November 29, 2013

Life cut short: Abandoned newborn dies of burns

By: Shamsul Islam

FAISALABAD: Let us call her Afeerah, meaning ‘covered in soil and dust’. The final hours in the life of the newborn baby girl discovered in a burning garbage dump were agonising. With 80% of her body burnt, the infant died at a hospital in Chak Jhumra on Wednesday, despite doctors’ best efforts to save her life.

Afeerah had been shifted by a Rescue 1122 team to the emergency ward of the Allied Hospital soon after her screams were heard. Although a medical team worked for 19 hours to save her life, Afeerah’s heart stopped at 3:45am.

She was treated at the Hassan Ward in the emergency department of the Allied Hospital, where she was administered a glucose IV drip and put on the ventilator. The three-member team supervising the treatment of the abandoned newborn comprised Dr Muhammad Junaid, Dr Muhammad Imtiaz and Dr Muhammad Wasif, and said she was about 30 hours old when brought to the hospital.

Following her death, the hospital administration immediately informed the area police of Mansoorabad for a postmortem and other legal formalities. Station House Officer (SHO) of Mansoorabad Abdul Ghafoor and Assistant Sub Inspector Khalid Mehmood took the body of the unclaimed child into their custody at the mortuary of the hospital.

The medico-legal officers (MLO) conducting the postmortem of the baby concluded that she had died of burn injuries. However, they said a final opinion would be given after the chemical analysis report is received from Lahore Laboratory. The report will show the test results of various samples taken from the infant’s body.

The Mansoorabad police have registered a case against ‘unknown persons’ under Section 338-C of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

SHO Ghafoor said the case was registered after the death of the baby. “We cannot proceed in a case where any newborn still shows symptoms of life and is found but unclaimed. We acted immediately after the hospital administration informed us about her death,” he said.

Earlier, a controversy arose regarding the jurisdiction of the police stations, as the crime occurred between Chak Jhumra and Mansoorabad police stations. Ultimately, on the basis of the boundaries of both stations, the case was found within the area of Mansoorabad.

Express Tribune

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013

Rapist, killer of eight-year-old sentenced to death

Karachi: A man was sentenced to death for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl in 2006.

The additional district and sessions court (west) awarded Siddique the capital punishment for the murder and 25 years’ imprisonment for the rape.

During the trial, five prosecution witnesses testified under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Some of them identified him.

Siddique lured the girl away by offering to buy her toffees in Sector 12-L of Orangi Town on August 10, 2006.

He took the girl to a vacant quarter in the same area and raped her. He then strangled her and dumped her body in a garbage dump.

The father of the victim, Muhammad Israel, lodged a case against the accused at the Pakistan Bazaar police station.

Later, police arrested the accused, who confessed to his crime.

Concluding the trial, the judge declared that the prosecution had proved the charges, and ordered that the convict be hanged till death.

After the sentencing, the convict was taken back to the central prison.

TDAP graft case

Judicial Magistrate (South) Noor Muhammad Kalmati on Thursday remanded former TDAP director general Abdul Karim Dawoodpota and ex-CEO Javed Akbar in the FIA custody till December 2.

During the proceedings, the investigation officer told the court that the two former officials of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan were involved in corruption of billions of rupees, and he needed to interrogate them further.

Former TDAP chief Tariq Iqbalpuri along with other accused has been arrested.

The investigation officer charged that Dawoodpota and Akbar misappropriated huge funds in the name of promoting products of the country abroad, causing a loss of more than Rs100 million.

The court allowed the physical remand of the two till December 2.

The News

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013

Malala tops list of most powerful Asians in UK

ISLAMABAD: Malala Yousafzai has topped the list of 101 most powerful British Asians and Asian residents in the UK, knocking Labour MP Keith Vaz off the number one spot he held last year, The Telegraph reported.

Malala, who went to Britain from Pakistan after she was shot in the head by the Taliban, is the only woman to feature in the top ten.

She is joined in the top 20 by new Today programme presenter Mishal Husain, newsreader George Alagiah and One Direction member Zayn Malik.

The list, which has been compiled for the last three years, celebrates British Asians from all walks of life and this year honoured 17 people from the political sphere, including Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Labour MP Sadiq Khan.

The power 101 was unveiled at a ceremony in London on Wednesday night attended by the likes of Nick Clegg and Asian MPs Alok Sharma and Paul Uppal.

Kalpesh Solanki, managing editor of the Asian Media and Marketing Group power list, said, “It’s fantastic to see so much ethnic success in Britain. There are a lot of strong, influential and powerful people whose hard work goes unrecognised. These awards ceremonies are highly significant as it’s incredibly important for us to keep recognising and rewarding ethnic achievements in the country.”

Daily Times

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013

Time limit for indoor marriages challenged

LAHORE: A lawyer has filed a writ petition challenging police raids on residences in alleged violation of the Punjab Marriage Function Act 2006.

Advocate Ishtiaq Chaudhry states that offering a great hospitality in marriage functions is a vital part of eastern traditions. He says in a suffocated society, wedding functions are great source of social contact among family and friends so these events cannot be limited to specific time period.

The petitioner pleads that enforcing the time limit of 10pm on the wedding functions held inside houses is a clear violation of fundamental rights protected in the Constitution.

He says the Marriage Function Act cannot be enforced on a house but the authorities have been misusing the law causing harassment in society.

The lawyer prays to the court to set aside the imposition of Section 144 and declare the raids by police on residences as illegal.

Ombudsperson: The LHC has directed Punjab Ombudsperson Mira Phailbus to file an amended reply to a contempt petition moved by Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran challenging an order passed by the ombudsperson on a complaint against him.

A Punjab Law College lecturer, Khujista Rehan, had filed a complaint before the ombudsperson against the VC on charges of sexual harassment.

DAWN

November 29, 2013November 29, 2013

UN women’s rights resolution passed despite backlash

United States: A UN General Assembly committee has agreed on a landmark first resolution for women’s rights defenders such as Malala Yousafzai, despite a hard fought campaign by an alliance including the Vatican to weaken the measure.

A Norwegian-led coalition, which has prepared the resolution for months, had to delete language that condemned “all forms of violence against women” to get the text passed by consensus late Wednesday.

African nations, the Vatican, Iran, Russia, China and conservative Muslim states had sought to weaken the resolution passed by the assembly’s human rights committee, diplomats and activists said.

The campaign for women’s rights defenders has been given a huge boost in recent months by the likes of Malala, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by the Taliban for her battle for girls’ education, and Denis Mukwege, the Democratic Republic of Congo doctor briefly forced into exile for his work helping rape victims.

Both had been named as Nobel Peace Prize candidates this year.

The resolution calls on all states to publicly condemn violence against women human rights defenders, amend legislation that hinders them and give activists free access to UN bodies.

“The international community has sent a clear message. It’s unacceptable to criminalise, stigmatise or curtail women’s human rights defenders,” said Geir Sjoberg, the Norwegian government’s lead negotiator on the resolution.

He added that the key aim now would be to make sure governments are held to commitments made in the text.

“There is a great mismatch between realities for brave women on the ground and what was agreed today. The real work starts now,” Sjoberg added.

Fraught negotiations were held over the text.

African countries had insisted on highlighting respect for customs and traditions. Russia, Iran and China had called for language which insisted the rights defenders should follow national laws, diplomats and activists said.

In the end Norway agreed to delete a paragraph which said states should “strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and women human rights defenders and refrain from invoking any customs, traditions or religious consideration to avoid their obligations.”

African nations in turn withdrew a proposed amendment which said human rights defenders had to fall in line with “local situations,” diplomats said.

More than 30 European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, withdrew as co-sponsors of the resolution in protest at the concession.

Iceland remained as a co-sponsor, but its UN ambassador Greta Gunnarsdottir called the concession “a low point” for the UN rights committee.

The Vatican led opponents to references in the draft to the risks faced by those working on sexual and reproductive health and gender rights, activists who monitored the talks said.

Rights groups said the UN committee should have stood firm against the changes.

Women human rights defenders often “challenge traditional religious and cultural values and practices which subordinate, stigmatise or restrict women” when they take up gender and sexual rights, said Eleanor Openshaw of the International Service for Human Rights.

Women Nobel Prize winners and the Elders, a group of former leading statesmen including former US president Jimmy Carter and UN secretary general Kofi Anan had all spoken up for the resolution.

DAWN