Woman’s rape linked to religion, police say
KOLKATA, India – A 20-year-old Indian woman said she was gang-raped on the orders of a village council because she fell in love with a man from a different religion, police said Thursday.
Thirteen men have been arrested in the Monday night attack, police official C. Sudhakar said. The woman told police that she lost count of how many men raped her. She was hospitalized Thursday in serious condition.
According to police, the village council in Subalpur ordered the woman to pay a fine of $400 when her relationship with the man was discovered. But when her family said they were too poor to pay, the council ordered the gang rape.
South Sudan, rebels sign cease-fire deal
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – South Sudan’s government and rebels signed a cease-fire deal Thursday that leaders hope will put a pause to five weeks of warfare that has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians.
The peace deal represents the first real progress since political friction turned violent Dec. 15, fueling countrywide battles with ethnic overtones. But questions were immediately raised about whether all fighters in South Sudan would abide by the agreement, and how long others would follow it.
The military spokesman for South Sudan cautioned that a group of rebel fighters from the former vice president’s Nuer ethnic group – thousands of armed youths known as the “White Army” – may not want peace.
Nhail Deng Nhail, the head of South Sudan’s negotiating team, said his side is worried that since many on the rebel side are civilians who took up arms, “it may become difficult to follow the cease-fire since they are not militarily disciplined.”
Associated Press
