An Indian-origin has been found guilty of killing three teenage boys who played a doorbell-ringing prank at his house in the US state of California, according to a media report. Anurag Chandra, a Riverside County resident, was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and three counts of first-degree murder. The incident took place on January 19, 2020, when a group of teenage boys rang Chandra’s bell on a dare. Chandra said one of the teens flashed his buttocks before running away. The crash killed all three teenagers who were 16 years old. Chandra followed the boys and rammed their Toyota Prius, which slammed into a tree in Temescal Valley.
Pak parents padlocking girls’ grave
Parents in Pakistan now guard their dead daughters against rape by putting padlocks to their graves. “That a woman is raped every two hours in a country taking great pride in its family oriented values has been hammered to the point of repetition in our collective conscience. But the heart wrenching sight of padlocks on the graves of females is enough for the entire society to hang its head in shame and never dare to look at the so-called vessels of honour,” reads an editorial. Harris Sultan, an ex-Muslim atheist activist blamed hardline Islamist ideology for such depraved acts. “Pakistan has created such a horny, sexually frustrated society that people are now putting padlocks on the graves of their daughters to prevent them from getting raped. When you link the burqa with rape, it follows you to the grave,” Sultan tweeted.
Indian-American pleads guilty
A 47-year-old Indian-American has pleaded guilty to wire and securities fraud charges in connection with his scheme to dupe potential investors into supporting the technology startup he founded and led. Manish Lachwani, who founded Silicon Valley-based HeadSpin in 2015 and served as its CEO until May 2020, was charged in 2021 with defrauding investors by overstating the revenue and other key financial metrics. Between April 2017 and April 2020, HeadSpin - that provided clients with software tools and access to devices to test mobile applications - raised more than $100 million from investors over multiple rounds of fundraising, leading to a valuation of approximately $1. 1 billion. Lachwani admitted that he disseminated false and overstated revenue metrics to potential investors to lure investments into his company.
3 soldiers killed in militant attacks in Pakistan
At least seven terrorists were killed while three Pakistani soldiers lost their lives in separate encounters with militants in northwest region, an official said. The terrorists made three attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district that were foiled by the security forces, killing seven terrorists, Pakistan army said. The army confirmed that three soldiers also lost their lives. In one of the attacks, a suicide bomber riding a bike blew himself up close to a security check post in the Bhittani area. The other two attacks were made on the compound of a college which also housed security installations. Independent sources said Tehrik-e-Jihad Pakistan claimed the attacks.
Discrimination of women condemned
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning the Taliban’s discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan and called for the country’s leadership to swiftly reverse policies banning education, employment and equal public participation of women and girls. The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 90 countries, received 15 yes votes and was unanimously adopted in Russia’s last days in its month long role as the rotating president of the council. The resolution, which called for the “full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in Afghanistan,” also addressed the Taliban administration’s edict on April 4 prohibiting the UN from employing Afghan women.
Thai woman killed 13 with cyanide
Thai police have widened their investigation into a woman accused of a spate of cyanide poisoning murders, with officers raising the number of victims to 13 and charging her with premeditated murder. Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, who is married to a senior policeman, was arrested for alleged murders which took place over several years. Police believe money was the motive in the killings but said that Sararat - who is four months pregnant - has previously been diagnosed with psychiatric issues. Officers were now probing at least 13 suspicious deaths dating back to 2020. Police haven’t specified how many murders Sararat’s been charged with.
Iran charges two actresses for not covering head
Iran has charged two prominent actresses for publishing pictures of themselves flouting the country’s dress code for women, just weeks after announcing a crackdown on breaches. Police in Tehran have referred the case against Katayoun Riahi and Pantea Bahram to Iran’s judiciary, accusing them of “the crime of removing the hijab in public and posting photos on the internet”, the Tasnim news agency said. If prosecuted, the pair could face fines or prison terms. Photos of Bahram, 53, went viral after she posed without a headscarf at a film screening, while Riahi, 61, posted several photos taken in public places around Tehran in which she did not wear a headscarf.
German family’s bid to change surname rejected
A court in Germany has rejected a married couple’s request to legally change their Russian-sounding surname due to negative repercussions they said they had experienced since the start of the war in Ukraine. The couple had sought to force officials in the German state of Rhineland Palatinate to authorise the change, claiming that they and their daughter had suffered in their daily lives because of their last name. The regional administrative court in Koblenz did not provide the couple’s surname in line with German privacy rules. The court said that judges dismissed the Germany-born couple’s request on the grounds that the reasons they gave for the change were insufficient.
Jury selection begins in rape suit against Trump
Jury selection has started in the federal court in Manhattam as former US president Donald Trump is on trial for allegedly raping a writer named E Jean Carroll in the middle of the 1990s in a department shop dressing room. Trump, 76, has denied raping Carroll, 79. He called her claim a “hoax” and “complete scam” in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform. He said she made up the encounter to promote her memoir and declared she was “not my type!” Trials are expected to last one or two weeks. As witnesses testify about his alleged sexual misconduct, all of which he denies, it is one of a number of lawsuits and investigations facing Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential election.