Jailed Afghan rape victim wins pardon after agreeing to marry attacker

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pardoned a jailed rape victim, but only after she agreed to marry the man she says raped her.

The 19-year-old woman, whose name is Gulnaz, was one of the subjects of a documentary recently produced by the European Union, highlighting the phenomenon of rape victims being imprisoned for the "moral crime" of having sex outside marriage, even against their will.

Karzai's office said in a statement Thursday evening that the president had accepted a recommendation from a special judicial committee that the woman be pardoned and freed - "taking into consideration the consent of both sides for a conditional wedlock."

Gulnaz became pregnant as a result of the rape and gave birth in prison.

Hundreds of Afghan women are serving jail sentences in similar circumstances. But the documentary coverage of Gulnaz's case sparked a petition drive seeking her freedom, and as a result, judicial authorities reexamined her case.

The European Union said in a statement that it welcomed her release.

Reflecting the sensitivity of the issue, however, the EU had decided earlier not to release the documentary, citing concerns over danger to the women, even though those who were profiled had given the filmmakers permission to use their names.

The film was shown to news organizations and human rights groups, however.

The pardon came ahead of an international summit on Afghanistan to be held in Bonn, Germany, beginning this weekend. Women's activists are using the gathering as a forum for speaking out about fears of renewed repression in the country after the Western combat mission ends in the next two years.

During Taliban times, women were forbidden to leave their homes unescorted. Virtually none attended school or held jobs during the Islamic movement's five-year rule, which ended with the U.S.-led invasion of 2001.

Women's groups, however, say the gains of the last decade are threatened by the government's attempts to negotiate a peace settlement with the Taliban and bring the group into the political process.

Senior Addl AG Bhinder resigns

Chandigarh, December 2
Punjab’s Senior Additional Advocate-General Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder has resigned. Sources said Bhinder had submitted his resignation to the Advocate-General to be forwarded to the Home Department.

Bhinder, who hails from Bathinda, was appointed Additional Advocate-General by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal immediately after the formation of the SAD-BJP government in 2007. He had earlier resigned in 2009 to campaign for Harsimrat Kaur Badal for the Lok Sabha elections and was re-appointed as Senior Additional Advocate-General.

Bhinder, who remained in the Ludhiana jail with Badal in the early 1980s, is considered close to Manpreet Singh Badal, Sanjha Morcha chief.

Confirming the resignation, Bhinder said he had quit due to personal reasons.

Kuldepp Manak laid to rest

Jalal (Bathinda), December 2
Kuldip Manak (62), the legendary folk singer, was buried today at his native village Jalal with state honours. Famous Punjabi singers, politicians and hundreds of people gathered to bid tearful adieu to Manak.

Manak’s body was brought from Ludhiana in a funeral van fitted with loudspeakers playing music. More than 100 vehicles of politicians, singers and Manak’s admirers accompanied the van. His body was kept in the grain market for around two hours from where it was taken to the village graveyard. An inconsolable Manak’s wife, Sarabjit Kaur and daughter Shakti kept sitting near the body while Manak’s son Yudhvir, who has not been keeping well since long, stayed in his car. He was taken to the graveyard for few minutes where he performed his father’s last rites.

A police contingent fired gunshots in the air to pay tributes to the departed soul. Singers Hans Raj Hans, Harbhajan Mann, comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann, Nachhattar Gill, Mohammad Sadique, Sardul Sikandar, Jazzy B, Jaswant Sandila, Jasdev Singh Jasowal, Sarabjeet Cheema, Buta Mohammad and Manak’s nephew Kewal Jalal were present. Local politicians Sikandar Maluka, Gurpreet Kangar, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia and MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan also paid tributes to the legendary singer.

Harsimrat writes to Italian envoy on turban issue

Chandigarh, December 2
Member of Parliament from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal today sent a communiqué to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to convey to the visiting Italian parliamentary delegation the concern of the Sikhs on their victimisation in Italy.

“If celebrities like Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh’s coach Amritinder Singh and Ravijodh Singh Dhupia, Commander of Jet Airways, could be ridiculed in the presence of thousands of commuters (by asking them to remove their turban), one can well understand the fate of ordinary Sikhs in Italy,” she said. In another communiqué to the Italy’s Ambassador, Harsimrat reminded him of the SAD memorandum on the humiliation meted out to Amritinder Singh and his assurance that such incidents would not reccur. She also criticised the Congress-led UPA Government for doing little to safeguard the dignity of the Sikhs travelling abroad.

She said that on the one hand, the Congress claimed to be a votary of Sikhs and on the other, despite assurances by the Union Exteranl Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister, the Sikhs were being targeted abroad. 

Mahipal Maderna arrested in Bhanwari case

Jodhpur, December 2
Sacked Rajasthan Minister Mahipal Maderna was today arrested by the CBI along with the brother of a ruling Congress MLA in Bhanwari Devi abduction case, hours after the agency filed a charge sheet against three other accused.

Maderna, 59, who was sacked from Ashok Gehlot Cabinet on October 16 after his name cropped up in the case, and Parasram Bishnoi, brother of ruling party MLA Malkhan Singh, were taken into custody today after another round of questioning.

The arrest came after the agency filed its first charge sheet in the case in a court here, charging the three accused — Shahabuddin, Baldev Jat and Sohan Lal, who are in judicial custody, with entering into the conspiracy to abduct the nurse with an intent to murder her.

The CBI has accused them of abducting her with an intent to kill (Section 364 IPC), criminal conspiracy (120 B) and various Sections of SC and ST Act.

The agency in its charge sheet named Maderna and absconding suspect Sahiram.

The agency, which is yet to trace the nurse who went missing on September 1, filed the charge sheet in the case as the 90-day deadline following the arrest of the three accused was about to expire next week.