Cristiano Ronaldo escapes conviction in rape case in US

Agencies
July 23, 2019

Los Angeles, Jul 23: Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo will not face any charges over an alleged rape in Las Vegas a decade ago after US prosecutors said Monday they did not have enough evidence to proceed.

A district attorney in the state of Nevada said it would not prosecute the Portuguese captain because it "cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt" that a sexual assault occurred.

Kathryn Mayorga, a former model, alleges that Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward reached a financial settlement with her one year after the incident.

He has always denied allegations of sexual assault, insisting their encounter was consensual.

The Clark County District Attorney's Office said it had received a report from Mayorga, whom it identified only as "V", on June 13, 2009, reporting that she had been the victim of a sexual assault.

Police could not conduct "any meaningful investigation" at the time because she declined to say who assaulted her or where it occurred, the office said in a statement.

As a result, detectives were "unable to search for and impound vital forensic evidence," and video showing Ronaldo and Mayorga together was lost, it added.

Mayorga contacted police in August of last year to ask that the case be reopened, at which point she named Ronaldo as the alleged assailant.

The case was reopened "in spite of the passage of over nine years," prosecutors said.

"Based upon a review of the information presented at this time, the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," prosecutors said. "Therefore, no charges will be forthcoming."

Mayorga's attorney has stated that she agreed to an out-of-court settlement to keep her name from going public, but was later inspired to speak out by the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

Mayorga has also said that her emotional trauma at the time did not allow her to participate in the mediation process for the financial settlement.

Neither Ronaldo's nor Mayorga's lawyers responded to AFP's request for comment on the decision to end the investigation.

The player has yet to respond on social media.

In October last year, Ronaldo said he was "an exemplary person". "I know who I am and what I did. The truth will come out," he told France Football magazine.

"And the people who criticize me and who expose my life today, who make a song and dance about it, these people will see." The allegations have taken a toll on his life, and in particular, on his family, he said.

In January, a Spanish court handed Ronaldo a suspended two-year prison sentence for committing tax fraud while he was at Real Madrid.

This was immediately reduced to a fine of 365,000 euros ($410,000), on top of another penalty of 3.2 million euros ($3.6 million).

Ronaldo is widely considered one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game, having won the Champions League title five times- once with Manchester United and four times with Real Madrid.

He also led Portugal to the Euro 2016 title in France.

Ronaldo, who is based in Turin, is currently on Juventus' pre-season tour of Asia.

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News Network
January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: Injured Assam archer Shivangini Gohain underwent a critical surgery at the AIIMS. Dr. Deepak Gupta, professor of Pediatric neurosurgery at AIIMS, revealed about the delicate nature of the procedure and said there was no room for error.

"It was touching vertebral artery which supplies blood to the brain stem. The arrow was 0.5 cm in front of the spinal cord and the child could have become quadriplegic if someone tried to pull it out," Gupta said.

According to doctors, the arrow accidentally went inside the body damaging the shoulder bone, part of the neck, spinal cord and left lung.

Dr Gupta said, "Now the patient is fine. We had planned the surgery in a very unique way. Last whole night, our team was doing the planning and plotting to conduct this complex surgery. About 15 cm part of the arrow was inside the body which has entered through shoulder bone and affected neck, spinal cord and left lung".

"We started the surgery in the morning at 6 am which lasted for three and a half hours. We have successfully removed the arrow. The patient is stable now and shifted to ICU for observation," he added

Shivangini Gohain, the 12-year-old Assam archer who was impaled by an arrow shot accidentally at the SAI centre in Dibrugarh, was training unsupervised and the mishap was a result of negligence by the local coach and officials, the state's archery association has said.

The child was training at the Dakha Devi Rasiwasia College at Chabua, which serves as an extension centre under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre in Guwahati when the incident took place on Wednesday.

She was airlifted to Delhi on Thursday night and admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Pulin Das, a joint secretary of Assam Archery Association and executive member of the state Olympic association said the injury to the school girl from the Deodhai village, which is 3km from Chabua, happened as the trainees were practising without any coach and other officials.

“There is a SAI contractual coach Marcy and he has left for the Khelo India Games in Guwahati. He didn't instruct the trainees to stop the camp for some time nor did the college principal, who acted as administrator of the extension centre, looked after the practice,” Das said on Friday.

The extension centre has 11 trainees, six boys and five girls, and they were training under SAI contractual coach A C Marcy from Nagaland, who is in Guwahati for the Khelo India Youth Games.

“The training ground itself is in very bad shape, it was not even a dedicated ground for archery training, some play football, cricket and other sports on that ground. But the worst part is that the SAI coach did not give instructions to stop the camp for a while and the archers were training without any supervision,” he added Das said Gohain was struck by an arrow shot by boys doing practice for compound event. The arrow remained stuck for more more than a day before she was airlifted to New Delhi on Thursday night.

“There was nobody to look after the archers, they were training on their own though their parents were outside the ground. An arrow shot by a boy trainee who was doing compound event practice hit her on the shoulder,” the official said.

Gohain's father Brinchi Gohain was outside the practice area and with no official of the college and SAI coming for help, she was taken to Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, 33km from Chabua.

“She could reach the AMC in Dribugarh only on Thursday morning. There, the doctors told her parents to take her to a more reputed hospital like AIIMS in Delhi. With help from people close to the local Member of Parliament and Assam CM himself, she was taken by air ambulance to Delhi.

“I was told that she had a very tough time as the arrow remained stuck for more than a day. She is a strong-willed girl and she fought. Her father must be a daily wage labourer and he was distraught also.”

The SAI said that it will bear all the expenses of her treatment. The Assam Archery Association has contributed Rs 20,000 towards her treatment.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday paid tributes to Indian Army soldiers, who were killed during the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

Extending condolences to the kin of bravehearts, Kohli said, "No one is more selfless and brave than a soldier."

"Salute and deepest respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our country in the Galwan Valley. NO one is more selfless and brave than a soldier. Sincere condolences to the families. I hope they find peace through our prayers at this difficult time," he tweeted.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on Tuesday.

The Army confirmed that 20 soldiers were killed in the face-off, including 17 who were critically injured at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area in Ladakh where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15 and 16, Indian Army said.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted, "We will always be indebted to our jawans of #IndianArmy who lost their lives in #GalwanValley #JaiHind."

Expressing similar sentiments, Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan wrote, "A sacrifice that will never be forgotten by the nation. Heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the Indian Army officer and the two soldiers. Saluting your bravery, Jai Hind! #GalwanValley."

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