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Series of gruesome child murders shocks Bangladesh

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Within weeks of a 13-year-old boy being lynched, another child was found tortured and murdered, sparking public anger.

Rakib's father said that he sent his son to work to supplement the family's income [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

Rakib’s father said that he sent his son to work to supplement the family’s income [Mahmud Hossain Opu/Al Jazeera]

by Syed Tashfin Chowdhury, Al Jazeera

Dhaka: As air was being pumped into Rakib Hawlader’s body, around the evening of August 3, the boy pleaded to his tormentor to stop, or else he would die.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears, as motor garage owner Omar Sharif, Sharif’s mother Beauty Begum and a man Mintu Mia, continued to pump air into his body.

Although the 12-year-old was rescued and taken to the Khulna Medical College and Hospital, 250km southwest of the capital Dhaka, he succumbed to his injuries on the same night, leaving behind his bereaved family.

Enraged locals who learned of the Rakib’s death broke into Sharif’s garage that night, caught the three suspects and handed them over to the police. People came out on the streets of Khulna demanding justice for Rakib.

The incident was the latest in a series of child murders in Bangladesh, which have shocked the nation and forced the government to take measures to stop them.

“We have arrested all the accused,” Nibash Chandra Majhi, Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner, told Al Jazeera on Thursday.

“[The] investigation is still going on. We hope to file the charge-sheet against the accused by end of this month,” he added.

The details of Rakib’s murder were told to the local media by one of his friends, who was passing the motor garage near the Tutparha graveyard in the Khulna division of Bangladesh.

In an interview with a local news website, the witness recalled how the victim pleaded for mercy from his tormentors.

“When air was being forced into his body [via his anus] with the pump, I heard him saying, ‘Uncle, please stop now, or else, I am going to die,'” the witness said.

Reports said the three suspects tortured the boy after he quit his job at their garage to work for another employer.

The doctor who treated Rakib at the hospital emergency unit said the boy’s intestines were torn apart and his lungs burst due to the pumping of an “abnormal amount” of air into his body.

Rakib’s day-labourer father, Nurul Alam Hawlader, had filed a case with police against the three suspects.

He said that one of the suspects, Begum, used to beat and swear at his son, “for any and every reason”.

Hawlader had moved his family to Khulna from Satkhira three years ago. The impoverished family lived in a shanty along a road in the city. Rakib, a student, was sent to work to supplement the family’s income.

‘Drastic measures necessary’

Child rights experts in Bangladesh pointed out that the deterioration of law and order and the failure to prosecute murder cases of children are sowing the seeds of violence in the country.

According to the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF), a child rights group, at least 154 children were killed in the South Asian country between January and June, this year. In 2014, 292 children were murdered while the number was 180 in 2013.

On August 4, just a day after Rakib’s death, three-year-old Sumaiya Akhter died after being beaten by her father and mother, who tried to prove to locals that they are experts at exorcism.

Then on Wednesday, a madrassa student Robiul Awal was beaten to death, after he was suspected of stealing fish.

Children in Bangladesh also become victims of torture, rape, sexual assaults and other violations, according to BSAF.

“We believe that the tendency of torture and killing will decrease in the future, if the accused persons in past incidents are tried under special crimes tribunals and [receive proper] punishment,” Emranul Huq Chowdhury, BSAF chair, told Al Jazeera.

Recently, authorities were forced to act after public outrage was sparked over the killing of a 13-year-old boy in Sylhet district on July 8.

The lynching of Sheikh Mohammad Samiul Alam Rajon prompted protests and activists called for the guilty to be held accountable.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Meher Afroze Chumki, state minister for women and children affairs, said the government is working to “ensure justice” for the victims.

“Drastic measures are necessary now to bring about a positive change in this regard.”

Deadly explosion rocks Afghanistan’s capital Kabul

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At least 15 killed and hundreds injured after truck bomb explodes near military base in the city’s District 8.

Cars parked on roads in the vicinity of the blast were damaged for at least 100 metres, a witness said [AFP]

Cars parked on roads in the vicinity of the blast were damaged for at least 100 metres, a witness said [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

A truck bomb has killed at least 15 people and injured about 400 more in central Kabul, near an Afghan army base in the city’s District 8, police sources have told Al Jazeera.

The explosion occurred early on Friday morning, rattling nearby homes.

“Moments ago there was a car bomb in the Shah Shahid area. Civilian casualties are feared,” Deputy Interior Minister General Mohammad Ayub Salangi wrote on Twitter.

Al Jazeera’s Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said: “The police suspect that the [casualty] numbers will go higher,” he said, adding that sources said that the target of the attack had been an Afghan military base.

“A truck bomb detonated close to an army compound,” Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told the Reuters news agency.

Officials said 400 people had been wounded in the blast.

Dozens of the wounded were hurt by debris and glass shattering in the heavily populated area. Cars parked on roads in the vicinity of the blast were damaged for at least 100 metres, a witness said.

Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said the explosion was heard from miles around the city in the middle of the night.

“Those injured and killed were hurt by flying glass as windows shattered, buildings collapsed – the damage was very significant from this explosion,” Glasse said.

A local hospital official said their facility had been flooded with patients, including many women and children. Most were arriving on foot, the official said, and were being treated for superficial injuries.

The explosion follows a number of attacks carried out in Kabul over the past two months, all claimed by the Taliban.

A Taliban suicide bomber struck a military convoy on July 7, injuring nearby civilians.

The attack followed a Taliban car bomb attack on NATO soldiers in late June, which killed two Afghan civilians and injured 26 others, including women and children.

On June 22, the armed group launched an attack on Afghanistan’s parliament, killing five people and losing seven of its own members.

The Taliban launched its annual spring offensive in April.

A surge in attacks has taken a heavy toll on civilians, according to the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.

In the first four months of 2015, civilian casualties jumped 16 percent from the same period last year, it said.

Anti-corruption organization caught in corruption; Lokayukta’s house, office raided

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: The ongoing probe with regard to the allegations of corruption taking place in the Lokayukta office, led the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to make a thorough search of the official residence and office of Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao. The team managed to procure certain documents.

The search at the residence and office took place in the absence of Bhaskar Rao. Officials, though confirmed the search, refused to state any details based on the documents recovered.

Officials state that investigations began after few touts were arrested. They also said that a deeper analysis of phone records revealed that conspirators were present at the official residence and at the Lokayukta’s office to plan the operations.

“Thus we have two places where crime has taken place,” said an investigating official.
Sources claim that a complaint was filed by an Irrigation Department employee, Chennabasappa against Ashwin Y.

According to the complaint, Chennabasappa had met Ashwin at the Lokayukta’s official residence. At present, Ashwin is the main accused in the case and is in the custody of SIT.

The team was successful in raiding many locations which include two places that belong to Ashwin’s father Bhaskar Rao. SIT has recovered few documents that were seized from Ashwin’s Hyderabad house.

(Agencies)

Child molestation case: School headmistress, husband arrested

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rape

Bengaluru: The headmistress of a private school and her husband were arrested here on Thursday in connection with the alleged molestation of a three-year-old pre-nursery student by its security guard, a senior police official said.

“We have taken school headmistress Shirley Soujanya and its trust secretary and her husband Anil Kumar into custody under sections 188 and 336 of the Indian Penal Code for failing to protect the victim and implement the safety guidelines,” city additional police commissioner P. Harishekharan told reporters here.

Accused guard Gautam, 25, was arrested on Tuesday under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and section 376 of the IPC a day after the child’s parents filed a police complaint about the crime that occured on the school campus on Monday.

“The school management violated the mandatory guidelines enforced last year by employing the accused without a background check and disobeying order of a public servant (police commissioner) in ensuring safety and security of the students,” Harishekharan said.

The alleged sexual assault came to light when the victim complained to her parents of abdominal pain on returning home from school on Monday afternoon.

According to preliminary investigation, the guard was working in the school for four years and resides on school premises with his wife, an attendant in the same school.

“The victim’s elder sister, who also studies in the school, told her parents that the guard would often call her younger sister by name, fondle her and give chocolates to both of them,” Harishekharan recalled.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru police rescue 190 children found begging on streets

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Operation Smile

Bengaluru: In a major operation against begging by minors, police conducted simultaneous raids across the city and rescued 190 children, including 25 infants.

The drive, ‘Operation Smile’, began at 10 a.m. across seven divisions of the commissionerate.

The rescued children will be rehabilitated at the bala mandirs run by the state government. Some children would be accommodated in NGOs due to shortage of space.

Operation Smile

“Malls, temples, railway stations, bus stops, theatres and major junctions in the city were common places where beggars using children were found,” said P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner of Police (East).

“We have information that in a number of cases, children are kidnapped, physically assaulted and forced to beg. Some are taken on rent at the rate of about Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per day and, in some cases, given sedatives so that they are unconscious,” he said.

The operation took three months of preparation, including training of personnel, identification and survey of prime spots where beggars are found. Over 300 personnel drawn from the city police, officials of the Women and Child Welfare Department, Child Welfare Committee and representative of 10 non-governmental organisations were involved.

The police will now investigate whether these children were forced to beg.

“During investigation, if we find that the children are not with their families, we will immediately subject both child and adult to a DNA test. If we find that the children are being used by their parents, we will send them to the Child Welfare Committee. If they are not related to the adults, cases under human trafficking, beggary, and Juvenile Justice Acts would be registered,” said Mr. Harishekaran.

(Agencies)

Sushma’s family received money from Lalit Modi: Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul-Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s family has “received money” from former IPL chairman Lalit Modi.

“Whenever there is a robbery or stealing, a financial transfer takes place. There has been a financial transfer here as well. Sushma’s family has received money from Lalit Modi. She should tell the country exactly how much money Lalit Modi has paid her family to keep himself out of jail,” Gandhi said outside parliament.

Sushma Swaraj on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that she did not recommend to the British government to give travel documents to former IPL chief Lalit Modi. She also said the allegations against her of recommending travel documents for Lalit Modi were “wrong and baseless”.

The minister had also questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi what she would have done had she been in her place.

Rahul Gandhi said: “As Sonia Gandhi’s son I can say she would not have done the same thing. Whenever there is some stealing happens, secrecy is maintained by the thief. In this case, Sushma has maintained full secrecy. Nobody in the ministry other than Sushma Swaraj knew about this decision. After this decision, government of the United Kingdom changed their position.”

Sushma expert at theatrical politics: Sonia Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is an expert at “indulging in theatrical politics”.

Sushma Swaraj had said on Thursday that she was ready to face the consequences if helping former IPL chairman Lalit Modi’s wife on humanitarian grounds was a crime.

“She (Sushma Swaraj) is an expert at indulging in theatrical politics,” said Sonia Gandhi before she joined her party colleagues protesting the suspension of 25 Congress MPs by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

(IANS)

Maharashtra denies Tiger Memon’s ‘revenge’ call

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Tiger Memon

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has denied that absconding mafia don Mushtaque alias Tiger Memon allegedly called up his mother and threatened to avenge his brother Yakub Memon’s hanging last week, top officials said here on Friday.

The Mumbai police, too, denied any such conversation as having taken place, as reported by a leading financial daily.

“We want to clarify that we don’t have such intercepted conversation and we also clarify that such said transcript is not of Mumbai police,” said DCP Dhananjay Kulkarni in a statement.

According to the report in the daily, Tiger Memon purportedly had a conversation with his mother Hanifa Memon at her Mahim residence here on July 30 around 5.30 a.m. – barely an hour before Yakub was hanged in Nagpur Central Jail.

In the conversation with a weeping Hanifa, Tiger Memon allegedly “vowed” to “avenge” his brother’s death and “make them pay for it”.

The newspaper has stated it is in possession of the transcript of the entire three-minute conversation conducted over the Internet, with the call bouncing from one IP address to another, making it difficult to track. It is not clear who recorded the mother-son dialogue.

(Agencies)

Movie Review: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a brilliantly crafted thrilling entertainment

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Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation

Banner: Bad robot Productions, Sky Dance Productions & TC Productions
Producers: J. J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger & Tom Cruise
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Star Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris & Alec Baldwin
Genre: Action Adventure
Verdict: Blockbuster

Christopher McQuarrie is an American screenwriter, director & producer, besides being a regular collaborator of director Bryan Singer. And of course he has done a brilliant job of the latest “Missin Impossible” franchise.

Plot: With the IMF disbanded & Ethan (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, the team now faces off against a network of highly skilled special agents, the Syndicate. These highly trained operatives are hell bent on creating a new world order through an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Ethan gathers his team & joins forces with disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation, as the group faces their most impossible mission yet.

Aces: Christopher McQuarrie’s perfect directional skills & powerhouse performances by Tom Cruise, the main protagonist, followed by Jeremy Renner & veteran actor Alec Baldwin.
Minuses: Amongst all the “Mission Impossible” franchises, ‘Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation” could have been crafted even more better as the “Mission Impossible” viewers expectations bar is rising with every sequel.

Last Word: Certainly not to be missed weekend fare for the entire family, in fact for one & all.

Ashes 2015: Stuart Broad routs Australia for 60 in record time

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Stuart Broad

by BBC

England paceman Stuart Broad took 8-15 as Australia were bowled out in the quickest time ever in the first innings of a Test on a remarkable first day in the fourth Ashes match at Trent Bridge.

Broad equalled the fastest five-wicket haul, taking 5-6 in 19 balls, as the tourists were 60 all out in 111 balls.

Australia are just the fourth side in Test history to bat first and be fielding before lunch on the first day.

Broad, 29, also became the fifth English bowler to reach 300 wickets.

He also returned England’s third best Ashes bowling figures of all time – only beaten by Jim Laker’s 9-37 and 10-53  at Old Trafford in 1956.

And his five-wicket haul is the fastest taken from the start of a Test innings, beating the 25 balls required by South Africa’s Vernon Philander to claim five New Zealand wickets at Cape Town in January 2013.

Broad had Chris Rogers caught at first slip by Alastair Cook with just his second ball – claiming his 300th wicket and inflicting a first duck in 46 Test innings on the Australian opener in the process – before having Steve Smith caught at third slip by Joe Root from his sixth delivery.

He then had Shaun Marsh caught by Ian Bell at second slip in his second over and Adam Voges spectacularly caught by Ben Stokes at fifth slip in his third.

Michael Clarke became Broad’s fifth victim, slashing a ball to Cook at first slip from Broad’s 19th ball, thus equalling the number of deliveries needed by Australia’s Ernie Toshack to claim five wickets against India at Brisbane in 1947 – though Toshack did not open the bowling.

Mark Wood and Steven Finn also took a wicket apiece as Australia were reduced to 38-7 in 11 overs.

Broad then claimed the last three wickets as Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson both edged to Root at slip before Nathan Lyon was the last man out, caught by Stokes at sixth slip, 20 minutes before lunch.

Nottinghamshire seamer Broad is playing in his 83rd Test, having made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2007.

He joins Fred Trueman, Bob Willis, Sir Ian Botham and his team-mate James Anderson in England’s 300 club – with his eighth wicket drawing him level with Trueman on 307.

Anderson, who reached the 300 mark in May 2013, is England’s leading wicket-taker with 413 – although he is missing the fourth Test with a side injury.

Broad has played in three winning Ashes series – in 2009, 2010-11 and 2013 – and scored a Test century against Pakistan at Lord’s in August 2010.

Suicide attack targets security forces at Saudi mosque

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At least 13 killed after suicide bomber blows himself up in southwest region bordering Yemen, interior ministry says.

Saudi mosque

by Al Jazeera

Saudi Interior ministry has said that 13 people were killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in the country’s southwest region bordering Yemen.

Thursday’s attack in a mosque belonging to the emergency forces in the city of Abha in Asir province also injured at least nine others, the ministry added.

Earlier, state media said 17 people were killed.

Saudi Television said initial information indicated that the blast occurred after a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt.

It was too early to say who may have carried out the attack, an interior ministry spokesman told AFP news agency.

There was also no immediate claim of responsibility, but groups affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been blamed for recent attacks in Saudi.

Thursday’s bombing was the most serious in recent months against Saudi security forces, who have been targeted in attacks blamed on the Islamic State group.

In mid-July, a car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint near a prison in the capital Riyadh. It killed the 19-year-old driver and wounded two policemen, the interior ministry said.

In the southwestern city of Taif on July 3, a policeman was gunned down during a raid in which three people were arrested and flags of the ISIL group found, police said earlier.

On successive Fridays in May suicide bombings at mosques of the minority Shiite community in Eastern Province killed a total of 25 people.

A group affiliated with ISIL calling itself Najd Province — which takes its name from the region around Riyadh — claimed those attacks as well as another suicide bombing that killed 26 people at a Shia mosque in Kuwait in June.

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