International

India women lead night protests after doctor’s rape and murder

Published

7 months ago

August 15, 2024

'We are seizing the night', the protestors at the march said

India women lead night protests after doctor’s rape and murder

Tens of thousands of women in West Bengal state marched through the streets on Wednesday night in protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata last week.

The Reclaim the Night march was the culmination of nearly a week of frenzied protests ignited by the brutal killing of the 31-year-old at the RG Kar Medical College last Friday.

After a gruelling 36-hour shift, she had fallen asleep in a seminar room due to the lack of a designated rest area.

The next morning, her colleagues discovered her half-naked body on the podium, bearing extensive injuries. A hospital volunteer worker has been arrested in connection with the crime.

Responding to calls on social media, women from all walks of life marched across Kolkata city and throughout the state on a rainy Wednesday night.

Though protests were largely peaceful, they were marred by clashes between the police and a small group of unidentified men who barged into the RG Kar Hospital, the site of the doctor’s murder, and ransacked the emergency department.

Police fired tear gas to disperse the unruly crowd. Some police vehicles were also damaged.

Smaller protests were also held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

In Kolkata, women marched resolutely, holding placards of protest, their faces illuminated by the glow of mobile phones, candlelight and flaming torches. Some carried India’s flags. They were joined by men, both young and elderly.

During the marches and at many gatherings near a university, theatre hall and bus terminus, they stood united, holding hands as the humid air echoed with loud and powerful chants of “we want justice”. Protesters blew conch shells – the sound is considered auspicious.

At the stroke of midnight, as India completed 77 years of Independence, the soundscape of protest changed.

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The air filled with a spontaneous chorus of the national anthem. Then it began raining, but the protesters walked in the rain, or holding umbrellas over their head.

“We have never seen anything like before in the city, such a huge gathering of women marching at night,” a reporter belonging to a news network said.

It was a night of barely concealed rage and frustration.

A woman, who joined the march well after midnight with her 13-year-old daughter said: “Let her see whether a mass protest can set things right. Let her become aware of her rights”.

“Women have no respect!” said another. “Our worth is less than cows and goats.”

“When do we get our independence? How long do we have to wait to work without fear? Another 50 years?” asked a student.

Sanchari Mukherjee said she marched with thousands of others from a bus terminus in Jadavpur, undeterred by the rain.

She met “people of all ages, from all classes, the well-to-do, the middle class and the poor”.

“I saw an elderly couple, the husband helping the woman to walk,” she said.

“One family brought their little girl along, perhaps so the memory of this event would be etched in her mind – how her parents stood up against injustice, and how she, too, can protest one day.”

Ms Mukherjee said the entire city seemed awake as the marchers passed by illuminated homes, with people peering out of windows and crowding verandahs to watch.

“They may not have participated but they were with us in spirit,” she said.

“‘We want justice’ had become the anthem of the march, and it didn’t feel like just a slogan,” Ms Mukherjee said.

“It felt like every young woman was deeply hurt and determined, frustrated that they still face these issues in 2024.”

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Ms Mukherjee added that she had to walk a few miles to join the march because the streets were gridlocked late at night.

“I was instantly swept up in a sea of people heading to the protest site. There was no excitement, just a stoic determination to create an event which would become a symbol for the times to come.”

The protests have been fuelled by anger over local authorities’ handling of the young trainee doctor’s rape and murder.

She had fallen asleep in a seminar room after a 36-hour shift last Thursday, as there was no designated rest area for her to sleep in.

The next morning, her colleagues discovered her half-naked body on the podium, bearing extensive injuries.

Police later arrested a hospital volunteer worker in connection with what they said was a case of rape and murder.

But there have been accusations of cover-up and negligence. The case has since been transferred from local police to the federal Central Bureau of Investigation.

Despite scant resources, Kolkata’s Reclaim the Night march appeared to have been meticulously organised. In an advisory, organisers welcomed women and people from marginalised sexual and gender identities to the march.

“Men are welcome as allies and observers,” the advisory added.

They also emphasised that politicians were not welcome and requested that no party flags be brought to the protest.

It was not the first time that a Reclaim the Night march has been staged in India.

Inspired by similar marches elsewhere in the world by women to assert their rights to walk in public areas without fear, a march was held in 1978 in Bombay (now Mumbai) in protest against the rape of a woman on the street.

Blank Noise, a community-based art project and activist collective, has organised several midnight walks in Delhi to encourage women to assert their right to walk freely at night.

But in terms of scale, the Kolkata march, echoed by smaller ones across other cities, stands as the largest yet.

“We seized the night. We’ve never seen anything like this in the city. This is unprecedented. I hope it wakes up the authorities,” said Chaitali Sen, a protester.

India women lead night protests after doctor’s rape and murder

BBC

Related Topics:doctor's rape India Murder protests

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International

US to Nigerians: Overstaying visa attracts permanent ban

Published

13 hours ago

March 25, 2025

Trends Admin

US to Nigerians: Overstaying visa attracts permanent ban

The US government has issued a harsh warning to Nigerian travelers about the serious repercussions of overstaying their visas, underlining that violators may face lifelong bans from re-entering the nation.

The US Mission in Nigeria issued the warning on Monday via its X.

The immigration authorities stressed that consular officials have access to an individual’s entire immigration history, making it practically impossible to dodge sanctions for previous infractions.

They also stated that passengers are responsible for conforming to the restrictions of their visa and that ignorance of visa regulations will not be recognised as an explanation.

“If you overstay your US visa, you could face a permanent ban on travelling to the United States. Consular officers have full access to your immigration history and will know about past violations. There is no such thing as an ‘honest mistake’ – it is your responsibility to use your visa correctly,” the US Mission stated.

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It was gathered that those who overstay their visa for more than 180 days but less than a year may face a three-year re-entry ban. If the overstay exceeds one year, the penalty could be a 10-year ban.

Repeat offenders and those with major offences face a permanent lifetime ban.

Since Trump’s return as president, America’s immigration policies have been stricter.

On February 16, 2025, the federal government expressed great concern regarding the deportation of its people from the United States, requesting Washington to follow international treaties and ensure a dignified repatriation procedure.

During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, underlined the emotional and financial hardship that these deportations are putting on Nigerians in the US and their families at home.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated that “about 201 Nigerians are currently detained in US immigration centres, with around 85 cleared for deportation,” adding that the government was advocating for a more humane approach to the process.

“With the new US administration in place, we expect commitments to ensure that, if repatriation occurs, it will be done with dignity,” she said.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu emphasised that many Nigerians in the US rely on remittances to support their families and education back home.

She also emphasised that deportations, particularly for those with no violent criminal history, should not be abrupt or traumatic.

“We are asking as a country whether they will be given ample time to handle their assets, or will they just be bundled into planes and repatriated?” She questioned.

US to Nigerians: Overstaying visa attracts permanent ban

International

2 Nigerians in US face heavy jail term over fraud

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2025

Trends Admin

2 Nigerians in US face heavy jail term over fraud

Two Nigerian nationals based in the United States, Solomon Aluko and Nosakhare Nobore, alongside four others, are facing a possible 62-year prison sentence each after being arraigned before a New York court for allegedly defrauding the U.S. government of $50 million.

It was gathered from a court document obtained on the US Department of Justice website on Sunday that the suspects were arraigned on four counts bordering on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity, conspiracy to defraud the government, and aggravated identity theft.

The court document indicated that the suspects committed the offences between March 2020 and March 2025, in the Southern District of New York and across other places in the US.

The charge sheet noted that “the defendants, and others, worked together to steal money that did not belong to them by passing counterfeit, stolen, and fraudulently obtained cheques. They submitted the cheques to banks and then withdrew or transferred funds before the banks could determine that the cheques were counterfeit, stolen, or fraudulent.”

According to the document, the defendants allegedly stole information and identities of different individuals and businesses and used the information and identities to open bank accounts through one of their members, who was a bank teller at the time.

The bank accounts were allegedly used to deposit fraudulently obtained cheques from different US agencies.

It continued, “Once the cheques were deposited, the defendants withdrew the fraudulently obtained funds in cash or transferred them to other bank accounts under their control.

“Throughout their scheme, the defendants attempted to obtain approximately $80 million in total. They succeeded in depositing approximately $50 million.”

In a statement accompanying the document on the DoJ website, it was revealed that the suspects created a ‘fraud bible’, which contained specific instructions on how each member of the syndicate would operate.

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It further noted that the syndicate also openly communicated its operations via a Telegram group where discussions on their operations were held.

Commenting on the activities of the syndicate, the statement quoted the US FBI Acting Assistant Director, Leslie R. Backschies, as saying, “These six defendants allegedly used sham businesses, stolen, and fake identities to operate a multi-year cheque fraud scheme, resulting in $50 million in illicit funds being deposited into their accounts.

“The defendants brazenly attempted to exploit multiple United States government programmes in their attempts to illegally enrich themselves. The FBI will continue to ensure fraudsters attempting to lie, cheat, and steal from the government answer for their crimes in the criminal justice system.”

Similarly, the US IRS Special Agent in Charge of the case, Harry Chavis, said, “This group of suspects openly communicated about their fraud, taking pride in the multiple schemes that stole nearly $50 million from the American public.

“They lied and cheated a benefits system meant to help struggling businesses that need it, all while stealing cheques from agencies that assist the elderly and veterans. This gang of ‘bag hunters’ will now face justice for multiple charges.”

Following their indictment, the statement noted that the suspects could be sentenced to 62 years imprisonment each for the four counts.

It acknowledged that the defendants were presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court.

“Anand, 34, of Queens, New York; Nobore, 29, of Edgewater, New Jersey; Pappas, 28, of Miami, Florida; Ujkic, 44, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Aluko, 29, of Hackensack, New Jersey; and Gonzalez, 28, of North Bergen, New Jersey, are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; conspiracy to commit money laundering and engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specific unlawful activity, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; conspiracy to defraud the government, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison.

“The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.

“The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” the statement concluded.

2 Nigerians in US face heavy jail term over fraud

(Punch)

International

Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

Published

2 days ago

March 23, 2025

Trends Admin

Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

Over 13,000 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection in Canada from January 2013 to December 2024 were rejected.

According to data from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, this figure includes 811 Nigerians whose applications were turned down in 2024.

The board placed Nigeria among the top five countries with the most rejected claims.

Mexico tops the list with 2,954 rejections, followed by India and Haiti, which have 1,688 and 982 rejected claims, respectively.

Colombia is in fourth place with 723 rejected claims, while Nigeria is in fifth place with 13,171 rejections.

In Canada, asylum seekers get refugee protection if the RPD satisfactorily confirms that their claims meet the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee.

In its definition of the Status of Refugee, the 1951 UN Convention states refugees are persons who have a substantiated fear of persecution because of their race, nationality, religion, political ideology or membership in a particular social group, which can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman and persons living with HIV/AIDS.

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However, in Canada, asylum seekers are expected to show evidence that they are in danger of torture, risk to their life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they return to their country of nationality.

According to the Refugee Board’s application guideline, if an applicant’s “claim is eligible, it is sent to the RPD to start the claim for refugee protection process.”

The breakdown of the rejections showed that 127 Nigerian claims were rejected in 2013, 241 in 2014 and 248 in 2015.