Open Eyes 135 08-31-15 Mind Control, Propaganda and the Entertainment Industry

An unelected, all-male village council in India has decided to punish a man who eloped with a married woman by ordering his two sisters to be raped. The two women, ages 23 and 15, fled their village in the Baghpat district after the decision was handed down on July 30.

The Times of India reports that the brother ran away with a woman who belonged to a higher caste.

Now, a petition from Amnesty International is calling on the Indian Supreme Court to help the sisters return home. The NGO has slammed the “disgusting ruling,” made by a so-called kangaroo court. These tribunals operate outside of the country’s legitimate legal system, Amnesty International said.

“More often than not they are made up of older men from dominant castes, who prescribe rules for social behavior and interaction in villages,” the group said.

Other family members who fled with the sisters say they fear for their lives should they return, and their home has already been looted by other villagers. According to Amnesty International, they have filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking for protection, and say they’ve also experienced harassment from local police.

The petition has garnered more than 40,000 signatures in protest of the rape punishment. The unelected council also mandated that the sisters be paraded naked with blackened faces around their town.

Despite government efforts to address India’s high levels of rape, sentences from local tribunals have continued. A similar incident made headlines last year when a 20-year-old woman was ordered to be gang-raped after village elders objected to her relationship with another man. The unofficial court said her actions violated local codes, the BBC reported at the time.

The Washington Post notes the number of reported rape cases in India skyrocketed nearly 900 percent in the 40 years leading up to 2012, when nearly 25,000 incidents were reported. The outlet cites a societal disregard for sexual violence, a lack of police action and familial pressure to keep rape quiet as a trifecta of opposition towards further action against the crime.

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/babysitter-confesses-to-crime-but-parents-still-127583123092.html

Missouri parents Mariah Ramirez and Derek Podany have been living a surreal nightmare since late July, when their 5-month old son was mysteriously diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome — and removed from their home by Child Protective Services as a result. Now, even though a babysitter has confessed to the crime, baby Daniel remains in protective custody.

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“It’s just upsetting that right now there’s been a confession and we still don’t have him back,” Ramirez told Fox 2 in St. Louis. “It’s been really hard on us, and my son, who had his injury and then was taken from his parents.” On his Facebook page, Podany replied to a friend’s message about the situation by writing, “Thanks bud, we gotta be strong and patient.”

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Ramirez declined to speak with Yahoo Parenting, as she had been advised to wait until the babysitter is convicted. The family’s lawyer, Adam Burkemper, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment from Yahoo Parenting.

But according to the local report, the trouble started on July 22, when a “close friend” (who remains unnamed) of Ramirez’s spent the day babysitting Daniel. Upon their return home, the parents found their son lethargic and vomiting but assumed it was a stomach illness. When his condition worsened, they rushed him to the hospital and were told he had a subdural hemorrhage (blood on the brain as a result of head trauma), bleeding behind his eyes, and two fractured ribs — all signs that a baby has been abused through violent shaking.

His mom and dad were stunned — especially when, as a matter of routine in shaken baby cases, they were told Daniel would not be allowed to go back home with them once he was released from the hospital. Instead, he was placed in the protective custody of his grandmother. Eventually, though, Ramirez received a call from a fellow mom she hardly knew, telling her that the babysitter had confided to her about shaking Daniel the day she was with him. Shortly after that, the babysitter confessed to St. Charles County police.

“I mean, we really trusted her and never thought this would have happened,” Ramirez said.

Meanwhile, Daniel — whom doctors expect to make a full recovery — remains away from his parents, who are left to simply wait for a conviction. According to a spokesperson for the St. Charles County prosecutor, the case is “under review,” leaving her unable to comment on its status. A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Social Services, meanwhile, tells Yahoo Parenting the specific details of this case are confidential. In general, she notes, “Under Missouri law, the final decision to remove a child from the parents’ custody can only be made by a Juvenile Court judge. If there is a concern that a child may be in imminent danger, then a law enforcement officer, a physician, and a juvenile officer have the authority to place a child in temporary protective custody.”