Sunday, November 28, 2010

Delhi rape victim to fight on, refuses to leave

 

Despite her nightmarish experience, the 30-year-old BPO employee, who was  abducted and raped by five men in south Delhi, has decided to stay back and pursue her case so that no one else from her community has to suffer the same fate. The woman, who hails from Mizoram, is presently undergoing treatment at a south Delhi hospital. She has refused to go back to her native place till the accused are brought to book. The victim is extremely brave and is coping with the situation quite well. When we asked her if she wants to go back to her native place, she said no. She added that she was here to fight the case and see that it reaches its logical conclusion. She said if she will not do so, other women from her community will continue to be victimised,” said Takam Sanjoy, MP from Arunachal Pradesh. Takam is actively pursuing the Dhaula Kuan rape victim’s case.
 
This year, at least 17 cases of heinous crimes like rape and molestation, involving women from the north-eastern states, have been reported.
 
Meanwhile, the victim’s parents arrived in the Capital on Saturday.
 
Takam added that they would meet the Union home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday to discuss strategies to help protect women from the north-east.
 
“A team of psychologists is taking care of her. We are worried about how the police are going to handle this case as we did not have very good experience in the past,” said Madhu Chandra, spokesperson, Northeast Support Centre and Helpline.
 
The victim is being taken care of by the Mizoram government.
 
“The government authorities are taking adequate care of her and she has been provided accommodation as well. Her colleague, who escaped the tragedy, is also extending full support,” said Takam.
 
On Saturday, the victim helped the police prepare the second sketch of one of the five accused.

US security checks invade the body

transportation security administration

AIRPORT SECURITY IN US
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screener scans a passenger at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

radiation blocker

RADIATION BLOCKER
Johnston, a representative of Rocky Flats Gear, shows a pair of men's briefs sold by his company with a radiation-blocking fig leaf applique in Littleton.

close scrutiny

CLOSE SCRUTINY
A Transportation Security Administration worker rubs her hands across a female traveler's chest during a patdown search at Denver International Airport.

safer tools

SAFER TOOLS
Lawrence Johnston, a representative of Rocky Flats Gear, shows off bra inserts sold by his company that are claimed to block the radiation from the backscatter scanners in use at airports in Littleton, Colorado.

no shoes please

NO SHOES, PLEASE!
A girl puts her shoes back on after taking them off to go through security at Denver International Airport in Denver.

too much

TOO MUCH?
Half of Americans say the enhanced passenger security patdowns at US airports go too far, according to a poll published just before the busy holiday travel season.

who's next

WHO'S NEXT?
A TSA agent dons rubber gloves at Washington Reagan National Airport.

sorry for the inconvenience

SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE
A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker (R) rubs her hands across a elderly female traveler's chest during a patdown search at Denver International Airport in Denver.

backscatter x-ray scan

BACKSCATTER X-RAY SCAN
A sign explains the use of "backscatter x-ray technology" at a security check-point at Logan Airport in Boston.

full scan

FULL SCAN
A Transportation Security Administration worker rubs her hands across a female traveler's leg during a patdown search at Denver International Airport.

security zone

SECURITY ZONE
Passengers line up at a security checkpoint operated by the TSA at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale.

Delhi rape case: 2 sketches out, no arrest still

 

New Delhi: More than four days after the rape of a BPO employee, Delhi Police is still collecting clues and evidence to try and nail the assailants. They have released two sketches now but no arrests have been made so far.

The sketches showed two men accused of raping a 30-year-old BPO employee after they dragged her into a moving pick up van at Dhaula kuan early on Wednesday morning. But all that the police have salvaged so far are some clues which may or may not be useful.

delhi mizo rape case

"Some of the details we can't share with you at this point but it have helped us in narrowing down on areas we are looking at," said South Distruct DCP H G S Dhaliwal.

 

According to the police, the victim's friend who was with her when she was dragged into the van is helping them identify the assailants. The sketches that have been released so far were made based on what the victim and her friend told the police. Unfortunately even though there were cameras placed at various points between Dhaula Kuan and Mongolpuri where she was dumped, the blurred images that were recorded were of no help.

The Delhi Police has released two such sketches and is processing a third one and is also deciding on announcing a cash reward for any info on the culprits. But more than four days into the incident the question everyone is asking is how long it will take the police for nabbing the culprit and putting them behind bars.

16th Asiad Games closing ceremony

Spectacular fireworks end 16th Asian Games

 

Guangzhou: The skies lit up with dazzling fireworks as an emotional China brought the curtains down on the biggest Asian Games in a riot of colour, foot-tapping music and a cultural extravaganza at the Haixinsha Island on the Pearl River here on Saturday.

If the opening ceremony held at the same riverside venue on November 12th was high on technical wizardry, the closing was a heart-touching display of warmth by the people of this South China city whose infrastructure has improved tremendously as a result of hosting the Games which saw India record their best-ever medal haul till date.

India finished sixth on the medal rostrum with a record 14 gold, 17 silver and 33 bronze for an overall tally of 64, eclipsing their earlier record of 57 medals in the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.

 

The closing ceremony was also used by the Games hosts to present cultural segments representing the different regions of the continent, including South Asia in which Indian singers Ravi Tripathi and Tanya Gupta enthralled the capacity crowd.

asiad 2010 closing ceremony

Hosts China were unstoppable in their relentless march to titles and at the end of the Games had an incredible harvest of 199 golds in an overall haul of over 400 medals, proving once again that they are in the top-most echelons of world sports.

Korea finished way behind in second place while Japan were third that underlined the fact that the Asian Games, the second largest sports event after the Olympic Games, are still being overwhelmingly dominated by the far eastern nations of the continent.

The prelude to the official part of the ceremony was punctuated by dance of Qiling (a legendary animal symbolizing good luck) to celebrate the success of the Games that was followed by an exhibition of acrobatics and dance.

Performers staged "Dragon drunk on the Pearl River", "Painting of Toy figuring in Emotion" and "Wind of the Yao Ethnic Group" dances while flashbacks of the Asian Games actions were shown on sail-shaped screens before the Chinese President Hu Jintao and Olympic Council of Asia Chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah entered the arena to the strains of the Chinese Military Band.

With nine plumes of red smoke rising up from the Guangzhou Tower, an athlete jumped out of the screen while the eight sail-shaped screens showed some memorable moments of the Games competitions.

The plumes changed shape one by one and the fireworks started on the Guangzhou Tower to symbolize the success of the Games and the happiness it produced.

The five-starred red flag of China was unfurled and the hosts' national anthem was played by the military band.

A small cultural segment was then presented with fishing lights shaped as starlight and the crescent moon used as major props to create a dream-like atmosphere of changing colours and flowing figures, the images giving the crowd an impression of fairy tales and scenes of fishing.

The face of a smiling child appeared which turned into a beautiful girl from this city of ten million who frolics in the night sky amidst the stars.

When she extended her hand all the stars and moon fell into her grasp and she, with a laugh, threw the stars and moon to the Games Torch Tower in the centre of the square.

As they fell to the ground, hundreds of children appeared like magic and scattered in all directions to form the Asian Games emblem.

A ship resembling a crescent moon with singing children on board gently set sail on the front waterway and hundreds of chorus singers with stars in their hands in four groups entered from two sides.

A child singer picked up a Lingnan-style fishing lantern made of bamboo splits enclosed by paper from the water.

Almost immediately several fishing lights in different colours appeared on the scene winding in groups or strings through the site as the children with star lights in their hands flashed those lights to give an impression of a sea of lights.

This was followed by the representation of India and the Ganga with the holy river appearing on the sail-shaped screen and running towards the famous temples of India while the screen also showed images of the Taj Mahal and modern architecture.

Several dancers led by Cai Yushan and Xi Chuhang performed to the singing of Tripathi and Gupta and there were also motorcycle stunts done in front of the Games Torch Tower.

One hundred men performers with Indian flower wreaths in their hands danced in two groups behind the bikes and formed two crescent moons on both sides of the Torch Tower while over 1000 chorus members holding multi-coloured Indian light-reflecting towels danced in harmony.

When the two Indian singers came to the front, male dancers ran along the two sides of the Torch Tower to form a triangular pattern and danced with gusto while around 200 women dancers ran out, divided themselves in two groups and performed various Indian dance forms.

The men and women dancers came together to form a semi circle, they danced together to the song in typical Bollywood style.

The other regions of the continent were also given their prominence in the cultural milieu before flashbacks of the Asian Games competitions and athletes being awarded their medals were shown along with emotional scenes, symbolizing the excitement and harmony that was visible during the Games.

The cultural show ended with all the participants coming on to the stage forming different patterns while singing and dancing with abandon to bring an end to the cultural part and the commencement of the formal part of the ceremony with the arrival of the athletes.

The Indian flag was carried by gold medal winning star boxer Vijender Singh with his left hand in a cast following the thumb injury he sustained during last night's final against two-time world champion Atoev Abbos of Uzbekistan.

OCA President Sheikh Al-Sabah, accompanied by the president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Liu Peng, executive president of the Games organizing committee Huang Huahua, and the mayor of Guangzhou Wan Qingliang, delivered the keynote address and declared the 16th Asiad closed.

The OCA flag was then lowered and the OCA anthem played before the national flag of Korea, the next Games hosts at Incheon in 2014 was raised, in the presence of the vice president of the Korean Olympic Committee and the chief of the Incheon Games organizing committee.

Guangzhou mayor Qingliang handed over the Asian Games torch to the OCA chief who, in turn, handed them over to the mayor of Incheon.

Later the flag of the first Games held in Delhi in 1951 and the OCA flag were handed over to the Korean representatives by Huahua and Peng.

The Koreans presented a short segment to the accompaniment of percussion instruments and taekwondo, the country's martial arts, which is also part of the Games programme and "Welcome to Incheon" and "See you at Incheon in 2014" were flashed on the screen.

The Games flame was extinguished before the fireworks lit up the night sky to signal the end of the closing ceremony.