Coming soon: a horror story on American Fritzl’s victim?

London, Sept 20 (ANI): Publishers and Hollywood studios have begun a multi-million dollar bidding war for the rights to sex slave Jaycee Dugard’s horrifying life story.

Fresh details of the American Fritzl’s victim have emerged, including that in the early days of her captivity, the terrified schoolgirl was so hungry she ate bugs and worms in the rambling back garden where she was held in tents and lock-up sheds, reports The Daily Express.

She had to use a garden hose to shower outside, even in winters, say detectives guarding her and her two daughters, fathered by kidnapper Phillip Garrido.

However, the public apparently is desperate for the full story of how Jaycee, now 29, survived after being snatched on her way to a school bus stop when she was only 11.

A New York literary agent, who estimates the book and film rights to be worth up to 12million dollars, said: “You couldn’t dream up a script like this. Americans can’t wait to hear the story from the girl who lived it.”

A Hollywood studio producer said: “Everyone is in the market for this story. Poor Jaycee’s life may have been hell for 18 years but she’ll never want for anything for the rest of it.”

Garrido, a registered sex offender, has been linked to six child abductions and murders stretching back years within a 400-mile radius of the ramshackle home in Antioch, California, where Jaycee was held. (ANI)

Jupiter made comet its temporary moon for 12 years in mid-20th century

Washington, September 14 (ANI): An international team of astronomers has discovered that Jupiter had captured the comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu as its temporary moon in the mid-20th century, in an irregular orbit for about twelve years.

There are only a handful of known comets where this phenomenon of temporary satellite capture has occurred and the capture duration in the case of Kushida-Muramatsu, which orbited Jupiter between 1949 and 1961, is the third longest.

The phenomenon was detected by an international team led by Dr. Katsuhito Ohtsuka that modeled the trajectories of 18 “quasi-Hilda comets”, objects with the potential to go through a temporary satellite capture by Jupiter that results in them either leaving or joining the “Hilda” group of objects in the asteroid belt.

Most of the cases of temporary capture were flybys, where the comets did not complete a full orbit.

However, Dr. Ohtsuka’s team used recent observations tracking Kushida-Muramatsu over nine years to calculate hundreds of possible orbital paths for the comet over the previous century.

In all scenarios, Kushida-Muramatsu completed two full revolutions of Jupiter, making it only the fifth captured orbiter to be identified.

According to Dr. David Asher, “Our results demonstrate some of the routes taken by cometary bodies through interplanetary space that can allow them either to enter or to escape situations where they are in orbit around the planet Jupiter.”

Asteroids and comets can sometimes be distorted or fragmented by tidal effects induced by the gravitational field of a capturing planet, or may even impact with the planet.

The most famous victim of both these effects was comet D/1993 F2 (Shoemaker-Levy 9), which was torn apart on passing close to Jupiter and whose fragments then collided with that planet in 1994.

Previous computational studies have shown that Shoemaker-Levy 9 may well have been a quasi-Hilda comet before its capture by Jupiter.

“Fortunately for us Jupiter, as the most massive planet with the greatest gravity, sucks objects towards it more readily than other planets and we expect to observe large impacts there more often than on Earth,” said Dr. Asher.

“Comet Kushida-Muramatsu has escaped from the giant planet and will avoid the fate of Shoemaker-Levy 9 for the foreseeable future”, he added. (ANI)

Kaira says PPP not following Musharraf’s foreign policy

Islamabad, Sep. 11 (ANI): Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has clarified that Asif Ali Zardari Government is perusing its own foreign policies and not those formulated by Pervez Musharraf.

Kaira pointed out that peace in South Asia was not possible without achieving stability in Afghanistan.

The political process should be continued in Afghanistan and removal of foreign forces from Afghanistan would not ensure stability, the Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

Kaira added that Pakistan is the victim of terrorism, and the government would continue to take action against all those who challenge its writ.

Denying any activity by US private security firm Blackwater in Pakistan, he said the PPP would never compromise on issues of national security.

On the question of by-election in Rawalpindi, Kaira said the provincial government had requested the federal government to postpone the election due to the poor law and order situation of the region. (ANI)

38-year-old Delhi woman dies of swine flu, toll rises to six

New Delhi, Sep.11 (ANI): A 38-year-old woman has become Delhi’s sixth swine flu victim.

Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital Medical Superintendent N.K. Chaturvedi said the victim, Raj Bala, was a resident of Faridabad and had been admitted with swine flu symptoms on September 5. He said that she died this morning.

Bala was both diabetic and hypertensive and had a past history of bronchial asthma.

Chaturvedi said she died of pulmonary edema.

Earlier, a 12-year-old girl, Gauri, a resident of Dwarka had died at the same hospital on Thursday. (ANI)

Nithari victims’s relatives express outrage over Pander’s acquittal

New Delhi, Sep. 11 (ANI): The acquittal of Nithari killings accused Mohinder Singh Pandher in the Rimpa Haldar murder case has left relatives outraged and anguished.

“I will destroy this bungalow (Pandher’s residence) in one minute. I am ready to spend money to get justice,” said Anil Haldar, Rimpa’s father.

His reaction came after the Allahabad High Court acquitted Pandher for the murder of Rimpa, who was among the 19 people killed at the businessman’s home.

Haldar, a married woman, was called by Kohli to work as housemaid at the Pandher, and thereafter went missing.

The father of another victim said he would approach the country’s apex court for justice.

“We will go to Delhi and appeal in the Supreme Court because the government out here is corrupt,” said Jhabbu Lal, the father of Jyoti, a Nithari massacre victim.

Earlier this year, both Pandher and Koli were awarded capital punishment by a special court in Ghaziabad.

The Nithari killings came to light three years ago, leaving people across the country shocked.

The skeletal remains of the children were first discovered in a sewer behind Pandher’s plush D-5 bungalow in Noida’s Sector 31.The human skulls were stuffed in 57 gunny bags along with 700 bone pieces.

Special Judge Rema Jain completed the proceedings after re-cross examination of former Noida police officer Dinesh Yadav on January 27 and the recording of statements of Pandher and Kohli.

A total of 19 cases of killings were registered at the Noida police station in December 2006. All of them were transferred to the CBI for further investigation. (ANI)

NSW Police boss involved in breastfeeding ban is a woman

Melbourne, Sep 11 (ANI): The New South Wales Police boss, who forced a breastfeeding mum to work overtime for every minute she spent expressing milk, has been reported to be a woman.

The revelation came as Women’s Minister Verity Firth told all public service agencies to review practices to ensure they were providing support to breastfeeding mums.

The female sergeant told her civilian employee that she was not entitled to paid breaks, and denied her access to a private room, all in violation of an official State Government policy that is ignored throughout almost all of the public service.

However, it is suspected that the woman officer may have been overcompensating to fit into a blokey culture, with experts likening aggressive women in uniform to “religious converts”.

Feminist Eva Cox said the sergeant herself was probably the victim of a male-dominated culture, suggesting that she was trying so hard to fit in that she was tougher on women than her male colleagues.

“The women who get up through the system are the women who are really supportive of the system – they’re like religious converts,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Cox as saying.

“They’re scared to behave in any way soft or feminine and it makes them harder on other women than blokes,” she stated.

However, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Jenkins said that both genders were always treated equally in the Force.

“Police who rise up through the ranks of the NSW Police Force do so because they are the best people for the job. Gender is irrelevant,” he said.

NSW Police is now developing a new breastfeeding policy, and is taking steps to address the employee’s complaints – including a request that all the overtime she worked be reinstated.

The Public Service Association has lodged an action in the IRC seeking to enforce the Government’s 12-year-old policy supporting new mums. (ANI)

Indian woman suspected of murdering husband chased back to Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 10 (ANI): An Indian woman, who is suspected of murdering her husband in Malaysia, was chased back into the arms of Malaysian law by relatives of the victim.

The suspect, a 30-year-old woman, had fled with her 8-year-old daughter late last month after the brutal murder of her husband, Khalid Abdullah, a restaurant owner and moneychanger.

The woman, an Indian national, stayed with relatives in Chennai but unknown to her, her husband’s relatives also lived in the same neighbourhood, The NST Online reports.

The husband’s relatives had been following the murder case closely through online news portals and when reports that the wife might have fled to India appeared, they tracked her down to the house in Chennai.

They contacted their kin here who advised them not to harm the woman but to harass her into leaving India.

The woman is the victim’s second wife. Khalid’s first wife and children are also in India.

Unable to take the constant abuse, the woman gave herself up to the Indian authorities. The woman and her daughter arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 7 a.m. on Wednesday and were immediately arrested by the police.

Ampang district police chief Assistant Commissioner Abdul Jalil Hassan said their Indian counterparts notified about woman’s return to Malaysia.

Jalil said the woman was being held for questioning. They would apply for a remand order at the Ampang magistrate’s court today.

The woman had sought a friend’s help on August 22 to dispose of a suitcase, which she claimed contained a stolen golden statue.

The friend and the woman drove the victim’s Nissan Grand Livina towards Bentong and threw the bag into a secluded spot off the Karak Highway. (ANI)

Malay vet extends service to pet owner by groping, sucking her breasts

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 9 (ANI): A Malay kindergarten teacher, who took her feverish pet squirrel to a veterinary clinic for treatment, had her breasts groped instead by the attending veterinarian.

According to the Harian Metro, the veterinarian had asked the 27-year old woman to place the squirrel inside her blouse to keep it warm, given its “erratic body temperature”.

But the squirrel got stuck on her bra strap, when the 52-year-old veterinarian asked her to take the animal out.

While helping the woman remove the squirrel, the veterinarian saw her breasts, started praising her figure, and allegedly told her to take care of her body and “beautiful breasts”.

Ampang OCPD Asst Comm Abd Jalil Hasan said that the veterinarian later began to demonstrate to her how to massage her breasts.

“He then took advantage by groping and sucking the victim’s breasts. The victim struggled to release herself before the doctor finally let her go,” the Star Online quoted him as saying.

“He told her she need not pay for the squirrel’s treatment and asked her to come again. But she decided to lodge a police report,” he added.

ACP Abd Jalil Hasan added that the veterinarian was arrested on September 7.

However, the squirrel died shortly after returning home. (ANI)

Indian job seekers cheated in Malaysia return home

Chennai, Sep.6 (ANI): A group of technicians managed to return home here after suffering a raw deal by an unscrupulous labour agent in Malaysia.

The members of the group say they were cheated by an agent, who took them to Malaysia with a promise to get them good jobs and high salaries, but it was only after some time they realised that they he had duped them.

“We demanded our agreement papers from the agent at Chennai Airport. The agent told us that he has already faxed the papers and we would receive them at the Kuala Lumpur Airport. We asked for our papers at the Kuala Lumpur Airport, we were told us that we would get them only when we cleared the qualifying exam of the company…we have already cleared the test, they are cheating us. They hired us for the post of welders but they want us to work on the post of a helper,” said Savanth Kumar Singh, one of the victims.

A social worker proved a major help to the victimised group, as he ensured food and other things of necessities for them.

“We were left with a little money to meet our daily expenses…they (Indian Embassy Officials) made our temporary arrangement at a temple, they provide us with food for two days but the other days we were left unattended…A social worker named Kamal Nathan provide us food, whenever Indian embassy failed to provide the food, then he feed us, he helped us immensely,” said Mahendra Deshmukh, another victim.

Thousands of unemployed Indians are duped by manpower sourcing agents who promise a well-paid job in Malaysia and Gulf countries.

Another batch of 11 technicians was expected to arrive on Sunday (September 06). (ANI)

US Fritzl’s victim Jaycee Lee Dugard ‘wanted to be a model’

London, Sept 1 (ANI): Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was in ‘American Fritzl’ Philip Garrido’s clutches for 18 years, wanted to become a model, it has emerged.

Cheyvonne Molino, 35, who owns a wrecking business and was a client of Garrido’s printing firm Printing 4 Less, has revealed that Garrido even handed out pictures of his ‘daughter’ Dugard, who he called ‘Allissa’, to his clients.

However, nobody recognised her as the missing girl who had been kidnapped at the age of 11.

“She was just a normal teenager, she was aspiring to do modelling. Her picture was all over his business cards for the last 10 years,” the Telegraph quoted Molino as saying.

“He would leave his cards, blonde hair and blue eyes, she was a beautiful young lady,” she added.

it was also revealed that the two daughters Jaycee had with Garrido – Starlet, 15, and Angel, 11 – spent much of their time in captivity watching the television show Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. (ANI)

1 in 3 teenage girls in UK has suffered sexual abuse by their boyfriends

London, Sep 1 (ANI): One in three girls in their teens has been a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a boyfriend, while one in four has suffered violence in a relationship, according to an in-depth study.

Conducted by the NSPCC and Bristol University, the survey of 1,353 teenage girls and boys questioned across the UK, found that 90 percent of girls in the age group of 13-17 had been in an intimate relationship.

A similar number of boys had also been in relationships.

The research found that 25 percent of girls had suffered physical violence in some form or the other, including being slapped, punched or beaten by their boyfriends.

For the study, the investigators questioned 91 young people at length.

Among the girls, one in six said that they had been pressured into having sex, and one in 16 claimed that they had been raped.

Other participants said that they had been pressured or forced to kiss or intimately touch their boyfriends.

A small minority of the boys – one in 17 – reported being pressured or forced into sexual activity, and almost one in five suffered physical violence in a relationship.

A large number of girls said that they felt they had to put up with the abuse because they felt scared or guilty, or feared they would lose their boyfriend.

According to the NSPCC, having an older boyfriend placed young girls at a higher risk of abuse, with three-quarters of them saying they had been victims.

Even young women from a family where an adult had been violent towards them were also at greater risk.

For boys, having a violent group of friends actually made it more likely that they would become a victim, or be a perpetrator of violence, in a relationship.

“The high rate and harmful impact of violence in teenagers’ intimate relationships, especially for girls, is appalling,” the Guardian quoted Professor David Berridge, of Bristol University, one of the authors of the report, as saying.

“It was shocking to find that exploitation and violence in relationships starts so young. This is a serious issue that must be given higher priority by policymakers and professionals,” he added.

The report reminds schools of the need to raise awareness of relationships where there is harmful, controlling and abusive behaviour.It has also recommended that anti-bullying groups at school should tackle violent relationships and that child protection professionals should consider teenagers who are in intimate relationships, especially girls with older boyfriends.

Diane Sutton, head of policy and public affairs at the NSPCC suggested that parents and schools could perform a vital role in teaching children about loving and safe relationships and what to do if they are suffering from violence or abuse. (ANI)

US Fritzl’s secret garden of evil where he kept kidnapped girl as sex slave

London, Aug 30 (ANI): A filthy, ramshackle secret garden, hidden inside ‘American Fritzl’ Phillip Garrido’s house in the small town of Antioch, east of San Francisco, has been revealed to be the place where he kept Jaycee Lee Dugard as sex slave for 18 years and fathered two children with her.

Jaycee – kidnapped from a bus stop by Garrido, 58, when she was just 11 -was just 14 when she had the first of his two daughters, now 11 and 15, reports News of the World.

The kidnapped victim had to raise her undercover family amid the makeshift home of sheds and tents, surrounded by rubbish – topped off with a sign bidding Welcome.

The shocking details emerged as Phillip and his wife Nancy were held for trial after denying 29 charges of abduction, imprisonment and rape – and 29-year-old Jaycee was reunited with her shocked family.

Jaycee and her daughters lived destitute in a maze of interlinked shacks and tents hidden from view by overgrown trees, 8ft fencing and tarpaulins.

The entire area is strewn with their sad array of worn and broken toys and possessions, vying for space with piles of the Garridos’ dumped household junk including discarded cans of chemicals.

A source who visited the Walnut Tree Avenue compound said: “Most frightening are the bloodstains which are everywhere on carpets, tent walls and in clothing.

“It’s extremely disturbing trying to fathom out what went on in that dreadful place and how human beings could do such things.”

“How the children didn’t die of diseases or suffer long-term medical problems is a miracle. Their home was a tip with no hygiene at all,” the source added. (ANI)

‘American Fritzl’ Garrido’s arrest was led by women’s intuition, say cops

London, August 30 (ANI): The two policewomen who finally arrested ‘American Fritzl’ Phillip Garrido, for holding a girl as sex slave with his wife Nancy for 18 years, have revealed that their suspicions were raised by “women’s intuition”.

Ally Jacobs and Lisa Campbell said that they became suspicious after being approached by Garrido at the University Of California, to seek permission to hold a religious event there.

They revealed that accompanying Garrido were two “robotic” little girls he fathered with his victim Jaycee Lee Dugard.

Ally recalled that the girls were pale, as if starved of light, and extremely submissive.

What particularly disturbed her was the way the girls dressed and acted, said the cop.

“I can best describe it as they were dressed monochrome. It was almost like Little House On The Prairie,” the News of the World quoted her as saying.

“They were like robots. The young one wouldn’t move and had this eerie smile and the older one had very rehearsed answers and she didn’t very much like talking to us,” she added.

Ally further revealed that one of Garrido’s daughters even told them that there was a third girl living at his house.

The cop said: “The younger daughter told me, ‘We have an older sister aged 28.’ The older daughter said, without missing a beat, ’29′. And she seemed bothered that was even mentioned.”

Ally said that she and Lisa were certain that the little girl was talking about Jaycee.

She revealed that she even asked the younger daughter about a “tumour- like” bump under her brow, fearing that it could be a sign of child abuse.

She recalled: “She immediately replied with this very rehearsed response, ‘It’s a birth defect, inoperable, I will have it for the rest of my life.’ I’m a mother. I have two young sons and this is when my police mode turned into my mother’s mode, kind of mother’s intuition.”

Ally and Lisa said that they asked Garrido to return the next day, so that they would get some time to check his records.

Upon investigation, the cop duo found Garrido to be a registered sex offender on parole for kidnap and rape.

Recalling a discussion with Garrido’s parole officer, Ally said: “He stopped me when I said he brought in his two daughters. He said, ‘He doesn’t have two daughters.’ I felt sick.”

The discovery finally led to Garrido and Nancy’s arrests. (ANI)

Serena went through depression after sister’s murder

New York, Aug 29(ANI): American tennis star Serena Williams has revealed that following her elder sister’s murder, she went through a period of depression and needed counselling to get over the horrific incident.

“It was a dark period in my life. I went through so much depression. I never even talked about it to my mom,” The Sun quoted Serena, as saying.

“No one knew I was in therapy, but I was. I was so close to Yetunde,” she added.

Serena’s sister, Yetunde, was a victim of a shooting on September 14, 2003 in a poor section of Compton in California, which is known for its history of gang violence.

She was shot in the head while riding in an SUV driven by her boyfriend (who police reported was the intended victim) and died at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. (ANI)

Cops missed chance to rescue girl from “American Fritzl” three years ago

London, Aug 29 (ANI): It has been revealed that cops missed a chance to rescue kidnapped victim Jaycee Lee Dugard from Phillip Garrido, nicknamed the “American Fritzl”.

Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy, 54, had held Dugard, 29, against her will for 18 years, and the fiend even fathered two daughters, now aged 11 and 15, with her, reports the Sun.

But it has been revealed now that cops missed a chance to rescue Dugard after a neighbour of Garrido called 911 three years ago.

Dugard’s ordeal ended earlier this week when she emerged from captivity. (ANI)

Hooch claims two lives in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, Aug 29 (ANI): Ahmedabad police recovered the bodies of two persons who died after allegedly consuming illicit liquor on Friday.

Three other persons are undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Relatives of victims accused the government of not taking steps to prevent the vending of illicit liquor.

“My father was complaining of a headache so I asked him to go to hospital but he didn’t want to go there then I said that take some tea. When we went for tea then we saw the dead body of a man who consumed liquor a day before, he died today after complaining of vomiting and stomach ache…there is no one to take care of poor, every one cares of rich people,” said Seema Ben, daughter of a victim.

However, police officials said that whether the victims had died after consuming illicit or poison could be ascertained only after reviewing post mortem reports.

“We can’t say that the victims consumed illicit liquor or not at this moment of time. However, doctors at the VS Hospital are said that the victims consumed some chemical but we would only say something on this only after reviewing post mortem reports,” said H. K. Mehta, additional commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad.

At least 132 people died of consuming illicit liquor in Ahmedabad in July.

Illicit liquor, also known as grog or hooch, is a flourishing beverage in India, particularly in states like Gujarat where prohibition is in force.

The illicit liquor is much cheaper as compared to the licensed drinks, which cannot be afforded by most of the people from the poorer sections of society. (ANI)

US Fritzl describes his crime as “the most powerful heart-warming story”

London, Aug 29 (ANI): Phillip Garrido, the “American Fritzl”, who held a girl captive for 18 years and fathered two children with her, claimed the kidnap and rape ordeal of Jaycee Lee Dugard would be revealed as “a powerful, heart-warming story”.

The convicted rapist, who snatched Jaycee at age of 11, added: “You’re going to be really impressed – it’s going to make world news.”

The 58-year-old was speaking to a Californian TV station instead of a lawyer using the one phone call to which he was legally entitled, reports The Daily Express.

Phillip was arrested after police discovered he had held kidnap victim Jaycee in a compound at the back of his Californian home since 1991.

It is believed she had two daughters with Garrido and that the girls, aged 11 and 15, have never been to school or visited a doctor.

Despite the appalling nature of the crimes, Garrido, who has been charged with kidnapping, rape, conspiracy and committing lewd acts with a minor, did admit what he had done was “disgusting”.

However, he claimed the world will be “impressed” when it hears his side of the story.

He said: “Wait until you hear the story of what took place in this house. You’re going to be absolutely impressed. It’s a disgusting thing that took place with me at the beginning but I turned my life completely around.

“Having those two children – those two girls. They slept in my arms every single night and I never touched them.”

He went on: “You are going to find the most powerful story coming from the witness, the victim – you wait.

“If you take this a step at a time, you’re going to fall over backwards and in the end, you’re going to find the most powerful heart-warming story.”

The arrest of Phillip has brought to mind the case of Josef Fritzl who was arrested in 2008 on similar charges.Both men were accused of keeping young girls prisoner and fathering children by them against their will. (ANI)

US Fritzl’s bro compares him to mass murderer Charles Manson

London, Aug 29 (ANI): Phillip Garrido, the “American Fritzl”, who held a girl captive for 18 years and fathered two children, has been compared to mass murderer Charles Manson by his own family.

The Sun quoted Garrido’s brother Ron, 65, as saying: “It seems bizarre, but I can believe it. I know my brother, and I can believe he did that. He’s a fruitcake.

“My thoughts are with the poor girl. She was held prisoner. She had two children with this idiot. Now she’s got to start a life.”

Ron revealed that brother Phillip was psychologically damaged by using the hallucinogen LSD in his teenage years.

Comparing his brother’s wife Nancy to a “robot”, Ron added: “She would do anything he asked her to. I told my wife, ‘It’s no different from Manson’.”

Manson manipulated a group called “The Family” to commit murders in California in 1969.

Phillip was arrested after police discovered he had held kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard in a compound at the back of his Californian home since 1991.

Dugard is now said to be feeling “guilty” that she bonded with her captor during her 18 years as his sex slave.

It is believed she had two daughters with Garrido and that the girls, aged 11 and 15, have never been to school or visited a doctor. (ANI)