2.5.10
Mumbai Mirror / Times of India

Women wearing skinny jeans ‘can’t be raped’

Sydney: A Sydney man was acquitted of rape after a jury said his victim could not have been raped while wearing skinny jeans.

Nicholas Eugenio Gonzalez was accused of raping a 24-year-old when she was consoling him about breaking up with a friend. The 12-member panel of six women and men heard that 23-year-old Gonzalez pushed the woman on the bed, pulling off her size six skinny jeans and underpants before the act, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Gonzalez, in his defence said the sex was consensual.

“I doubt those kind of jeans can be removed without any sort of collaboration,” the jury said.

The woman told the court that Gonzalez met her for drinks before they went to his home to listen to music. There, he pushed her on the bed, placing his torso on top of her. “'I struggled to try to get up for a while and then he undid my jeans and he pulled them off,” she said. Then he allegedly raped her.

Questioned by defence lawyer Paul Hogan, the woman said she weighed 42 kg and did not find it difficult to squeeze in and out of her jeans.

Hogan said: “I’m suggesting it’s difficult for skinny jeans to be taken off by someone else unless the wearer’s assisting, collaborating, consenting.”

“'I would disagree,” the woman replied.

The National Association of Services Against Sexual Assault, said a woman’s outfit should not be an issue in alleged rapes. “Any piece of clothing can be removed with force,” it said.


2.5.10
Times of India

Outrage as Nigerian senator marries teen

Lagos: The marriage took place at one of the Nigerian capital’s most recognizable landmarks, under the golden dome of the National Mosque in front of an audience of the elite. But the recent wedding of one of the Muslim leaders who brought Sharia law to Africa’s most populous nation is under scrutiny as human rights groups say he married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.

As authorities investigate senator Ahmad Sani Yerima, the marriage is drawing fresh questions about the role of religion in a country of 150 million people split between Christians and Muslims.
Yerima, 49, arranged the marriage with the girl after paying her family a $100,000 dowry, according to a complaint filed by the Nigerian Human Rights Commission in April. Initially, Yerima couldn’t arrange a visa for the girl to travel from Egypt to Nigeria, so he instead brought the girl through neighbouring Niger, said Chidi Odinkalu, a lawyer for works for the Open Society Justice Initiative.

That leaves Yerima open to human trafficking charges, as well as possible child-sex and endangerment charges, the lawyer said.

“You don’t need the Quran or the Bible to get this,” Odinkalu said. “I think most people, irrespective of the cleavage between the two faiths, wouldn’t marry off their 13-year-old.”

Yet 30 members of the girl’s family attended the ceremony at the National Mosque, the human rights commission said. It’s unclear who else attended the wedding. Ustaz Musa Mohammed, the chief imam of the National Mosque, could not be reached for comment.

Under child protection laws enforceable in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, a woman must be 18 before being able to consent to marriage. However, those laws aren’t enacted in all of Nigeria’s 36 states and activists say child brides have been married off in Muslim communities after their first period.


2.5.10
Mumbai Mirror

Granny, 72, having baby - with grandson!

London: A 72-year-old granny and her own grandson are set to have a baby. Pearl Carter, from Indiana, is reportedly having an incestuous affair with her 26-year-old grandchild Phil Bailey.

And she’s now using her pension to pay $54,000 to a surrogate mum so they can have a child, reports New Idea magazine in New Zealand.

Pearl said: “I’m not interested in anyone else’s opinion. I am in love with Phil and he’s in love with me. Soon I’ll be holding my son or daughter in my arms and Phil will be the proud dad.”

Phil is the son of Pearl’s daughter Lynette Bailey, who the pensioner put up for adoption when she was just 18, the magazine reported. When Lynette died, Phil tracked down his long lost gran and they started their relationship.

Pearl told New Idea: “From the first moment that I saw him, I knew we would never have a grandmother-grandson relationship. For the first time in years I felt sexually alive.”

Pearl said: “I called Phil to my bedroom, sat him on the bed and then leant over and kissed him. I expected rejection but he kissed me back.”

Phil revealed to the magazine: “I wanted to kiss her there and then. My feelings were overwhelming. I love Pearl with all my heart. I’ve always been attracted to older women and I think Pearl is gorgeous. Now I’m going to be a dad and I can’t wait.

“Yes, we get laughed at and bullied when we go out and kiss in public but we don’t care. You can’t help who you fall for.”