‘Witches’ chop off Indian father’s hands and burn him alive claimed Mr Chopra was a rival sorcerer

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1201344316300182052" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 660px;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">                  </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCofVxbsXH1QeFSsCtEwO_C9M9aSAWKBi0MXXuAH3g1y2S00CsAGvVlTpK2Db5-7pfQU0bJ0Bc9awrgNNGI7NOar9DpLGrpNrn1ygwWTG81hWodgkSA59281s4U-SvjwzT9ziKX8LmN3k/s1600/1409223680460_wps_1_Pic_shows_Sorceresses_are.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCofVxbsXH1QeFSsCtEwO_C9M9aSAWKBi0MXXuAH3g1y2S00CsAGvVlTpK2Db5-7pfQU0bJ0Bc9awrgNNGI7NOar9DpLGrpNrn1ygwWTG81hWodgkSA59281s4U-SvjwzT9ziKX8LmN3k/s1600/1409223680460_wps_1_Pic_shows_Sorceresses_are.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></a></span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The picture above is the coven of witches, including Parvati, centre, and six of her followers, who have been arrested after allegedly hacking off a man's hands and burning him alive in front of his wife and 10-year-old son<br /><br />The man in question asked the witches for help to treating his sick 10-year-old son. According to Police, Mr Chopra went to the local witch doctor named Parvati, for treatment for his son. But as soon as the family reached her place, Parvati accused Mr Chopra of being a rival sorcerer and ordered her disciples to kill him.</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">''They were laughing and dancing around his body to music while he screamed in agony. In the end there was just a pile of ashes left,' said a police spokesman in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, the closest city to where the ritual slaying happened.''</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His wife Sushma later told police:</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">'It was sickening. They surrounded him and took turns to stab him with tridents and hack at him with an axe. They cut off his hands because they said that was where his power was.My husband told them he had no powers, no witchcraft, but they wouldn't listen. The more he screamed, the more they sang and the more they laughed.Then to make sure his power was gone for ever, they said they had to burn him. This was in front of our son who was terrified.'</span></blockquote> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcaUTKyhVORuVwC_nIEIUQl-02ntm6xlhHWfjQg7tYQr4rOWDGUuodpgfgHnms3Hb4HaPK3iDGrmr1tVvV7gdcKr75_AOVB3ZvR3BzNBTGxY6IVH6mwmLb_JaW5qCkrjD5tJbZPUuSPw/s1600/1409223788934_wps_2_Pic_shows_Brijlal_s_wife_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcaUTKyhVORuVwC_nIEIUQl-02ntm6xlhHWfjQg7tYQr4rOWDGUuodpgfgHnms3Hb4HaPK3iDGrmr1tVvV7gdcKr75_AOVB3ZvR3BzNBTGxY6IVH6mwmLb_JaW5qCkrjD5tJbZPUuSPw/s1600/1409223788934_wps_2_Pic_shows_Brijlal_s_wife_.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" /></span></a></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">                                                 <i>Chopra's wife being consoled by her son</i><br /><i><br /></i>Police say the witch and six of her followers are in custody awaiting trial for murder.</span><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">'We confiscated literature on witchcraft, as well as axes and tridents from the scene. We have also recovered some ashes for forensic tests,' said a police spokesman.</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Parvati and her followers allowed Sushma and her son to leave, but vowed to curse them if they told anyone.<br />The pair ignored the threats and traveled all night to the nearest police station where they reported the killing.<br /><br />A UN official last year said that archaic cultural practices such as lynching women branded as witches persisted in India partly because they were social sanctioned and not treated as as crimes by police.<br />Government statistics show there were 160 cases of murder linked to witch hunts in 2013, and 119 the previous year.</span></div> <div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1201344316300182052" itemprop="description articleBody" style="position: relative; width: 660px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> </div>

‘Witches’ chop off Indian father’s hands and burn him alive claimed Mr Chopra was a rival sorcerer

                   The picture above is the coven of witches, including Parvati, centre, and six of her followers, who have been arreste...

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Woman Kills Leopard with a Spade after Hour-long Fight

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;">                            <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfb0yGubXIiSp2nknYdJEzo3yu9z75jNOlWWWvebvNz9CcVJCej_zLD0KuGnt6LfJ3DCWm9xSz2-4mc9_nK3JTIO_JfYKq-h8zP8UB2ZEiFVz66J_li_eh2TMcEJMBmW9IGQ4K2Ja_L0/s1600/woman+kills+leopard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIfb0yGubXIiSp2nknYdJEzo3yu9z75jNOlWWWvebvNz9CcVJCej_zLD0KuGnt6LfJ3DCWm9xSz2-4mc9_nK3JTIO_JfYKq-h8zP8UB2ZEiFVz66J_li_eh2TMcEJMBmW9IGQ4K2Ja_L0/s1600/woman+kills+leopard.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br />A 54-year-old Indian woman has killed a leopard using only her farming tools after it attacked her on her way home from the fields last Sunday. Pictured above is Kamla Devi at the hospital.<br /><br />According to the mum of one, the leopard attacked her as she walked back from working in the fields, and she fought him back using her sickle and a small spade. She says it took an hour before the injured leopard gave in, after which she had to walk more than half-a-mile before finding help.<br /><br />She suffered deep cuts on her body and three fractures, and had lost significant amounts of blood by the time she reached a hospital. The animal was later found dead near Ms Devi’s village, Koti Bodna, in Rudarprayag.<br /><br />An unamed villager told India Today:<br /><br />    While Kamla was on her way to the village, the leopard attacked her. She showed great courage by<br /><a href="" name="more"></a>fighting the animal with a sickle and a small spade. The animal fled the spot after the struggle. We later found the leopard dead near the village.'<br /><br />Ms Devi, a widow, told local media that she remembers the entire fight, and how long it was. Medical staff has said that although she is in stable condition, she has had to have more than 100 stitches, suffering deep cuts on her head and legs. She is also being treated for two fractures on her right hand and one on her left.<br /></span><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQ-4ynCcIfrCIAOSLoWfQtY4Mu8-j4pAKsgWtbZDKrEzGjg72bI8ZlnBb1KXE0WS4djzpvpvZh7nIALdEyBqI9SDXfFwuAGALN9r2xFAxOdoSh_x1cVocF9OUv80eSwSbcr19W86dzqk/s1600/woman+kills+leopard2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQ-4ynCcIfrCIAOSLoWfQtY4Mu8-j4pAKsgWtbZDKrEzGjg72bI8ZlnBb1KXE0WS4djzpvpvZh7nIALdEyBqI9SDXfFwuAGALN9r2xFAxOdoSh_x1cVocF9OUv80eSwSbcr19W86dzqk/s1600/woman+kills+leopard2.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>

Woman Kills Leopard with a Spade after Hour-long Fight

                             A 54-year-old Indian woman has killed a leopard using only her farming tools after it attacked her on her wa...

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Indian Prime Minister Uses Biggest Speech Of The Year To Slam Rape Culture

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="wide-photo-box" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: none; float: none; margin: 1em auto; max-width: 638px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on the country's Independence Day" src="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AP319375617732-638x380.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 638px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100% !important;" /><div class="photo-caption" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; padding: 0.5em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on the country’s Independence Day</span></div> <div class="photo-credit" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; padding: 0.5em 0px 0px; position: relative !important; right: 0em !important; text-align: left; text-shadow: none !important; top: 0em !important; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">CREDIT: AP PHOTO/SAURABH DAS</span></div> </div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the biggest speech of the year, and his first major address, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi chose to speak at length about the scourge of rape and violence against women, breaking a long silence on the matter and raising the issue to major prominence.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Modi swept to office in June after the largest election in history, which saw his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/05/16/3438665/indias-election-results/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">win big</a> over the long-ruling Indian National Congress. Modi’s electoral victory came just days before a horrific gang rape in the Uttar Pradesh saw two young girls murdered and left <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/30/indias-culture-of-gang-rape-and-the-failure-to-stop-it/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">hanging from a mango tree</a> for their village to find. The violent incident was just the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/23/3195931/indian-village-council-gang-rape/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">latest in</a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/02/3111351/protests-india-gang-rape-murder/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a string</a> that have earned international headlines and placed a spotlight on the fact that in India “every 60 minutes two women are raped” as a 2012 <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/01/11/1435191/report-rape-often-a-political-tool-in-india/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">United Nations-linked report</a> found.</span></div> <div id="aol-mobile-ad" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="tp-advertisement" id="div-gpt-ad-1406054322033-0" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div id="google_ads_iframe_/17107625/tp_all_article_z2_1x1_1_0__container__" style="border: 0pt none; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe frameborder="0" height="1" id="google_ads_iframe_/17107625/tp_all_article_z2_1x1_1_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="google_ads_iframe_/17107625/tp_all_article_z2_1x1_1_0" scrolling="no" style="border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100% !important; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="1"></iframe></span></div> </div> </div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Though <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/06/02/3443632/photos-police-use-water-cannons-on-women-in-india-protesting-increased-sexual-violence/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">large-scale protests</a> were mobilized — and local officials <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/05/30/3443395/indian-leader-mocks-journalists-concerns-over-gang-rape-victims/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">often commented</a> to disastrous effect — the newly installed government had remained mostly silent on the matter of rape culture throughout the country. Modi changed that with his speech on Friday, India’s independence day, given <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/for-pm-modi-s-independence-day-speech-no-notes-no-umbrellas-for-rain-575909" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">without script or notes</a>.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In speaking out, Modi challenged citizens and government alike to change the way that rape is thought about. “Today as we hear about the incidents of rapes, our head hangs in shame,” he said in his <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/indias-modi-calls-for-more-toilets-less-trash-and-chinese-style-manufacturing/2014/08/15/4e024c91-b1e8-4d5b-90ab-851391811e29_story.html" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wide-ranging address</a>. “I want to ask parents when your daughter turns 10 or 12 years old, you ask, ‘Where are you going? When will you return?’ Do the parents dare to ask their sons, ‘Where are you going? Why are you going? Who are your friends?’ After all, the rapist is also someone’s son. If only parents decide to put as many restrictions on their sons as they do on their own daughters.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Though only time will tell whether the Modi government acts on the rhetoric seen in his speech, Tanvi Mandan, head of the Brookings Institution’s India Project told ThinkProgress in an email, the fact that they are even being talked about in this way is significant. “This is the first time that a prime minister has spoken about violence against women in this fashion, especially using such a prominent platform – the closest American equivalent of the Indian PM’s independence day speech would be the president’s State of the Union speech,” she wrote.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Moreover, Mr. Modi spoke of an aspect of this that Indian civil society has helped highlight publicly over the last couple of years – that this is not just a legal issue, but a societal one; not just about having the right laws in place, but also about changing culture,” Madan continued.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Part of the shift in culture that Modi hopes to achieve is doing away with the practice of outdoor defecation and increasing the number of toilets available in girl’s schools. “There should be separate toilets for girls. Next year when we stand here, every school should have toilets for girls and boys,” Modi challenged the government and corporations alike. The two girls killed in Uttar Pradesh were raped as they relieved themselves in a nearby field, a common occurrence in India and among the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/06/03/3444092/india-rape-sanitation/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">most prevalent periods</a> when women around the world are sexually assaulted. According to a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27635363" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">BBC report</a>, “a senior police official in Bihar said some 400 women would have ‘escaped’ rape last year if they had toilets in their homes.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Modi also used his speech to speak out against the practice of Indian family’s selectively aborting females in the woman or abandoning female babies once they’re born. Earlier this week, the Indian government <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/child-sex-ratio-at-its-lowest-since-1947-govt/article1-1251329.aspx" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">announced</a> that the sex ration among children 0-6 — standing at 927 girl children per 1,000 boys — is the lowest it’s been since India’s independence in 1947.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Have we seen our sex ratio? Who is creating this imbalance?” Modi <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pm-narendra-modi-s-independence-day-speech-at-red-fort-highlights-576248" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">asked</a>. “Not God. I appeal to the doctors not to kill the girl child in the mother’s womb. I request the parents not to kill daughters because they want a son. Don’t kill daughters in the womb, it is a blot on 21st century India. I have seen families where one daughter serves parents more than five sons.”</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The overall emphasis in the speech was less about what government can and will do and more about how Indian citizens needed to take responsibility and do their bit as well,” Madan noted to ThinkProgress. Similarly, the prime minister’s speaking out against female infanticide and foeticide, as well as the lack of toilets in girl’s schools was followed by a call to action not just for politicians, but also corporations and citizens.”</span></div> <span id="trigger-slidedown" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.4em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Not everyone was pleased with Modi’s speech, however. Members of the Indian National Congress were less than impressed with the scope Modi offered overall in his speech. “Given that it was the first address of the new Prime Minister one would have expected certain vision to be articulated by him on the trajectory of the next five years,” party spokesperson and former minister Manish Tewari <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/congress-slams-pm-s-maiden-independence-day-speech-as-zero-effect-576443" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">said</a>. “But it is unfortunate that PM got bogged down in pedestrian issues without being able to rise to the occasion.”</span></div> </div>

Indian Prime Minister Uses Biggest Speech Of The Year To Slam Rape Culture

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on the country’s Independence Day CREDIT: AP PHOTO/SAURABH DAS In the bigge...

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Nigerian woman suspected of Ebola dies in UAE

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The national airline of the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has disinfected one of its planes after health authorities there announced that a Nigerian woman who died after flying in to the capital, Abu Dhabi, may have been infected with the Ebola virus.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The health authority in Abu Dhabi said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM that the 35-year-old woman was traveling from Nigeria to India for treatment of advanced metastatic cancer.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Her health deteriorated while in transit at Abu Dhabi International Airport. As medics were trying to resuscitate her, they found signs that suggested a possible Ebola virus infection. The health authority noted, however, that her preexisting medical condition also could have explained her death.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Medical staff treating the woman followed safety and precautionary measures in line with World Health Organization guidelines, the health authority statement added.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The woman's husband, who was the only person sitting next to her on the plane, as well as five medics who treated her are being isolated pending test results on the deceased woman. All are in good health and show no symptoms of the illness, according to health officials.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Etihad Airways, the UAE's national carrier, said the plane was disinfected in line with guidelines laid out by the airline industry's main trade group. It said it continues to monitor the situation and is working with health authorities "to ensure the implementation of any and all measures necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of its passengers and staff."</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An Ebola outbreak has killed more than 1,100 people, mostly in the three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to WHO figures. Four people have died after contracting the disease in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Ebola virus is typically transmitted through direct person-to-person contact or through contact with bodily secretions from an infected person. The WHO considers the risk to passengers traveling on a flight with an infected person to be very low.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Abu Dhabi is the capital and largest of seven sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. The country has grown into a major long-haul aviation hub. It is home to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Dubai-based Emirates, the Middle East's largest airline.</span></div> <div style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Emirates earlier this month became the first carrier to halt flights to Guinea because of concerns about the spread of the Ebola virus there.</span></div> </div>

Nigerian woman suspected of Ebola dies in UAE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The national airline of the United Arab Emirates said Monday it has disinfected one of its planes after...

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Nigerians tricked into selling kidneys in Indian hospitals share horrible tales

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="story-featured-image" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); float: left; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-right: 15px; min-width: 378px !important; width: 368px;"> <img alt="Dayo" class="attachment-bigstoryimage" height="225" scale="0" src="http://www.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Dayo1-360x225.jpg" style="border: none; float: left; margin-right: 10px; padding: 4px;" width="360" /><div class="featured-image-caption" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 5px 10px 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dayo</span></div> </div> <div style="float: left; padding: 10px 18px 5px 0px; width: 370px;"> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7167863529667065" data-ad-slot="6184555097" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" style="display: inline-block; height: 140px; width: 370px;"><ins id="aswift_0_expand" style="border: none; display: inline-table; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 370px;"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border: none; display: block; height: 140px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 370px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="140" hspace="0" id="aswift_0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="aswift_0" scrolling="no" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;" vspace="0" width="370"></iframe></ins></ins></ins></div> <div id="nrelate_flyout_placeholder"> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He emerged from his room in a red T-shirt and blue denim on Sunday, August 3, 2014 in a state of despair and sober reflection. Slowly settling down in a white plastic chair in the hotel lobby where he had agreed to speak with our correspondent, he told a rather unusual story of his ordeal in the hands of his close friend who lured him into selling one of his kidneys for just $7,500 (N1.2m). That was 2008.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, before he could talk, our correspondent had to part away with N10,000, N5,000 paid in cash and the other N5,000 for exotic drinks and meal.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Not knowing that his friend, who had also become an agent in the international organ trade market, was only mindful of what would flood his bank account, he went headlong into deciding that he would do his friend’s bidding.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Martins said he had only one reason why he was willing to sell one of his kidneys for that amount: financial independence.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He had tried to make a meaning out of his life. While growing up, he had dreamt of becoming an engineer. But his parents did not have the wherewithal to support his dream.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So he settled for the less and trained as a plumber. Up till today, he said he is a professional plumber, but not the type that could free him from poverty.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So when he was approached by his childhood friend, he did not think times over before accepting the offer. He would sell his kidney, his friend, who was also the agent, would make about $1,800 (N300,000), while he would pocket the balance — $5,600 (N900,000). He felt it was balanced Mathematics, but the complexity of the deal was none he could have imagined.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">According to Martins, his friend, Sola, had a link with some individuals in Nigeria, mostly people who were looking for people who could donate kidneys to loved ones who needed to be flown abroad for kidney transplant.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A part of the money paid for the kidney would go to the agent, while the other part would be given the donor.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As an agent, Sola was called one day in October 2008 by a client who was based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The client was a man whose 27-year-old daughter’s two kidneys had failed and needed to be flown to India for a transplant. N1.2m was the amount agreed upon by both parties to strike a deal.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Then the agent’s work was to look for someone who would sell his kidney and be paid a part of the money put down by the client.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Martins was the donor in this case who was hoping he would make N900,000 when the deal was over, but his friend chose to be ‘smarter’ than him. Instead of being paid, he (Martins) was the one who ‘paid’ and is still ‘paying.’</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Martins said, “When I was tricked into selling my kidney for money, it was even a close friend of mine that introduced me into the trade. And I did not doubt him for a second. I wanted my life to change positively. I did not know he would eventually betray me due to the trust I had in him. Things were a bit tough for me then and I was desperate to make a change in my life.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Sola was looking for someone to donate a kidney to a person, and since I had been living in penury, I decided to take a chance. I thought it was a little issue. He told me the huge amount of money that was usually paid to donors. I told him I would do it.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The client I was to sell my kidney to was in Port Harcourt at that time, so I travelled there and was lodged in a hotel, the name of which I cannot remember now. The following day, I was taken to the General Hospital in the city for medical tests.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To be tested by the doctors in the General Hospital, Port Harcourt, Martins said he had to pretend as if he was a relative of the patient, and that he did it ‘gladly.’ All he was hoping for was the money.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “I had to pretend as if I was a family member of the client who needed my kidney so doctors could allow me undergo the tests.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was made to undergo different medical tests ranging from HIV, to blood group, and whether my kidney matched with that of the sick.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“That was just the beginning, and everything seemed to work perfect. I was made to understand that assuming I had any disease like gonorrhoea or others, I would be treated here before I travelled out of the country, as far as my kidney matched with the sick’s.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The second stage was the processing of visa and other travelling documents for me. The agent was to take care of all this. My own responsibility as the donor was just to obey all their commands.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“To process the visa, I took pictures with the family of the patient, which made the officials at the embassy believe I was really a relative of the client. I was also made to bear the name of the family of the client so that there would be no suspicion by the officials at the embassy.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Martins said he learned that if the client were a Yoruba, he would be given a Yoruba name; in this case, the patient and his father (who was the client) were from Rivers State, and so he was given a name that resembled theirs.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He continued, “Meanwhile, as all these were going on, I never knew that negotiations between the client and the agent were also ongoing, I was just obeying their bidding; at least I thought my friend could be trusted.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Before we travelled and because everything seemed to be working according to plan, my agent told me I had to get new clothes to travel with to India, so I borrowed some money from them, to be repaid from the money they would pay me.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Normally, the client would not pay the agent the money until the day of travelling and the agent would not pay the donor until he was sure the operation was successful.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I never knew all these until I experienced it. My friend was the agent and that was why I did not bother asking for the money before I travelled to India.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“On the day I was to travel with the family of the patient, we were lodged in a hotel in the Ketu area of Lagos. We got to the airport around 5am and I was thinking all through the journey. I was hoping my life would be better if everything was successful.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">MIOT Hospitals in Chennai, India was the destination. Everything had worked very well in Nigeria, but that was just the first step.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Martins continued, “We got to the hospital and we were lodged there. The following day, I began another series of medical tests. The medical personnel, who attended to me there, Doctor Tashir, sat me down and asked who I was to the patient.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I told the doctor she was my niece. He asked me if I knew the consequence of what I was about to do, and I told him there was no problem. For the next one and a half months, I underwent another series of medical tests. The doctors at the hospital trashed the ones I did in Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“While in the hospital, I was just not comfortable with the way things were going. I wanted to be sure if the money I was expecting to do this would really come, so I decided to call my friend who arranged the whole thing how much I was going to be paid.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“But before I called my friend, I called the client to find out how much he paid my friend. He (the client) was in Nigeria; it was only the lady, her mother, and me who were in India. He told me he had paid them on the day we travelled to India, and that was where the trouble began.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I called the agent (my friend) and asked him why he did not tell me the client had paid him.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“My friend (the agent) had even seized my phone to act as a collateral in case I failed to come back to the country after the operation. When I heard he had been paid, I had to remind him that it was my life I was playing with, and he assured he would pay me once I returned to the country.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The last stage after the medical tests was that I was taken to their local council to face a panel. They asked me again if I was ready for the operation that would last for 27 hours, and to know if I was ready for death in case it came. To all these I said yes.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Unfortunately, the patient’s mother started treating me unfairly. She believed I had been paid. At a point, I had to tell my friend that I would not do it again if I was not paid. I even told him to go and give the money to my mother, though she did not know anything about it. But he kept assuring me the money was safe.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Eventually, Martin’s kidney was removed and everything seemed to go well, but he later realised his woe had just begun.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “After the removal of my kidney, I called the agent again to tell him to send me some money for my flight home. That was when I knew I had been used and dumped.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“He changed the tone of his voice and told me to stay in India. He started asking me what I was coming to do in Nigeria. I had planned to use the N900,000 to buy a bus for transport business here in Lagos, to start life afresh. That had been my thought all along.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“On December 2, 2008, after about three months of being in India and 10 days after the operation, I said I was going home. With no money and no good treatment from the patient’s mother, I was stranded. Even though I had the opportunity of stealing their dollar notes in their wardrobe, I did not do so. I could never do such a thing. I felt pity for the lady.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On December 3, 2008, Martins eventually got a ticket to be flown to Nigeria and could not believe that he had been made to pass through the horrible situation for nothing.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “I tried all I could, and from the money I had borrowed before leaving, I came back to Nigeria.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“My parents never knew where I went and stayed for almost three months. Things were really pathetic. I met a lot of problems at home which I hoped I could solve with the money I would get. On this same matter, I lost my elder sister who was pregnant because it was her money that I took from home, hoping that I would settle her when I return.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The baby died, she too died, my world collapsed. Out of the N900,000 I was expecting, my friend paid me only N250,000. That was after I had threatened him. I could not involve the police because I knew it was one of those hard choices I made. That was how I was duped in the process of selling my kidney.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From the amount he could collect from his agent, Martins was able to set up a football viewing centre, which has since collapsed.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Another person with a similar story to tell is Dayo. Not also willing to remain in financial mediocrity all his life, he thought the ‘mouth-watering’ offer Sola (same agent for Martins) offered him was not too small to sell his kidney. Afterall, he learned in Biology that man needs only one kidney to survive.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So when he was approached at the same time with his friend by Sola, he did not bother to consult with anyone before he decided he would sell his kidney for N1m.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Almost similar experience with Martins’, the same agent, who is also their friend, manipulated him and gave him just N500,000 out of the sum he bargained for.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, the irony of the whole thing is that through some manipulative means, the agent told Dayo that he was also into travelling agency and that he could help him secure a visa to the United Kingdom, but the unfortunate thing was that Dayo did not think twice before he withdrew the whole money he was paid for selling his kidney.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “I gave him the whole money he gave me back, waiting to fly to London. Up till now, I have not heard anything from Sola again neither have I been given any visa to travel. My whole life is in chaos now.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I cannot even tell anyone in my family that I did such a horrible thing. I have been lying to many people who saw the mark on my body. Who will ever believe I sold my kidney for money? My life is ruined.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“My mother will not even believe it. In my desperation for money I have destroyed my whole life. I just pray that God will forgive me because this is something I have never told anyone.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dayo only allowed our correspondent take his back picture, using his right palm cover the stretch mark. He said his family and friends would identify him if they see his full back.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Professor Itse Sagay, a human rights lawyer, believes that organ trade is criminal and must be fought.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “Definitely it is an infringement of the law against threat to human life. It is contained in the criminal code. It takes on a criminal hue. This matter should be investigated while the people doing this trade should be punished according to the law.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Ministry of Health’s spokesperson, Dan Nwomeh, said Nigeria needs to sign the proposed National Health Bill into law before organ trade transactions get out of hand. He clamoured for the prompt signing of the bill into law for the regulation of organ transplant in the country.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “We hear rumours about the trade, but the truth of the matter is that we have a big problem at hand, and this is because there is no law regulating organ transplant in Nigeria. There is no law at all now, and what can the Ministry of Health do when there is no law?</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“That is why we have been canvassing for the signing of the National Health Bill. If the bill is signed into law, important health issues like organ transplant and fertility medicine will be regulated. It will not be done in the secret.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“But while we are waiting for the National Health Bill to be signed into law, everything depends on the practitioners to do the proper thing. You cannot say someone who is into the organ trafficking business has committed an offence since there is no law yet that is against or regulating it.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nwomeh added that the Ministry of Health would continue to canvass for the signing of the National Health Bill into law.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “The health minister and the Ministry of Health will continue to push forward until this particular bill is signed into law. Until such happens, there are bound to be shady businesses like that.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Vice-President of the Commonwealth Medical Association and former President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, corroborated the comment of the health ministry.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said that the bill takes into account provisions for the regulation of organ transplant and fertility medicine in the country. He said if the bill is not signed, the perpetrators would continue to have a field day.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Enabulele said, “Right now, organ trade is commoner outside the country, especially in India, and so it is not unexpected that the business there is booming due to the fact that people from other countries go there to do it.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It is definitely illegal and a criminal act, but in the absence of regulation, no one can be blamed. People are doing many things underground and even if you apprehend them, under what law are you going to charge them? What penalties will be levied on them?</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“In terms of the robustness of the trade in Nigeria, I think one is certainly not very much aware of how it is, but I know that the usual destination point is India because that is where all sorts of trafficking take place.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“This is one of the reasons that when I was the president of the Nigerian Medical Association, I actively supported the passage of the National Health Bill because it has the provisions for the regulation of organ transaction, including the kidney, to make sure there are rules and strict adherence to the guidelines for organ transactions, unlike having an unregulated market where anything happens.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“It is even now important that there is acceleration in terms of getting the President’s assent to harmonise the National Health Bill to prevent the burgeoning of illegal organ transactions. If it is happening, it is the sign that there needs to be some sort of regulation.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“If the guidelines are not there, there will be an astronomical increase in criminal activities in organ transplant due to the level of poverty. Many unwilling donors will end up in the hands of fraudsters. If people must donate their organs, then it must be according to certain guidelines.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Normally, organs are not what to be donated for a fee, it should be voluntary out of empathy for a victim (either a relative or friend) just like blood donation. It should be out of one’s empathic disposition.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Guidelines must be put in place to prevent extortions like this whether they are doing it because of poverty or not. A framework must be put in place to regulate organ transplant in the country through the signing of the health bill.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Enabulele emphasised that there was nothing wrong in donating human organs, but that it should be done voluntarily and freely under the regulation of the law.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He added, “There is nothing wrong with a doctor offering help out of his own volition in referring a patient who needs an organ replacement to countries like India; however, it must be voluntary or else the whole essence of the human life is gone.”</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A mail sent to the MIOT hospitals, Chennai, India was not replied as of the time of going to press.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The spokesperson for the India High Commission in Lagos, Mr. Vyan Choudhauy, expressed surprise that some Nigerians are engaged in the trade in his country. He also promised to send a message to the Consul in India for proper investigation.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He said, “Definitely, it is a wrong thing to do. I will forward a mail to the Indian Consul and I am sure necessary actions will be taken against the situation. No matter the money involved, it is wrong for people to sell their organs. We will do everything possible to investigate this matter and give you the feedback.”</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div> </div>

Nigerians tricked into selling kidneys in Indian hospitals share horrible tales

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Video recordings of gang rapes on rise in India in effort to shame, silence the victim

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="inline-content inline-photo modal-0" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="zoom-in" data-hi-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/06/12/Foreign/Images/04236532.jpg?uuid=0bH7mPJbEeORTB-9BhTi1A" data-low-res-src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_400w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/06/12/Foreign/Images/04236532.jpg?uuid=0bH7mPJbEeORTB-9BhTi1A" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/06/12/Foreign/Images/04236532.jpg?uuid=0bH7mPJbEeORTB-9BhTi1A" style="border: 0px; cursor: -webkit-zoom-in; width: 599px;" /><br /><span class="pb-caption">Activists shout slogans against the Bengali government during a protest over the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl. (Piyal Adhikary/European Pressphoto Agency)</span></span></div> <div class="pb-sig-line hasnt-headshot has-0-headshots hasnt-bio is-not-column" style="padding-bottom: 20px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="pb-byline" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;">By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/rama-lakshmi" style="text-decoration: none;">Rama Lakshmi</a></span> <span class="pb-timestamp" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;">August 14</span> <span class="pb-tool email" style="display: inline-block; padding-right: 5px;"><a href="mailto:lakshmir@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20'Video%20recordings%20of%20gang%20rapes%20on%20rise%20in%20India%20in%20effort%20to%20shame,%20silence%20the%20victim'" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="fa fa-envelope" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: inline-block;"></span></a></span> <span class="tweet-authors"><span class="pb-twitter-follow" style="display: inline-block; margin-right: 5px; position: relative; top: 5px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-follow-button twitter-follow-button" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.1407888064.html#_=1408160058313&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&screen_name=RamaNewDelhi&show_count=false&show_screen_name=true&size=m" style="height: 20px; width: 152px;" title="Twitter Follow Button"></iframe></span></span></span></div> <article><div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="dateline">NEW DELHI —</span> For six days, the frail 16-year-old high school student did not tell anyone about how she was raped last month by two men in an abandoned home far from her neighborhood in New Delhi.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I was afraid. While I was being raped, another man pointed a gun and<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/16-yr-old-gangraped-accused-made-video-clip-to-blackmail-her-police/%22%20title=%22indianexpress.com%22%3ehttp:/indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/16-yr-old-gangraped-accused-made-video-clip-to-blackmail-her-police/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">recorded me with his cellphone camera</a>,” the teenager recalled, sitting crouched in her New Delhi home and running her finger over a tiny tattoo on her hand. “He said he will upload the film on the Net if I tell my family or the police.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the days after the rape, she grew very quiet, refused food and kept sleeping, worrying her family. Finally, after six days, her aunt pried the truth out of her. The family took her to the hospital, where the sexual assault was confirmed. The family filed a police complaint.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Women’s welfare officials say that intimidating victims with video recordings is on the rise in gang rapes in India. These recordings complicate the government’s efforts to encourage women to report the crimes and hinder police efforts to halt the explosion of “obscene” online content targeting women.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“More and more women are reporting that men are recording the act of rape with their smartphones, and they are using these recordings to threaten women into silence,” said Shamina Shafiq, a member of the state-run National Commission for Women. “In many cases, they actually upload the rape video or circulate it among friends on WhatsApp. The woman is raped not just once, but again and again when people view the video.”</span></div> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: auto !important; margin: 6px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> </div> </article><div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">India’s government has begun preliminary work to introduce amendments to India’s 14-year-old information technology law to focus it more on addressing cybercrimes against women, Shafiq said. The women’s commission has called for extensive police training, more accountability for social-media companies, “right-to-be-forgotten” policies, and separate courts to try cybercrimes against women.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Police say other <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/video-recordings-of-gang-rapes-on-rise-in-india-in-effort-to-shame-silence-the-victim/2014/08/13/%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-new-delhi-a-help-line-for-women-is-flooded-with-calls/2013/06/21/819becfc-d751-11e2-b418-9dfa095e125d_story.html%22%3ehttp:/www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-new-delhi-a-help-line-for-women-is-flooded-with-calls/2013/06/21/819becfc-d751-11e2-b418-9dfa095e125d_story.html%3c/a%3e%3c/p%3e%3cp/%3e" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">cybercrimes against women</a> are also growing. They include online stalking, morphing pictures and creating sexually explicit Facebook accounts of women, and uploading sex videos without consent. (Publication and circulation of pornography are illegal in India, although creating and viewing pornography — with the exception of child pornography — for personal use is not illegal.)</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last year, 1,203 cases of publication and transmission of obscene content online were reported, up from 589 in 2012, according to the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/video-recordings-of-gang-rapes-on-rise-in-india-in-effort-to-shame-silence-the-victim/2014/08/13/%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://ncrb.gov.in/%22%3ehttp:/ncrb.gov.in/%3c/a%3e%3c/p%3e%3cp%3e%3cspan%20class=%22@notes%22/%3e%3c/p%3e" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; text-decoration: none; zoom: 1;">National Crime Records Bureau.</a></span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“So many people now have a phone with a camera, but very few understand the laws,” said Rakshit Tandon, cybercrime adviser to the police department in Gurgaon, a prosperous suburb of New Delhi. Tandon conducts workshops in schools to train students about how they can protect themselves in the digital world. “Ninety-five percent of the calls I get are from young women who say their photographs and videos have been posted online without their consent. This is now emerging as a new way of harassing women.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tandon said many police stations in India lack the expertise to deal with cybercrime. Many stations in rural areas don’t even have computers.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One disturbing trend, experts say, is the sudden growth of “revenge porn,” in which a video of a consensual sexual encounter is put online by a disgruntled partner.</span></div> <br /> <div class="wp-inline-bb pb-centered-bb has-subscribe-promo" id="slug_inline_bb_2" style="background-position: 123px -398px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; float: none !important; height: auto !important; margin: 6px auto 30px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 300px;"> </div> <br /> <div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> Shafiq likened revenge porn to “a newer form of acid attacks,” in which men throw acid into women’s faces as punishment for declining their advances or for breaking up with them.</div> <br /> <article><div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“There is a lot of homegrown revenge porn in our small towns, and we are seeing a revenge-porn economy emerging in India,” said Pavan Duggal, a lawyer who specializes in cyber law and pornography. “But many police officers do not consider it serious enough to even register a complaint. Both parents and the police blame the women: ‘Why did she get close to a man in the first place?’ they ask. A lot of it goes unreported because there are issues of social honor and shame.”</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The day after the 16-year-old girl in New Delhi summoned the courage to file a police complaint, a handwritten sign saying “gang rape” appeared on her door. The police have arrested four men, but the man with the cellphone is still at large.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, the teenager has stopped going to school. She has not stepped out of her home for days.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Everybody’s eyes are glued on our family these days,” said her mother, Manju Balram, 45. “We have lost all honor in society. Only God knows if her rape video is being watched by the world.”</span></div> </article><div class="post-body-sig-line" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 20px;"> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/rama-lakshmi" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;"><img class="post-body-headshot-left" src="http://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://wp-eng-static.washingtonpost.com/author_images/lakshmir0-v.jpg?ts=1405448718366&h=90&w=90" style="border: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); float: left; margin: 24px 24px 24px 0px; max-width: 90px;" /></span></a><div class="post-body-bio has-photo" style="margin: 24px 0px 24px 105px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rama Lakshmi has been with The Post's India bureau since 1990. She is a staff writer and India social media editor for Post World.</span></div> </div> </div>

Video recordings of gang rapes on rise in India in effort to shame, silence the victim

Activists shout slogans against the Bengali government during a protest over the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl. (Piyal Adhikary/...

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