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Teenage Indian Girls Attacked with Acid Days after Landmark Death Sentence Verdict

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(Last Updated On: October 24, 2022)

1473724869180Three girls in eastern India are being treated in hospital after acid was thrown on them, said police, just days after a court handed down a landmark death sentence verdict to a man found guilty of murdering a nurse in an acid attack.

The teenage girls were attacked late on Sunday in West Bengal’s Bankura district as they were returning home from tuition classes and were waiting near a bus stand.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Satyabrata Bhoi said they were taken by three men in a car where they were attacked and acid thrown on them. The three men have been arrested, he said, adding that the victims were now recovering in hospital.

“A Bolero vehicle and three persons have been arrested — a driver and two other persons — and cases have been registered against them,” Bhoi told Asian News International.

Acid attacks – meant to maim, disfigure or blind – occur in many countries. They are most common in Cambodia, as well as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Most victims are women, injured and disfigured by jilted partners or relatives.

Previously classified under grievous harm, acid attacks became a specific offense in India in 2013 after public pressure forced the government to improve laws to protest women following the fatal gang-rape of a young woman on a New Delhi bus in 2012.

According to India’s home ministry, there were 222 cases reported in 2015 compared to 309 the previous year. Activists say the number is under-reported as many do not report cases for fear the perpetrators will seek revenge.

On Thursday, a man in the city of Mumbai was sentenced to death for a fatal acid attack on a nurse at a busy railway station three years ago in what is seen as a legal landmark.

Preeti Rathi, who was 23 when she was murdered, had just arrived from Delhi to join the Indian navy as a nurse. Her neighbor Ankur Panwar attacked her after she rejected a marriage proposal.

It is the first such sentence for an acid attack in India. While certainty of justice and punishment is crucial, regulating the sale of acid is also essential, say campaigners.

“It is shocking that despite the Supreme Court guidelines, acid is so easily available to people like those who did this to these girls,” lawyer and women’s rights activist Abha Singh told reporters.

“The Supreme Court has given very clear guidelines that you cannot easily sell acid over the counter and is it the responsibility of local authorities to do surprise checks to see if acid is being sold illegally.”

India’s top court in 2013 ordered the government to curb the sale of acid to control attacks on women.

It made it mandatory for anyone wishing to buy the chemical, which is cheap and used as an everyday household cleaning product, to be over 18 years of age and have an identity card.

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TAPI gas company CEO satisfied with project’s progress

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

The minister of mines and petroleum, Shahabuddin Delawar met with the executive director of the TAPI project and the ambassador of Turkmenistan in Kabul on Thursday to discuss progress around the key project.

Murad Amanov, head of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline project, expressed his satisfaction with the recent progress of the project and talked about the practical roll out of the project.

Delawar said that the preliminary work of TAPI is progressing quickly and that the pipeline will be put into operation in the near future.

TAPI is a natural gas pipeline being developed by the Galkynysh – TAPI Pipeline Company Limited with participation of the Asian Development Bank.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India.

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UK’s Mercer faces 10-day deadline in Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

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(Last Updated On: March 27, 2024)

Johnny Mercer, the former UK Minister for Veterans Affairs, has been given 10 days to reveal the source of allegations that British troops engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan, or face a potential prison sentence.

British media reported on Tuesday that Mercer, following his allegations regarding the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces, was ordered to reveal the sources of his information.

The BBC reported that a public inquiry commissioned by the UK government into the actions of its forces in Afghanistan has directed Mercer to disclose the names of individuals who leaked information to him about alleged war crimes and cover-ups by special forces, or he may face imprisonment.

Although separate investigations have sought to verify these claims, the British government has yet to officially confirm them.

Earlier this month, Mercer, who served in military missions in Afghanistan, told the court that despite the information he possesses, he cannot confirm the killing of Afghan civilians by British forces between 2010 and 2013.

In court, he also stated that the claim British soldiers killed unarmed civilians in their sleep does not contradict his findings, but he admitted reluctance to believe it.

According to Mercer, British forces were allegedly instructed to carry an unregistered weapon — one not associated with NATO forces — to place next to the unarmed Afghan individuals they had killed.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the countries that had troops in Afghanistan for 20 years all committed war crimes.

Mujahid stated that if the investigation carries on, it will be a big step and that the crimes committed should be investigated transparently.

“The crimes that have been committed should be investigated transparently because this was not the work of a few soldiers but a plan that was drawn and crimes were committed in Afghanistan,” he added.

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Floods leave two dead in Faryab and Sar-e-Pul

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(Last Updated On: March 27, 2024)

Local officials in Faryab and Sar-e-Pul say heavy rain and floods have claimed two lives in these two provinces.

Rain and floods also caused widespread damage and financial losses.

In addition to the loss of lives and money, floods have closed roads in some districts in these two provinces, officials said.

According to them, the destruction of agricultural lands, residential houses, and bridges is widespread and has made life difficult for the people.

Meanwhile, the families who suffered losses during the floods are demanding immediate assistance from the government and aid agencies.

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