holds special sessions from time-to-time to make kids aware about good touch and bad touch. School headmistress Vishakha Sinha told TOI, "Now, we are planning to screen a 10-minute animated short film — Komal — that deals with the topic of child sexual abuse. Produced by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the film will help children remain cautious."
According to Dr DY Patil Pushpalata Patil International School principal Radhika K, parents and teachers should start talking to kids about good touch and bad touch as early as possible so that they are equipped to understand this sensitive issue. "At times, we hesitate to take up such topics, but it is our responsibility to put aside our doubts and inhibitions and talk to them," she said.
While the parent-teacher association of Notre Dame Academy will conduct counselling sessions on the school campus in July-end, Usha Martin World School and The Tribhuvan School will hold training workshops to make children aware about general safety rules.
Usha Martin principal Anita Singh said, "We will teach our students about the difference between safe and unsafe touch and equip them so that they are ready to face any odd situation or person coming their way."
Patna, India
Supreme Court toughens punishments for men convicted of child sexual abuse
FINLAND
The Supreme Court of Finland (KKO) has sentenced three men to prison terms ranging from two years and two months to two years and eight months for aggravated child sexual abuse.
The Supreme Court of Finland (KKO) has imposed tougher punishments on three men who preyed on underage girls in online chatrooms.
The men were ruled to have approached the same girl, who was 14–15 years old at the time of the events, independently of each other in online discussion boards with the intention of abusing her sexually. The men arranged meetings with the victim and had sex with her either in their car or at their home, according to the ruling.
Two of the men are from Helsinki and one from Eastern Finland.
The men were also ruled to have engaged in sexually coloured conversations with other 12–15-year-old girls on the Internet. Two of the men had created fake profiles for themselves to conceal their age, gender and other personal details from their victims.
The rulings are expected to establish a precedent for sentencing individuals who have used online discussion boards for child sexual abuse, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
The KKO found all of the men guilty of aggravated child sexual abuse and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from two years and two months to two years and eight months. A court of second instance had previously convicted the men of child sexual abuse and sentenced them to suspended prison terms of less than two years.
Good grief! Suspended sentences? Even the new, extra long sentences are a joke. They are guilty and yet their names are being withheld? Why? Seems like it is much better to be a pedophile in Finnish courts than a victim.
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