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Egypt: Imam accused of raping 10-year-old girl
Published: September 11, 2021 15:29
Tawfiq Nasrallah, Senior News Editor
Gulf News
Dubai: A 39-year-old Egyptian imam has been arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl after she attended a Quran memorisation lesson at his home, local media reported.
According to police records, the case came to light when the 10-year-old victim refused to go to the Quran lessons, which aroused her mother’s suspicions.
She asked her daughter why she no longer wants to go to the lesson, although she did not tell her mother what happened at the beginning, she later said that in the last lesson and after all students had left, he sexually assaulted her at his house.
The mother reported the incident to Dakahlia police accusing the imam of raping her daughter.
The mother said that her daughter used to go to the imam’s house to memorise the Holy Quran but one day, after all students left the lessons, he raped her.
“The culprit took advantage of the fact that my daughter’s father is dead, so no one will hold him accountable,” the mother told police.
An imam who doesn't believe that God holds people accountable!!!!??? Sounds like a lot of Catholic priests.
The accused was arrested and referred to public prosecution. He denied the charges filed against him saying that he did nothing other than kissing and touching the minor, and did not any sexual intercourse.
The Public Prosecution decided to detain the accused and refer the girl to the forensic doctor, who confirmed that initial examinations suggest the girl had been subjected to a recent assault.
Mumbai Police files charge sheet in Raj Kundra pornography racket;
Shilpa Shetty says she was unaware of husband’s actions
Mumbai Police has filed close to a 1,500 page chargesheet against Shilpa Shetty's husband
Published: September 16, 2021 17:52
Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has filed a 1,500-page chargesheet in the Raj Kundra pornography racket even as Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty Kundra headed to a holy site in India for blessings.
The businessman was arrested on July 19 by the Mumbai Police during the investigation of a pornography case where the 45-year-old stood accused of producing and distributing adult film content through mobile apps such as HotShots and BollyFame.
According to media reports, the chargesheet has been lodged before a Mumbai magistrate court, which also includes a statement by Shetty Kundra claiming she was unaware of her husband’s alleged actions.
“Raj Kundra started Viaan Industries Limited in 2015 and I was one of the directors till 2020 when I resigned due to personal reasons. I am not aware about the Hotshots or BollyFame apps. I was too busy with my own work and hence, not aware about what Raj Kundra was up to,” The Indian Express quoted Shetty Kundra as having told the police, which has been included in the chargesheet filed.
The police has claimed in the chargesheet that Kundra used the Mumbai office of Viaan Industries to run the day-to-day operations of the porn racket. Indian Express quoted an officer as saying that the police has submitted evidence that show Kundra, Thorpe, along with accused Yash Thakur and Sandeep Bakshi (Kundra’s brother-in-law based in the UK) were all directly involved in the pornography racket.
An official further stated there was concrete evidence against Kundra and Thorpe that included porn clips retrieved from the office of Viaan industries, deleted pornographic content, Whatsapp chats and e-mails which stated that Kundra was running the day-to-day operations when it came to uploading pornographic content.
In fact, in July, public prosecutor Aruna Pai stated in court that Kundra and Thorpe were arrested as they had “started deleting WhatsApp group and chats” and hence “destroying evidence” so the police had to arrest them. “When an accused starts destroying evidence the investigating authorities cannot be mute spectators, they have to prevent them. Therefore in order to prevent them, they were arrested,” Pai told the Bombay High Court at the time.
The case first came to light in February, following a raid at a bungalow in Mumbai’s Madh Island. That same month, Mumbai Police arrested TV actress Gehna Vasisth over her connection to a First Information Report registered that claimed women were being forced to expose for pornographic films. According to the police at the time, several new apps and websites streaming pornographic content had been under scrutiny for luring girls by promising them roles in their ‘web series’ and eventually pressurising them to act in semi-porn films. Vasisth, whose real name is Vandana Tiwari, allegedly shot some of these videos.
Kundra, who currently remains in judicial custody, first appeared in a probe after the Property Cell of Mumbai Police came across the involvement of a UK production company, Kenrin, whose executive, Umesh Kamat was arrested. He was the former employee of Kundra and was accused of uploading at least eight “pornographic and obscene” videos shot by Vasisth on a social media app.
There is more on this story at Gulf News.
Egypt: Woman kills abusive husband, cuts body into pieces
She admits to having put body parts in bags, throwing into ditch with son-in-law's help
Published: September 16, 2021 18:17
Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
Police investigations showed that the woman had laced the man’s food with sleeping pills and when he fell asleep, she sliced him up into three parts with assistance from her son-in-law. Image Credit: Shutterstock
Cairo: An Egyptian woman has killed her husband and cut his body into three parts, allegedly for frequently abusing her, local media reported.
Aided in the murder by her son-in-law, the 45-year-old woman had put the body parts into bags and tossed them into a ditch in the town of Qaliub, north of Cairo, reports said.
Later, the husband’s body parts were found in the ditch. Police investigations blamed the murder on the wife who perpetrated it in complicity with her son-in-law, aged 25 years.
After her arrest, the suspect admitted to having committed the crime using a knife, claiming that the victim used to ill-treat and hit her.
Police investigations showed that the woman had laced the man’s food with sleeping pills and when he fell asleep, she sliced him up into three parts with assistance from her son-in-law.
Prosecutors ordered the two suspects remanded for four days pending further interrogations.
In recent months, Egyptian media have reported several incidents of family violence, with some of them culminating in murders.
Last month, an Egyptian man had allegedly killed his wife for her failure to prepare a meal for him.
The murder occurred after a dispute between the couple in their house in the city of Benha north of the Egyptian capital.
Why suicide continues to be India’s darkness within
Despite overwhelming statistics, India has never treated suicide
as a public health crisis
Published: September 15, 2021 09:09
Jyotsna Mohan, Special to Gulf News
Never judge a book by the cover, they always say. This suicide prevention month coming as it does in, the midst of mental fatigue and a blurry silver lining, needs us to dig in deep and not just for ourselves.
Sometimes a smile hides, at other times the silence is really a cry for help — the inner darkness plays the devil every forty seconds when somewhere in the world a person finally gives up on the struggle within and takes their life. The pandemic has only brought those emotions more on edge.
Suicide is a giant killer and of particular concern for India which has one of the highest mortality rates- the country accounts for almost 37% of global numbers with every two in five women being Indian as per a Lancet study.
Suicide prevention month: It is time to remember those affected by suicide, to raise awareness, and to focus efforts on directing treatment to those who need it most. Image Credit: Shutterstock
These statistics are only those tragedies that are reported, the stigma around it often allows the extreme act to be buried as an inherent weakness, with those around hushing it up for fear of invoking section 309 of the Indian penal Code that makes attempted suicide a punishable offence.
But the uncertainty and festering distress- both emotional and economic of almost two years has made it abundantly clear that the ostrich cannot be burying its head in our sand.
In Kerala, local media reports at least 30 deaths by suicide in the last three months. A doctor treating COVID patients in Delhi killed himself during the second wave as did a woman and her two sons in Gujarat after her husband passed away with the virus. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
In 2017, India decriminalised attempted suicide, the new Mental Healthcare Act stated that any person who tries to kill themselves, unless proved otherwise shall be believed to be under acute stress and will not be punished. Instead, the onus was on the respective government for rehabilitation.
But informally, it is still considered a character flaw. Lack of acceptance is at the core of our mental health struggles, and although the pandemic has allowed more conversations, suicide still remains a taboo. We are by and large still unable to understand that depression or anxiety are not by choice.
At other times, we become immune- the headlines on farmers suicides in Maharashtra don’t move us any longer, most often they are dismissed for what they are- a political game. Compassion comes from a place that first normalises mental health.
Change needs to begin from the top but the 2019-2020 budget for mental health was just 0.05% of the entire health budget and this year, despite expert warnings of a mental health epidemic, only 40 crores- same as last year, have been allocated for the government scheme, the National Mental Health Programme.
Dramatic increases in mental health budgets are necessary, not just for those who are suicidal, but children and adults who have been sexually abused as a child are in desperate need of counseling. There is almost no chance of complete recovery without significant mental help.
A big chunk of the budget has been granted to just one centrally-run institution in Bengaluru at a time when the pandemic has made mental health a physical ache across state boundaries.
Even in a pandemic free world- hard though that is to imagine- we were really not shining a light on our darkness, especially the ones our teenagers and young ones found themselves surrounded in. Between the ages of 15-24, suicide is the largest cause of death in India. Although many reports show a demographic bias towards south India, crossing the line at that age anywhere- in a tempestuous generation can be just an impulse.
And if you dig deep enough, you will find that the majority of those youths were sexually abused.
‘I have self-harmed many a times- not eating, not leaving my room, cutting my skin like my wrists or biting the insides of my cheeks excessively. Bleeding is the point of self-harm and sometimes I would realise what I have done only when the bleeding began.
Peer and parental pressure
I am not sure why I do it. Maybe because I deserve it? I kind of don’t like myself and sometimes I just see no way out other than death.”
Unfortunately, death is not a way out!
These were words from a 16- year- old to me when I was writing my book ‘Stoned, Shamed, Depressed.’ Another girl who was younger even overdosed with the intent of killing herself, her parents she told me were doctors, so she knew a thing or two about medicating. Fortunately, help came on time.
The trend of adolescents resorting to self-harm in tier 1 and 2 cities has been alarming, many of those who don’t get help on time are students. On Saturday, a 20-year-old student killed himself in Tamil Nadu just ahead of the NEET premedical exams, as did another girl on Monday fearing poor marks.
While peer and parental pressure is dominant among this age group, aspirational expectations not being met also become a burden.
We may have felt otherwise but time didn’t stand still since the pandemic outbreak. A study done by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) earlier this year reported that 22.5% of children developed a real fear of Covid with “anxiety, depression, irritability and inattention” as their key symptoms. Those looking in the right place will admit that this is not surprising — the social, physical isolation along with education inequality will have a cost.
Despite the overwhelming statistics, India has never treated suicide as a public health care crisis that requires polices looking to pre-empt rather than curative or post haste action. For instance, lack of proper data over pesticide poisoning- especially by farmers- makes informed decisions tough.
Time is running out but the national suicide prevention strategy is yet to see the light of day, the task force that was meant to be formed in 2017 is still missing — this when we know that WHO has flagged the suicide rate in India and timely intervention can make it preventable.
India is ranked 139th out of 149 countries in the latest World Happiness index, far behind even Pakistan and Bangladesh. Read between the lines.
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