The Tribune Online - Groom lets friends rape his bride

Groom lets friends rape his bride

LAHORE, June 1: Three men gang-raped a newly married woman with the consent of her in-laws in what police described as an act of revenge
The incident occurred in Dera Ghazi Khan town in Pakistan Punjab.

According to Ghulam Hussain, the father of the victim Kaneez Kubra, his daughter was married to Mujahid Hussain on April 28. This was ordered by a panchayat (local jury) as Kaneez's brother Abdul Majid had sexual relations with Mujahid's sister Sumera.

After the wedding, Kaneez Kubra went to the groom's home. Her husband stayed with her in their room till 11 pm and then left, Daily Times reported Monday. Mujahid's grandfather Shahroo Khan and his mother Mukhtar then came in and told the bride that the wedding was just an excuse to exact revenge on Majid for outraging Sumera's modesty.

Mujahid Hussain then called in three friends - Muhammad Rafiq, Shabbir Muhammad and Abdul Majid Almani - who gang-raped the bride. The next day, Mujahid Hussain took her to the house of his friend Ghulam Mustafa, who also assaulted her. On April 30, when Ghulam Hussain and other relatives arrived to take Kaneez. back as per tradition, she related the story to her father.

When Ghulam Hussain approached the police, they refused to register a case against the groom and his friends. He then approached the higher authorities, who ordered that a case be registered.

"We have registered a case against seven people - (groom) Mujahid Hussain, his friends Muhammad Rafiq, Shabbir Muhammad, Abdul Majid Almani and Ghulam Mustafa, his grandfather Shahroo Khan, and mother Mukhtar Mai," Dera Ghazi Khan district police officer Salman Chaudhry told Daily Times. All the accused left the area and went into hiding after the cases were registered, Chaudhry added.

11 wives, 25 kids and going strong

LONDON, June 1: Africa's 36-year-old, last absolute monarch King Mswati III of Swaziland, has married a lecturer's daughter Noliqwa Ntentesa in a secret ceremony, making her his 11th wife. 21-year-old Noliqwa is pregnant with his 25th child, and under Swazi tradition a King can only marry a woman after she becomes pregnant.

The King also plans to make two 17-year-old women as his 12th and 13th wives, and one of them is also pregnant, reports The Mirror.

King Mswati is often accused for living in lavish palaces and having a luxurious lifestyle where more than one million of the people living in his kingdom suffer from poverty and misery. However, the monarch is yet to reach the mark made by his father, King Sobhuza II, who had 70 wives when he died in 1982.

Canadian wins Miss Universe 2005

BANGKOK, May 31: Blue-eyed Canadian brunette Natalie Glebova was on Tuesday crowned Miss Universe 2005 in the Thai capital in the 54th annual pageant. The model and motivational speaker from Toronto was chosen from five finalists -- the four others from Latin America -- who were selected to answer random questions onstage in the final round of the competition.

The 12-judge panel chose beauties from Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Canada for the final round. Glebova, 23, was picked over runner-up Cynthia Olavarria of Puerto Rico after answering a final question about what she considered the biggest challenge of her life. "I always try to maintain a positive outlook on life," she said, adding that remaining optimistic was most challenging.

Earlier, judges narrowed the field of 81 contestants, including Amrita Thapar from India, to 15, then 10 during the competition as the Miss Universe hopefuls modelled evening gowns and swimsuits.

Earlier, last year's title winner, Jennifer Hawkins of Australia, described her achievement as a fairy tale-like experience. But she said her later work publicizing humanitarian projects underscored the real-world responsibilities that come with the crown.

Thailand hopes that hosting the pageant will boost the country's tourism sector, which was badly hurt by last December's tsunami. It estimates that the event and related activities will generate more than 2.1 billion baht (US$54.6 million; euro41.6 million) of revenue. "I hope that the Miss Universe contest will help encourage tourists back to the tsunami-hit areas because arrivals are very low and hotel room occupancy (rates) are less than 15 percent,'' said Vijit Naranong, president of the Thai Tourist Association's southern chapter.

Contestants in the Miss Universe pageant arrived in Thailand about three weeks ago and have since visited tsunami-struck areas along the southern coast and historic Buddhist temples around BangkokPhotos of bikini-clad contestants posing near a revered temple stirred up a controversy in the predominantly Buddhist country. The images showed the contestants aboard a boat on Bangkok's Chao Phraya river with Wat Arun, the famous Temple of the Dawn, in the background.

After the Thai government complained about the images two weeks ago, organizers promised to remove them from the pageant's Web site and pull them from video footage to be broadcast during Tuesday's competition.

The contestants also have driven the country's famous three-wheeled motorcycle taxis, called tuk-tuks, and ridden atop elephants -- Thailand's national symbols.

Beauty waves rock the land of Thailand

THAILAND, May 31: Beauty watchers around the globe are gearing up for Tuesday's glamour-infused Miss Universe finale in Bangkok where one of 81 women will be crowned after a flurry of events highlighting Asia's post-tsunami reconstruction.

With the D-Day arriving one elated young woman replaces Australia's Jennifer Hawkins as the new Miss Universe, odds makers have the Latin Americans and Caribbeans as favourites to wear the crown. Topping the list are Miss Puerto Rico Cynthia Olavarria, Renata Sone of Dominican Republic, Canada's Natalie Glebova and Miss Venezuela Monica Spear.

The US-run competition is being held in Thailand five months after giant waves decimated coastlines around the Indian Ocean and killed more than 217,000 people. About 5,400 died in Thailand, half of them foreign holidaymakers, and more than 2,800 are missing. As part of a hectic three-week schedule here contestants showcased the country's recovery from the tsunami in an effort to convince tourists it is safe to return to the Land of Smiles.

The beauty queens traveled to the tourist islands of Phuket and Phi Phi, visited a hospital which treated tsunami victims, and inspected a new disaster warning system on a Phuket beach.

Footage of the trip will be aired during Tuesday's show. The Thai government said it paid some $6.5 million for rights to host the pageant, which one organiser described as "a two-hour promotional vehicle for Thailand."

The kingdom has seen its massive tourism industry crumble in the wake of the December 26 disaster and authorities have made no secret of their hopes that the pageant will help reverse their fortunes. "Everyone here wholly appreciates that the pageant is being held in Asia," Paula Shugart, president of Miss Universe Organisation".

With the 54th pageant to be broadcast live during prime time to the United States and many of the 170 other markets airing the show, those vying for the tiara will be forced to look their best at an unseemly hour, taking the stage in glamorous evening gowns as early as 8 am Thai time.

Amid signs that the taste for pageants is waning in the United States and Europe, the show's executive producer Phil Gurin said organizers were intent on infusing a greater sense of haute couture and grandeur into the spectacle. "We're celebrating 81 of the most beautiful women in the world, and we've worked hard to eliminate the 'cheese' factor and replace it with high fashion glamour," Gurin said.

3 Bollywood actresses in sex scandals

NEW DELHI, May 30: Investigations into the escapades of Delhi's super pimp Kanwaljeet threaten to prise open - if not fully unravel - the seamier side of the country's glamour industry. At least three Bollywood actresses and several models are under the Delhi Police scanner for their alleged involvement in Kanwaljeet's sex empire, which apparently spanned several countries.

Kanwaljeet had named these actresses immediately after his arrest last month, but at that time there was no material to establish his claims. Investigations into Kanwaljeet's diaries and telephone records, however, suggest that his statements might not be mere kite-flying.

According to sources in the police, one of these actresses - who recently made her debut in Bollywood - visited Singapore and Bangkok several times last year allegedly to entertain businessmen. For each trip, she was reportedly paid Rs 3 lakh.

Another actress who was apparently "registered" with Kanwaljeet comes from a family of starlets. The third actress has been around only for the last two years and all the films featuring her have bombed at the box office. These two actresses reportedly charged Rs 1-2 lakh per outing.

"He has taken other names. Some of them are well established actresses. But we can't say with certainty whether they were involved in the sex racket," said a senior police official. The official, however, said Kanwaljeet was yet to give a written statement about the involvement of these stars.

Help! there's a camera in my skirt

HONG KONG, May 26: A Hong Kong man was arrested after he was found using his high-tech pinhole camera installed on the surface of his shoe in an attempt to peep under the skirt of a young woman, police said on Wednesday. The 38-year-old man, surnamed Yeung, went up to the woman in a shop and stood close behind her before putting his right foot between hers, police said.

He was caught in the act by the victim's suspicious husband, who apprehended him when he attempted to flee the scene. It was later discovered that the surface of Yeung's black trainer was equipped with a pinhole camera linked with electrical wire inside his trousers all the way up to the bag he was carrying, police said.

The Apple Daily newspaper said the wire was connected to a handheld video camera in his bag. Yeung managed to destroy the tape with the images of the victim before police arrived, it said.

Paris Hilton too hot