Indian doc gets huge divorce bill as he accuses judge of spreading her legs

Agencies
May 8, 2019

Singapore, May 8: The ex-wife of an Indian-origin neurologist in Singapore has been granted Singapore dollars 25 million  in assets, child support and spousal support by a British Columbia court, in one of the biggest divorce payouts abroad.

Gobinathan Devathasan, 69, whose behaviour was described as "reprehensible" during the litigation, was ordered on April 29 to pay his ex-wife Christie Devathasan Canadian dollars 5,498,344 in spousal support, with another Canadian dollars 612,084 for child support.

During the course of the litigation, Mr Devathasan had handled funds in his Singapore bank account despite an asset freezing order, failed to disclose properties, deliberately embarrassed his daughter and suggested that a judge had "spread her legs wide" to the claimant's counsel, the court was told.

The doctor ran a private clinic at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, and had married Christie in 1997. She filed for divorce in 2016, Channel News Asia reported.

The couple was described in the court judgment as being "uncommonly wealthy", and had owned expensive cars, jewellery, artwork and homes, with investment properties in Canada, the US, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Christie divorced her first husband in 1996, while Mr Devathasan divorced his first wife, with whom he had two children with, in 1997. Shortly after, the couple got married in Singapore in August 1997.

The couple's relationship deteriorated in 2015 and early 2016, according to the court papers.

The divorce proceedings commenced in July 2016.

Christie obtained an asset freezing order and a protection order, and these orders were served to Mr Devathasan in August 2016. The doctor claimed that they were not binding as he was in Singapore and took steps to deal with his assets.

Mr Devathasan's past conduct was also taken into account in deciding ongoing and future child support. He has to pay Canadian dollars 33,084 for past child support and a lump sum of Canadian dollars 579,000 for child support for the period through to June 2022.

"For a long time he was utterly unwilling to acknowledge or fulfill his parental and spousal responsibilities or acknowledge this court''s role in adjudicating those responsibilities," Justice Gomery said in his judgment.

In an affidavit sworn on May 22, 2017, he stated: "I will not pay a dollar for alimony now or till death or whatever any one decrees, no matter what".

The judge ordered Mr Devathasan to pay his ex-wife Canadian dollars 2,351,000 in connection with the allocation of family property and debt. He will also have to pay a total of Canadian dollars 612,084 in child support, and Canadian dollars 5,498,344 in total for spousal support.

The Canadian dollars 16.4 million in assets granted to Christie Devasthan include a house in West Vancouver worth Canadian dollars 6.2 million, an apartment in Vancouver worth Canadian dollars 2.35 million and an apartment in Florida worth Canadian dollars 2.48 million.

The doctor was granted Canadian dollars 21.4 million after the proceedings.

The judge described Mr Devathasan as a "hardworking man all his life", adding that the doctor worked Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings throughout his career in private practices.

"He has loyal patients," the judge was quoted as saying in the report.

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Agencies
July 8,2020

Washington D.C, Jul 8:  US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (local time) announced visa restrictions on some Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, 2018.

"Today I am announcing visa restrictions on PRC government and Chinese Communist Party officials determined to be "substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas," pursuant to the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018," Pompeo said.

"Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the PRC's human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing's failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia's major rivers," he said.

The US Secretary of State pointed out that Beijing has continued "systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas" by U.S. diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while PRC officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States.

"The United States will continue to work to advance the sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian conditions of Tibetan communities within the People's Republic of China and abroad," he said.

Pompeo said US also remains "committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, respect for their fundamental and unalienable human rights, and the preservation of their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity".

"In the spirit of true reciprocity, we will work closely with the U.S. Congress to ensure U.S. citizens have full access to all areas of the People's Republic of China, including the TAR and other Tibetan areas," he said.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Nagpur, Jan 28: A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped and an iron rod was inserted in her private parts by a man in the Pardi area here, police said on Monday.

The gruesome incident took place on January 21 and the accused, Yogilal Rahangdale (52), was arrested from Gondia district, they said.

The accused was working as a supervisor in a spinning mill where the woman was employed as a labourer, the police said.

The woman, her brother, the accused and another girl lived in rented accommodations in Pardi.

Inspector Sunil Chavan of the Pardi police station said that the woman's brother and her female friend had gone to their village on January 21 for some work.

As the woman was alone at home, Rahangdale attempted to rape her in the night. When she resisted, he stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, he said.

When she fell unconscious, the accused raped her and inserted an iron rod in her private parts, Chavan said, quoting from the complaint filed by the victim.

She narrated the incident to her brother on January 24 and they subsequently lodged a complaint with the police.

An offence was registered against the accused at the Pardi police station.

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News Network
January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: One woman reported a rape every 15 minutes on average in India in 2018, according to government data released on Thursday, underlining its dismal reputation as one of the worst places in the world to be female.

The highly publicised gang rape and murder of a woman in a bus in New Delhi in 2012 brought tens of thousands onto the streets across India and spurred demands for action from film stars and politicians, leading to harsher punishments and new fast-track courts. But the violence has continued unabated.

Women reported almost 34,000 rapes in 2018, barely changed from the year before. Just over 85% led to charges, and 27% to convictions, according to the annual crime report released by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Women's rights groups say crimes against women are often taken less seriously, and investigated by police lacking insensitivity.

"The country is still run by men, one (female prime minister) Indira Gandhi is not going to change things. Most judges are still men," said Lalitha Kumaramangalam, former chief of the National Commission for Women.

"There are very few forensic labs in the country, and fast-track courts have very few judges," said Kumaramangalam, a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The rape of a teenager in 2017 by former BJP state legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar gained national attention when the accuser tried to kill herself the following year, accusing the police of inaction.

Five months before Sengar was convicted last December, the accuser's family had to be provided with security after a truck crashed into the car she was in, injuring her and killing two of her relatives.

A 2015 study by the Centre for Law & Policy Research in Bengaluru found that fast-track courts were indeed quicker, but did not handle a high volume of cases.

And a study in 2016 by Partners for Law in Development in New Delhi found that they still took an average of 8.5 months per case - more than four times the recommended period.

The government statistics understate the number of rapes as it is still considered a taboo to report rape in some parts of India and because rapes that end in the murder are counted purely as murders.

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