Pakistan not ready to end practice of child-brides
A bride and groom wearing traditional garlands, wait for their wedding to start, Karachi, Pakistan.
© Akhtar Soomro / Reuters
Pakistan’s Senate has struck down legislation governing the minimum age girls can marry, saying a Bill to increase the legal age from 16 to 18 was un-Islamic.
The Child Marriage Restraint Bill was rejected after Senator Sehar Kamran, the lawmaker driving the proposal, had her request for a deferment denied on the grounds that she would not be present.
The chairman of the Senate Standing Committee, Rehman Malik, cited advice from religious scholars as reasons why he thought the committee should reject the Bill.
“I have also discussed it with religious scholars and they also believe that girls can be married before the age of 18 according to Islam, so these kinds of bills cannot be passed,” he said in the Senate Wednesday.
However, in a statement posted to Twitter following the vote, a spokesperson for Malik said the committee plans to reconsider the Bill and would seek further advice from “representatives of NGOs on Human Rights and Women’s Rights and renowned scholars of the country.”
Malik responded to criticism over his comments by saying that the matter “belongs to religious affairs.”
Speaking to Pakistani news site Dawn following the decision, Senator Kamran hit out at the delay and suggested that, in the same way as Pakistani citizens are not allowed to drive or vote before the age of 18, they should also not be permitted to marry.
“If the government thinks 16-year-old girls are adults, they should also be issued driving licenses and allowed to cast votes,” Senator Kamran said.
Posting a copy of the Bill online prior to the vote Wednesday, the mission statement outlined the pressure on child brides to bear children.
“In developing countries, the leading cause of death for young girls between the age of 15 and 18 is early pregnancy,” the Bill read, adding that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child suggests the minimum age for marriage should be 18.
According to Girls Not Brides, an organization campaigning to end child marriage, Pakistan’s National Assembly has rejected draft of the Child Marriage Restraint Act in the past, most recently in May this year.
The government has introduced other measures to curb the trend in a country in which 21 percent of girls are married before the age of 18, according to UNICEF.
In February this year, Pakistan’s Parliament sought to toughen the punishment for child marriage by introducing a mandatory five-year prison sentence and a fine of up to one million rupees ($10,000) for those caught marrying any girl under the age of 16.
Man denies kidnapping, raping & butchering teenager before stuffing her into a freezer
A man accused of kidnapping and raping a teenage girl before slitting her throat and stuffing her body in a freezer in south London has denied murder.
Her body was discovered in a freezer in a £1.5-million ($2-million) house in Kingston.
Arshid, of no fixed address, appeared in court charged with murder, rape and kidnap.
He is also charged with the sexual assault, rape, kidnap and attempted murder of a second woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. She managed to escape and sound the alarm.
Arshid now faces two new charges - which he denies - of sexually assaulting the second woman between November 2008 and November 2010, according to the Evening Standard.
Tappu and Arshid
They are due to stand trial on January 17 next year. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.
Dookhran, who was born in Wandsworth in 1996, has been described by her family as “amazingly talented.” They said she brought “happiness, joy and laughter to her family and friends,” according to the Press Association.
Hunt for Sex Predators after Girl, 17, Attacked 3 Times in 1 Hour on Way Home
The New Normal - for East London
Never again will it be safe for a white girl to walk alone at night in East London
This story can be found here.
Man jailed after 60,000 indecent images of children & evidence of child abuse found in Kings Norton apartment
By Sas Taylor A man has been jailed for 5 years after a West Midlands Police investigation revealed that he had abused a young girl and amassed a catalogue of up to 60,000 indecent child images.
On his mobile phone, police also found WhatsApp conversations between Piper and a woman, in which he spoke of sexually assaulting a young girl, promising to send her images if he could get the youngster to “reveal some flesh”.
Detectives managed to identify the victim, a girl of junior school age. The brave girl told specially trained Public Protection officers how Piper had sexually assaulted her.
Initially, Piper denied the sexual assault but admitted downloading the images, saying he’d stumbled across them while surfing the net while he was “bored”.
However, on Friday 6th October at Birmingham Crown Court, Piper admitted all charges – including two of sexual assault – and was found guilty. He was jailed for five years and three months and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Ian Russell from West Midlands Police’s Child Protection Unit, said: “Our proactive online enquiries identified Piper as someone who had been downloading indecent child images – but it was shocking to find the extent of his image library when we forensically examined his media storage devices.
“Examination of his phone then revealed damning social media messages and enabled us to trace a young girl who’d been abused by Piper.
DC Russell described how officers in the force’s Public Protection Unit are specially trained to speak to young victims and witnesses in relaxed surroundings.
He said: “I’d like to thank the girl and her parents for being so supportive throughout the enquiry and whose evidence has helped us convict a dangerous paedophile.”
More information on child sexual abuse – including support for victims and how to report suspected offenders – can be found on the West Midlands Police website.
Sexual child abuse case raises alarm bells
Callistasia Anggun WijayaThe Jakarta Post
A child molestation case in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, in which the 45-year-old alleged perpetrator reportedly got away with signing a statement saying he would not repeat such an act, has raised concern about society being overly lenient with regard to sexual crimes.
A child sexual abuse case in Pulogadung, East Jakarta, in which Tarmo, 45, was accused of assaulting a child, was almost settled out of court by residents, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) said.
KPAI commissioner, Jasra Putra, said on Friday that Tarmo, a construction worker, had allegedly abused children in his neighborhood on a couple of occasions.
Tarmo was allegedly caught abusing a 9-year-old girl, F, by local residents. F, who could not be found by her family, was reported to be in Tarmo’s house. The residents then removed F from Tarmo's house.
Instead of taking him to the police, the residents asked Tarmo to sign a letter stating that he admitted to the act and promised not repeat it in the future, Jasra said.
"We deplore that the residents chose to settle the case through the letter. This is not a petty crime but one that is punishable with 5 to 15 years in prison," he said as quoted by kompas.com.
Some residents were still afraid to report the crime to the police even though their safety would be protected under the law, Jasra added.
The residents only reported the case to Pulogadung police after learning Tarmo had fled from his house.
Tarmo was arrested by the police on Tuesday.
Pulogadung, Jakarta, Indonesia
Child rapist who groomed victims with booze
and gifts is jailed
Sophie Day A "MENACE to children" who raped and sexually abused young girls after he befriended their parents was jailed for 12 years today (Friday).
Prosecuting, Tim Moores said Daniels was known as "Uncle Peter" to a large number of children in Salisbury.
Daniels had begun to look after many children and they had got into the habit of visiting him, with some staying the night in his home.
Mr Moores said: "It appears he had managed to ingratiate himself by buying presents for children, taking them out on trips and offering to babysit."
He added that Daniels had targeted low income families and bought the girls presents which "made these girls keep coming back".
The court heard that one of the victims said that she had liked going to Daniels' house because she got to do what she liked and was allowed to stay up late.
The other girl said that on two occasions she had "got off her head" after Daniels had given her beer, vodka and cider.
The offences came to light in July this year. Daniels denied any indecent activity until he was shown images and videos that he had taken of himself assaulting the girls.
In mitigation Michael Butt said that the offences "mercifully occurred without the victim knowing anything about it" as all but one had taken place when the girls were asleep.
Mr Butt said Daniels "vehemently denies" that he "deliberately created the opportunity for sexual abuse".
"A significant factor of this case is there is a lack of force, violence or compulsion," Mr Butt added. "He doesn't seek to minimise what he actually did to them. This is an obvious interest that has grown over the years in his mind."
Judge Richard Parkes said Daniels had demonstrated classic grooming behaviour and that the girls freedom at Daniels' house "didn't come without a price". "You plainly had this offending in your mind over a number of years - you are a menace to children," Judge Parkes added.
"It wouldn't be fair to say that you lured children to your house to abuse them. You developed a relationship with these children over many years in order to groom and manipulate them for your own sexual pleasure."
"You both sexually assaulted and filmed what you were doing to them. This was flurry of serious offending that took place over three days."
Daniels was sent to prison for 12 years with an extended licence period of five years.
He will also be made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and an indefinite restraining order against his two victims and their families.
The full charges against him were: Rape of a child under 13.
Attempted rape of a child under 13.
Two counts of sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl.
Ex-Jersey Islander jailed for 17½ years for
child sex crimes
A ‘DANGEROUS’ and ‘manipulative’ former Islander has been jailed for more than 17 years for a string a child sex offences in the UK.
The 53-year-old’s abuse spanned eight years until one of his victims told her mother, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
He was jailed for 17½ years for eight counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act, one count of sexual assault and two counts of making indecent images of children. He denied the offences but was convicted by a jury.
Once at his home, Giannoni would sexually abuse the victims despite them rejecting his sexual advances.
Giannoni would allow the girls to drink and smoke, which their parents would not permit, give them ‘lessons’ in sex and threaten to tell their parents what they were doing at his home to control them.
Giannoni, who lived in Coseley, West Midlands, at the time of his arrest, had pictures of the girls naked on his computer, which were taken after he had plied them with alcohol.
Claire Nicholls, district crown prosecutor with the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said: ‘Kevin Giannoni is a very dangerous and highly manipulative individual who preyed on young vulnerable teenage girls for his own sexual gratification."
‘He took advantage of the situations that the victims found themselves in and gave them alcohol and cigarettes and bought them gifts in order to carry out his crimes.
‘During these sexual assaults, the victims rejected his advances and refused to consent to his actions, yet he continued with his abuse over a period of nearly eight years.
‘I would like to praise the bravery of the victims in supporting this prosecution and their courage in helping us bring this dangerous sexual predator to justice.’
Coseley, West Midlands, UK
‘Wicked’ child rapist to appeal 15-year sentence
by Karen Roberts A man jailed for 15 years after being convicted of an “unspeakably wicked” catalogue of sex offences against children, including rape, has launched a bid to slash his sentence.
A spokesman for the Scottish Court and Tribunal Service confirmed the case will call at the appeal court in Edinburgh next week.
Rafferty was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen earlier this year – and was later handed the jail term by Judge Lord Uist.
He denied the allegations against him, but was convicted of two charges of rape which involved him assaulting two girls over a number of years.
The offences, which began in the 1980s, took place over an eight-year period at addresses in the North-east and involved four young girls.
Rafferty was also convicted of a charge of attempting to rape one of the girls on various occasions over more than five years, as well as four charges of using lewd libidinous and indecent practices.
Rafferty was originally reported by one of his victims in the 1990s, but it was more than two decades before he faced justice.
On sentencing Lord Uist told Rafferty: “These offences consisted of calculated, systematic and depraved sexual abuse of these children when the opportunity arose for you to engage in such conduct.
“These were unspeakably wicked crimes and your victims have all been deeply affected by what you did to them." And the judge told him that due to the “gravity” of the offences he would have to impose a “very long sentence”.
Meanwhile, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Scotland said on Rafferty’s sentencing he had carried out a “campaign of depraved and horrific abuse against children”.
The organisation also said: “This case sends out the message once again that child abuse will not be tolerated, no matter when the offences took place.”
Rafferty was also placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.
I hope he does appeal, and I hope they increase his sentence. His victims have suffered a lot longer than 15 years.
Students, teachers suspended over sex assault claims
Gabrielle Knowles and Rourke Walsh, PerthNowSTUDENTS and teachers at a private Perth boys’ school have been suspended over allegations of a sex attack during an overseas sports trip.
In a horrific bullying attack, a Year 11 boy was allegedly held down by several Year 12 students and sexually assaulted with an object.
It is claimed that two teachers accompanying the students became aware of the allegations during the trip.
But they allegedly failed to notify authorities or even the school, despite laws requiring teachers to report allegations of child sexual abuse.
Details of the alleged incident are believed to have spread among students and eventually parents became aware of the accusations.
The parents of the Year 11 student contacted authorities but because the alleged offences happened overseas, WA Police has no jurisdiction.
It is understood that once the school became aware of the allegations last term, two teachers were suspended and face losing their jobs.
The alleged attackers have been suspended and may not be allowed to take their final exams at the school.
The school sent a letter to parents and guardians yesterday about the alleged incident.
The principal said the situation was being managed in consultation with the relevant authorities but could not provide details in the interests of child safety.
“I can assure you that the college is undertaking a very thorough investigation and remains fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all students,” he said.
Does that mean you are going to report it to the police in the country where the assault was committed? That would be the right thing to do.
The Teachers Registration Board of WA confirmed it had been notified by the school of allegations that had led to an inquiry that involved police.
Hornchurch children's home carer jailed for nine years after serious child sex abuse is unveiled
Piers MeylerA carer at a former children’s home in Hornchurch has been jailed for nine years for child sexual abuse.
The 64-year-old from Cromer, Norfolk, was convicted on 11 charges of child sex abuse between October 1978 and November 1981 while a member of staff with the title of ‘house parent’.
St Leonards operated from around 1950 until 1985, when it was closed down. It was run for part of this time by Tower Hamlets Borough of London. It was also known as Cottage Homes as it was divided into separate homes of about 30 children looked after by two house parents.
The court heard the female victim, who is now in her 40s, contacted police in 2011 after being given access to her social services file.
She was interviewed by officers from the. During two police interviews with the Met’s Child Protection Team she said she was sexually abused by Setchfield who on two occasions took her into his bed in the ‘sleep over’ room for staff.
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| St Leonard's Home |
The male victim, who is now in his 40s, came forward to police in 2013 and said he had witnessed the abuse of the girl. He said Setchfield had also got into bed with him and sexually abused him.
Setchfield was interviewed by police in June 2012 and August 2013. He denied the allegations against him in prepared statements and replied ‘no comment’ to all questions put to him.
Officers in the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command obtained statements from a number of witnesses who corroborated what the victims had said and Setchfield was charged with 11 counts of indecent assault in May 2016.
It took 4 years to build a case? Good grief!
He was convicted of 11 charges of indecent assault, eight against the girl and three against the boy, after a one-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court earlier this month.
Romford Recorder: Setchfield is the third person from the troubled care home to be imprisoned for historical sexual abuse – which has been the subject of a huge independent inquiry following the Jimmy Savile revelations.
In 2001, the home’s superintendent Alan Prescott and a former house parent Bill Starling stood trial for abusing children.
Prescott admitted indecently assaulting four boys at the home between 1970 and 1980 and Starling was found guilty of 19 offences, including two rapes, over a period of 20 years.
Detective Constable Daniel Stevens, of the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences (CASO) Command, said: “Setchfield continued to deny he was responsible for the abuse, even after being confronted with the compelling testimony from the two victims, along with corroborating witness statements. Although it has taken more than 30 years for the victims to gain justice, Setchfield has now been brought to account for his actions.”
Detective Inspector Debbie McCormack, of the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences (CASO) Command, said: “I would like to praise the victims in this case for having the courage to come forward and report the abuse and give evidence in court.
"I would urge anyone who has suffered abuse to come forward and contact your local police service. We take all allegations of this type extremely seriously, and we ensure that victims are supported throughout the process."
If you would like to report any offences, call 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you would prefer to remain anonymous.
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