Gurgaon rape case: The vicitms claimed that the Saudi diplomat also took them to other places, including Nainital and Agra, where they were introduced to other ‘guests’ and subjected to further sexual assault.

Last four months were a curse for us. It was so ugly…we thought we were going to die in that house and our families would never even find our bodies,” said the 20-year-old woman from Nepal, who had been sexually abused for months.

The woman and her 44-year-old mother were rescued from the Gurgaon residence of a diplomat from Saudi Arabia on Monday night. Hired as domestic help, they were allegedly held hostage at the house and sexually abused every day for the last four months by the diplomat and his ‘guests’.

“There were days when seven to eight men — all from Saudi Arabia — would assault us. If we resisted, the diplomat and his family would threaten to kill us and dispose of our bodies in the sewer,” said the older woman. She claimed that on one occasion, the diplomat had even slashed her on the arm with a knife.

On some days, they would be given no food at all, she said. But they were allowed to bathe, right before they had to meet the diplomat’s ‘guests’, who would rape and sodomise them, said the women.

The diplomat’s wife made no attempt to help them; instead, she beat them up, alleged the women. “We were made to do all the household chores, from morning till late in the night, and then subjected to sexual assault at the end of the day. We were not given food. Sometimes we only survived on biscuits, bread and watery tea. We were never allowed to step out of the house,” said the women.

They claimed that the diplomat also took them to other places, including Nainital and Agra, where they were introduced to other ‘guests’ and subjected to further sexual assault.

“Right after we were employed, our employer took us to Saudi Arabia for 15 days. There, he did not touch us or misbehave with us. After we returned in May, he asked us to massage him… he then raped us and forced us to have unnatural sex and oral sex. After that he offered us to his friends regularly,” they stated in their police complaint.

“Last four months were a curse for us. It was so ugly…we thought we were going to die in that house and our families would never even find our bodies,” said the 20-year-old woman from Nepal, who had been sexually abused for months.

The woman and her 44-year-old mother were rescued from the Gurgaon residence of a diplomat from Saudi Arabia on Monday night. Hired as domestic help, they were allegedly held hostage at the house and sexually abused every day for the last four months by the diplomat and his ‘guests’.

“There were days when seven to eight men — all from Saudi Arabia — would assault us. If we resisted, the diplomat and his family would threaten to kill us and dispose of our bodies in the sewer,” said the older woman. She claimed that on one occasion, the diplomat had even slashed her on the arm with a knife.

On some days, they would be given no food at all, she said. But they were allowed to bathe, right before they had to meet the diplomat’s ‘guests’, who would rape and sodomise them, said the women.

The diplomat’s wife made no attempt to help them; instead, she beat them up, alleged the women. “We were made to do all the household chores, from morning till late in the night, and then subjected to sexual assault at the end of the day. We were not given food. Sometimes we only survived on biscuits, bread and watery tea. We were never allowed to step out of the house,” said the women.

They claimed that the diplomat also took them to other places, including Nainital and Agra, where they were introduced to other ‘guests’ and subjected to further sexual assault.

“Right after we were employed, our employer took us to Saudi Arabia for 15 days. There, he did not touch us or misbehave with us. After we returned in May, he asked us to massage him… he then raped us and forced us to have unnatural sex and oral sex. After that he offered us to his friends regularly,” they stated in their police complaint.

The women were finally rescued with the help of NGO Maiti Nepal India, which was informed about their plight by another woman who had been employed as a domestic help at the diplomat’s residence but ran away within three days.

NGO members then enlisted the help of someone who had access to the women and managed to pass on a mobile phone to them. “They were in constant touch with us for the last five days. They would narrate their ordeal on the phone and we assured them that they will be rescued soon,” said Bal Krishna Pandey, convener of NGO Maiti Nepal India.

The NGO then informed the Nepal Embassy, which wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs and Gurgaon police. A police team raided the diplomat’s residence on Monday night and rescued the two women.

Maiti Nepal India has also made arrangements to take the women back to their home — in Nepal’s Morang district — on Wednesday.

Who was the anonymous caller who set the ball rolling in the Sheena Bora murder case? As speculation continues around the all-important question that led to the unravelling of the conspiracy, dna has learnt that the caller who tipped off the Mumbai Police is the Meerut-based husband of one of Sheena’s closest friends.

The man works with one of the armed forces and is currently posted in Meerut, friends close to Sheena have disclosed, refuting the many theories doing the rounds, including one that the call came from a socialite friend of Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.

It was to attend this couple’s wedding that Sheena had last visited Guwahati in November 2011. Sheena and this friend had been together since childhood and also went to the same school. Mikhail, who drove his sister to the airport after the visit, says that was the last time he saw Sheena. This is backed up by her other friends in Guwahati too – that they saw her last at the wedding.

However, the close friend and her husband met her last in Mumbai when they went to visit her and even stayed with Sheena. There are many questions, of course. How did the caller know about the details of the murder? And if the person knew, why was he quiet for so long?

According to Sheena’s friends, the couple was alarmed when she stopped communicating suddenly. The couple even went to Indrani later to find out Sheena’s whereabouts. Indrani had reportedly threatened them, after which they left. They also spoke to Rahul Mukerjea, who did not actively pursue the case after Indrani told the cops that he was stalking Sheena.

“They kept quiet for good measure. But then, suddenly, as a last resort they went to the police. The husband called the police and narrated what they knew, and I can tell you with confidence that they were privy to a lot of Sheena’s personal ongoings,” explained a close friend of Sheena who now resides in Mumbai. He says the friend chooses to remain anonymous, because her husband is in one of the wings of the armed forces and has been asked by his office not to be seen in the media.

The Mumbai-based friend of Sheena, who met her several times while she was in college in Mumbai, says that after Indrani brought her to Mumbai for higher studies, Sheena seemed happy initially. “Her mother gave her a very comfortable life; a car was always at her disposal, and she would often meet Bollywood stars,” he says. “But when she became financially independent, Sheena realised that she needed legitimacy and not the money.

Perhaps, that is the reason she is no more.”

Mumbai, Sep 10: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party in protest to the temporary meat ban of four days in Mumbai sold chicken in Agar Bazar in Dadar, Mumbai on September 10. Meat has been banned in Mumbai on September 10, 13, 17 and 18 to respect the Jain community who is celebrating Paryushan for ten days. (READ: MNS to protest against temporary meat ban in Mumbai by selling mutton)

Consumption of meat, eggs, sea food or roots are against the religious sentiment of Jain community. Political parties condemned the ban which favours a particular community in a secular nation. Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe talking about the ban said, “The Mayor of BJP-ruled Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (in Maharashtra’s Thane District) is trying to use a section of society for political reasons.”

In a democratic country like India where every religion have their preferences imposing ban on the other is very undemocratic.

aved Rehman Sheikh, accused in connection with rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in suburban Kurla in 2010, was on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment until death.

Special Judge Vrushali Joshi had convicted Javed Sheikh (aged around 25) on September 5 for the crime.

“The court has sentenced Javed Sheikh to life on the charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in June 2010,” Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said.

Gharat told reporters outside the court that the sentence implies that the convict would have to spend his life in jail till death.
Sheikh was arrested on July 1, 2010 on charges of raping and killing the minor girl.

The girl’s body was found inside an unoccupied shanty in Nehru Nagar’s Vatsalatai Nagar slum on June 19, 2010, after the neighbours complained of foul smell. The girl had gone missing on June 5 that year.

The medical report confirmed that the girl had been raped following which Sheikh, an employee of a local cable operator, was arrested in the case.

The police had in August 2010 filed a 325-page charge sheet against Sheikh which consisted of statements of around 45 witnesses, medical reports, forensic reports and DNA test report.

notifications exempting Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities in those countries to stay in India without valid documents if they have entered the country on or before December 31, 2014.

The Union ministry of home affairs had stated in a release issued on Monday that the Centre has decided, on humanitarian considerations, to exempt such persons from the relevant provisions of rules and order made under Assam PCC general secretary Diganta Choudhury also welcomed the move, saying, “We were demanding it for a long time. We are one people if you look at our shared history.”

However, Bidhayak Das Purkayastha, secretary, Citizens Rights Preservation Committee (CRPC), Assam, dubbed it “an eyewash” by the Centre because the notifications do not guarantee citizenship to the religious minorities.

Elaborating, Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, a prominent minority leader, said the notifications would not stand the scrutiny of law.

“These are executive orders which cannot override provisions of the laws of the land,” Choudhury, who heads the Samajwadi Party in Assam, said.

Choudhury, also a senior CRPC leader, said the demand was to provide citizenship to people who have come from Bangladesh because of religious persecution and in fear for their life.

“Instead, they have been allowed to stay on. But will the court agree? The court will see that if there is a law it has to be implemented,” he said.

Mumbai: A day after he was shunted out of the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner, senior IPS officer Rakesh Maria on Wednesday said he was not contemplating quitting.

I am not thinking of resigning. Reports saying so are not true,” Maria told PTI this morning.

There was speculation after Maria’s sudden promotion that he might resign from the post as he was apparently unhappy with the action.

Maria, who was heading the high-profile Sheena Bora murder case and had interrogated the accused, was shunted out of he post and promoted as Director General of Police Home Guards.

He was replaced by Ahmed Javed, a DG-rank official, who took over as Mumbai Police Commissioner in the upgraded post.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had cleared both the appointments before he left for Japan on Monday night.

However, after the sudden action that created quite a flutter, the Maharashtra government climbed down in the evening and said he would continue to “supervise” the probe.

The decision came under attack from opposition Congress and NCP.

Mumbai Congress had yesterday said the transfer was prompted by “undue pressure” from bosses in New Delhi and corporate houses.

As various theories floated over the reasons for Maria’s transfer, State Home Department had said the changes were made taking into account the law and order factor ahead of the Ganapati festival, dismissing suggestions that that it has some links with the ongoing investigation in the Sheena murder case.
PTI

A very common, oft-repeated mantra among pundits and “experts” is that Muslims haven’t roundly condemned the extremism committed in Islam’s name. So many times, we hear people saying, “Where are the Muslim voices in condemnation?” “Why aren’t Muslims speaking up against extremists like ISIS?”

Well, the fact is, Muslims have been speaking out against ISIS and other extremist groups. The problem is, some times, people either don’t know or choose not to know this fact. Enter in this excellent post by Media Matters For America, which documents the round condemnation of ISIS by Muslim groups all across the world:

The Organization Of Islamic Cooperation: The Islamic State Has “Nothing To Do With Islam,” Has Committed Crimes “That Cannot Be Tolerated.” As the Vatican’s internal news source reported, the Secretary General for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 1.4 billion Muslims in 57 countries around the world, condemned the Islamic State’s persecution of of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq, saying the “forced deportation under the threat of execution” is a “crime that cannot be tolerated.” According to the Vatican:

The Secretary General also distanced Islam from the actions of the militant group known as ISIS, saying they ‘have nothing to do with Islam and its principles that call for justice, kindness, fairness, freedom of faith and coexistence.’ [Vatican Radio, 7/25/14]

Al-Azhar: Islamic State Is Corrupt And “A Danger To Islam.” Lebanese paper The Daily Star reported that Al-Azhar’s Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, Egypt’s highest religious authority, denounced the Islamic State as a threat to Islam and said that the group both violates Sharia law and humanitarian law: “[They] give an opportunity for those who seek to harm us, to destroy us and interfere in our affairs with the [pretext of a] call to fight terrorism.” [The Daily Star, 8/13/14]

Arab League: “Strongly Denounced” The “Crimes Against Humanity” Carried Out By The Islamic State. On August 11, Nabil al-Arabi, the Arab League Chief, denounced acts committed by the Islamic State in Iraq as “crimes against humanity,” demanding that they be brought to justice. According to Al Arabiya News, he said in a statement that he “strongly denounced the crimes, killings, dispossession carried out by the terrorist (ISIS) against civilians and minorities in Iraq that have affected Christians in Mosul and Yazidis.” [Al Arabiya News, 8/11/14]

Turkey’s Top Cleric: Islamic State’s Threats Are “Hugely Damaging,” “Truly Awful.” Turkey’s highest ranking cleric, Mehmet Gormez, decried the Islamic State’s declaration of a “caliphate” and argued that the statements were damaging to the Muslim community, according to Reuters:

“Such declarations have no legitimacy whatsoever,” Mehmet Gormez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, the highest religious authority in Turkey, which, although a majority Muslim country, has been a secular state since the 1920s.

“Since the caliphate was abolished … there have been movements that think they can pull together the Muslim world by re-establishing a caliphate, but they have nothing to do with reality, whether from a political or legal perspective.”

Gormez said death threats against non-Muslims made by the group, formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), were hugely damaging.

“The statement made against Christians is truly awful. Islamic scholars need to focus on this (because) an inability to peacefully sustain other faiths and cultures heralds the collapse of a civilization,” he told Reuters in an interview. [Reuters, 7/22/14]

CAIR Repeatedly Condemned The Islamic State As “Un-Islamic And Morally Repugnant.” In a July 7 statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the terrorist group “un-Islamic and morally repugnant,” noted that the Islamic State’s “human rights abuses on the ground are well-documented,” and called on other Muslim community leaders to speak out against the violence. CAIR reiterated the condemnation of the Islamic State as “both un-Islamic and morally repugnant” on August 11, and on August 21, CAIR once again condemned the group, calling the killing of American journalist James Foley “gruesome and barbaric”:

We strongly condemn this gruesome and barbaric killing as a violation of Islamic beliefs and of universally-accepted international norms mandating the protection of prisoners and journalists during conflicts.

The Geneva Conventions, the Quran – Islam’s revealed text – and the traditions (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad all require that prisoners not be harmed in any way. There can be no excuse or justification for such criminal and bloodthirsty actions.

We also call on those holding Steven Sotloff and other prisoners to immediately release them unharmed so they may return to their loved ones. [Council on American-Islamic Relations, 7/7/14; Council on American-Islamic Relations, 8/11/14; Council on American-Islamic Relations, 8/20/14]

The Muslim Council Of Great Britain: “Violence Has No Place In Religion.” The Muslim Council of Great Britain condemned the Islamic State’s actions and expressed that they do not represent Sunni Muslims, according to The Independent. Shuja Shafi, a member of the council also said: “Violence has no place in religion, violence has no religion. It is prohibited for people to present themselves for destruction.” [The Independent, 7/11/14]

The Islamic Society of North America: The Islamic State’s Actions “Are To Be Denounced And Are In No Way Representative Of What Islam Actually Teaches. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) released a statement denouncing the Islamic State “for its attacks on Iraq’s religious minorities and the destruction of their places of worship.” ISNA President Imam Mohamed Magid said, “ISIS actions against religious minorities in Iraq violate the Quranic teaching, ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion’ (Surat al-Baqara 2:256),” adding, “Their actions are to be denounced and are in no way representative of what Islam actually teaches.” [The Islamic Society of North America, 8/9/14]

100 Sunni And Shiite U.K. Imams: The Islamic State Is An “Illegitimate, Vicious Group.” As the Huffington Post reported, 100 Sunni and Shiite Imams from the U.K. came together to produce a video denouncing the Islamic State, releasing a statement that they wanted to “come together to emphasise the importance of unity in the UK and to decree ISIS as an illegitimate, vicious group who do not represent Islam in any way.” (Please see below)

Saudi Arabia’s Highest Religious Authority: Terrorists Like The Islamic State Is The “Number One Enemy Of Islam.” On August 19, Al Jazeera reported that Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, the country’s top religious authority, said that terrorism is anti-Islamic and said that groups like the Islamic State which practice violence are the “number one enemy of Islam”:

Extremist and militant ideas and terrorism which spread decay on Earth, destroying human civilisation, are not in any way part of Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims are their first victims. [Al Jazeera, 8/19/14]

Muslim Public Affairs Council: Condemned The Islamic State And Called For “Stand Against Extremism.” On August 20, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) released a statement condemning “the barbaric execution of American Journalist James Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).” MPAC urged “all people of conscience to take a stand against extremism” and offered condolences to Foley’s family. MPAC also noted the importance of countering ISIS and other extremist groups by working “to empower the mainstream and relegate extremists to the irrelevance they deserve.”