Christians and Muslims in fatal clash near Cairo

Cairo:  Eleven people died in overnight fighting between Christians and Muslims in the suburbs of Cairo, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, in the deadliest unrest since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak last month.

The clashes broke out during a protest by several hundred Christians over the burning of a church in the village of Soul last week and raged into the early hours of Wednesday morning, adding to a sense of unease as the country begins to chart a post-Mubarak future.

The attack against the church in Soul is said to be the result of tensions surrounding an interfaith love affair.

The clashes that started Tuesday night were the most serious since Egypt's revolution, which was striking for the solidarity between people of different backgrounds, including religion and social class.

The violence posed a challenge to the country's military-led transitional government, which has made it a top priority to restore law and order.

Speaking on Al Jazeera television, the opposition figure George Ishaq appealed for an end to the violence. He called those participating in it "the real enemies of the revolution" and suggested they may be members of the former ruling party and its much feared State Security force.

The dead included six Christians and five Muslims, security sources said, all killed by gunshots. Around 100 people were injured in the fighting, which prompted the closing of a major Cairo highway and a wave of arson in the largely Christian slum of Mansheyet Nasr and the nearby neighborhood of Al Khalifa.

Witnesses say that the two sides hurled stones and Molotov cocktails and beat each other with clubs. Cairo ambulance service officials said they were unable to reach the scene because of gunfire.

"The army prevented us from entering," said Adel Azouz, chairman of the ambulance service. "The people who fought each other might have thought that our ambulances were there to offer support to the other side."

Military prosecutors began investigating the clashes on Wednesday, security sources said, questioning 15 people on charges of carrying guns and damaging cars and other property. The clashes began after demonstrators demanded that the transitional government rebuild the burned church, bring the perpetrators to justice and publicly pledge to improve the condition of Egypt's Christians. The neighborhood where the clashes erupted is home to many of the so-called zabaleen, the city's impoverished mostly Christian garbage collectors, who for ply their trade on donkey carts or tiny mechanized trucks.

Several thousand Christians have demonstrated in front of Egypt's state television headquarters for the past three days to voice similar demands.

The mood in front of the state television was angry and aggrieved.

"We are being persecuted and killed here by Muslims," said Bishoi Edmund, 24, a protester from the largely Christian neighborhood of Shoubra.

"We need international protection," he said. Mr. Edmund and others cite a long list of grievances, including the still-unsolved bombing of an Alexandria church on New Year's Eve that killed 23 people.

Following that attack, Cairo was rocked by several days of rioting between Christian protesters and the police. Egypt has long wrestled with sectarian tension between Muslims and Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population and complain of widespread prejudice. 

Christians and Muslims in fatal clash near Cairo

Cairo:  Eleven people died in overnight fighting between Christians and Muslims in the suburbs of Cairo, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, in the deadliest unrest since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak last month.

The clashes broke out during a protest by several hundred Christians over the burning of a church in the village of Soul last week and raged into the early hours of Wednesday morning, adding to a sense of unease as the country begins to chart a post-Mubarak future.

The attack against the church in Soul is said to be the result of tensions surrounding an interfaith love affair.

The clashes that started Tuesday night were the most serious since Egypt's revolution, which was striking for the solidarity between people of different backgrounds, including religion and social class.

The violence posed a challenge to the country's military-led transitional government, which has made it a top priority to restore law and order.

Speaking on Al Jazeera television, the opposition figure George Ishaq appealed for an end to the violence. He called those participating in it "the real enemies of the revolution" and suggested they may be members of the former ruling party and its much feared State Security force.

The dead included six Christians and five Muslims, security sources said, all killed by gunshots. Around 100 people were injured in the fighting, which prompted the closing of a major Cairo highway and a wave of arson in the largely Christian slum of Mansheyet Nasr and the nearby neighborhood of Al Khalifa.

Witnesses say that the two sides hurled stones and Molotov cocktails and beat each other with clubs. Cairo ambulance service officials said they were unable to reach the scene because of gunfire.

"The army prevented us from entering," said Adel Azouz, chairman of the ambulance service. "The people who fought each other might have thought that our ambulances were there to offer support to the other side."

Military prosecutors began investigating the clashes on Wednesday, security sources said, questioning 15 people on charges of carrying guns and damaging cars and other property. The clashes began after demonstrators demanded that the transitional government rebuild the burned church, bring the perpetrators to justice and publicly pledge to improve the condition of Egypt's Christians. The neighborhood where the clashes erupted is home to many of the so-called zabaleen, the city's impoverished mostly Christian garbage collectors, who for ply their trade on donkey carts or tiny mechanized trucks.

Several thousand Christians have demonstrated in front of Egypt's state television headquarters for the past three days to voice similar demands.

The mood in front of the state television was angry and aggrieved.

"We are being persecuted and killed here by Muslims," said Bishoi Edmund, 24, a protester from the largely Christian neighborhood of Shoubra.

"We need international protection," he said. Mr. Edmund and others cite a long list of grievances, including the still-unsolved bombing of an Alexandria church on New Year's Eve that killed 23 people.

Following that attack, Cairo was rocked by several days of rioting between Christian protesters and the police. Egypt has long wrestled with sectarian tension between Muslims and Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population and complain of widespread prejudice. 

Radhika's killer possibly stalked her for 3 years

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New Delhi:  The man who shot Radhika Tanwar knew her well, said the Delhi Police today, as it released a sketch of him.  The suspect allegedly lives near the college students' family and had been stalking her for three years.
The second-year student was shot outside her college in Dhaula Kuan yesterday with a country-made gun as she was crossing a pedestrian bridge.

It was 10:20 am and there were hundreds of people on the busy road, but her killer managed to run away. HGS Dhaliwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police for South Delhi, said nobody tried to rush her to hospital till a constable showed up ten minutes after the shooting, and moved her to hospital in a rickshaw. The delay may have been crucial.

The callousness that witnesses showed towards Radhika has been exacerbated by people refusing to share information on what they saw or heard.

Mr Dhaliwal appealed to people to come forward with information. "It is unfortunate that there is no eyewitness. It is not possible that no one saw the assailant. We request eyewitnesses to come forward, so that we can get a more accurate description of the assailant, and catch (him) as soon as possible." 

But Mr Dhaliwal says that questioning of the student's family and friends suggests that her murderer had tried for the last three years to harass Radhika into returning his attention and affection. The Tanwars did not file a complaint against this young man. "The boy has been following her and had discussed her with his friends. Her family had also threatened him at that time," said Mr Dhaliwal.

Yesterday, Radhika's brother told reporters that his family was not aware of anyone who may have had a motive for shooting her.

Today, her grieving mother said that Radhika was a cheerful and fearless girl. One of Radhika's three siblings said Radhika  aspired to someday qualify as an MBA

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit visited Radhika's family this morning.  "We told her it has been 24 hours... now we want the culprit caught," said Radhika's father. The Chief Minister assured him of prompt action and said Radhika's killing was 'a matter of grave concern'.
Hundreds of students in Delhi marched from the South Campus to India Gate, voice and the lack of safety for women in Delhi.

"We just don't feel safe," said one young woman.  Another added, "We cannot have another Radhika

13 women burnt alive in 12 months here

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Bundelkhand:  Sandhya Richariya was 18 when she was burnt alive inside her own home.

She was killed in March 2010, allegedly by four neighbours in her village in Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh. They wanted to punish her for falling in love with a man from a different caste. None of them are in jail.

After pouring kerosene on her and setting her on fire, the attackers left.  Sandhya's parents and the village sarpanch rushed her to hospital. Before she died, she identified the men who assaulted her.  She gave her statement to the police.

But because the police did not get Sandhya's doctor to testify that she was mentally alert when she made that statement, her testimony did not count in court. Sandhya died in hospital and the men arrested for her murder were released.

A month after that court verdict, we visit the small hut where Sandhya's family lives.  Her father works as a daily-wage earner. Her mother, a housewife, once looked after three children. Now there are two.

Speaking to us outside his home in a dusty, narrow street, Sandhya's father checks repeatedly to ensure nobody is eavesdropping on our conversation.

Inside, her mother, Ramwati, explains that they have given up hope of ensuring justice for their daughter. ''The villagers said if we want to stay on here, we should not pursue the case.''

In Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh, Sandhya's story is not an uncommon one.  This is one of the country's poorest regions, its poverty exacerbated by unforgiving drought that has staked its claim over the region in the last decade.

Bundelkhand has also become the home of the maximum brutalities against women in India - domestic violence and dowry deaths are the most prevalent crimes here.

 In the last year, 13 young women have been burnt alive, either after they were raped, or because they tried to fight their attackers. Women's rights activists who have been monitoring the cases say that the police have done little to prove the cases against the offenders, largely because of community pressure. Families of most of the victims are either threatened by the powerful or avoid approaching the police because of the stigma attached to rape.

''There are several rape cases in which no action have been taken. Soon after, the victims were either torched or they committed suicide. Timely police action could have saved them,'' says Aruna Rao, the Inspector General of the Madhya Pradesh Women's Crime Cell.

In a village not far away from Sandhya's, we meet a father whose 15-year-old daughter was raped in November by a man known to the family. When the victim and her father went to the police, they allegedly took Rs. 400 as bribe to register their compliant. The accused and his family burnt the victim's house in vengeful retaliation. But the accused was never arrested.

Another teen rape victim in the area was moved to a relative's house so that she was not attacked. Her mother is seriously considering withdrawing the police case she once hoped would bring justice for her daughter. 

The victim's father explains that at the end of the day, he has to worry about how to feed his family. He has not worked in months. His wife earns Rs. 1,500 a month as a worker at the local aanganwadi.  "He (daughter's alleged rapist) sent a message that I can keep my job. He won't trouble me or my daughter," she says.