Saudi Arabia teen arrested for online flirting with US woman

October 6, 2016

Dubai, Oct 6: When a teenager in Saudi Arabia began chatting up an American woman online, he first found fame and then notoriety before he was arrested over concerns that his clumsy cyber flirtation violated the kingdom's conservative norms.

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The teenager, known only by his online name of `Abu Sin,' a reference to his crooked teeth, speaks almost no English. Christina Crockett, a 21-year-old vlogger from California, speaks no Arabic.

Even so, they managed to create goofy, light-hearted videos in which they appear fascinated by one another. The spectacle of the two trying to communicate attracted millions of viewers both inside the kingdom and abroad. As a result, Abu Sin shot to fame on the livestreaming site YouNow, receiving nearly 6.5 million views of his videos.

In one of their most-watched videos from YouNow, Abu Sin tells Crockett: "I am Saudi Arabia." Wearing a low-cut tank top, she smiles and responds with a flick of her blonde hair: "That's cool, I'm America."

Throughout the conversation, he periodically blurts out in Arabic, "what's she saying!?" Appearing nervous and excited, he later offers her some of the few English words he knows, proclaiming: "I love you too. I love you too. I love you too."

She tells him: "Aw, I don't even know what you're saying, but I love you so much."

Their exchanges took on extra significance in Saudi Arabia, where unrelated men and women seldom see one another. Almost all public spaces are gender segregated and most women cover their face, hair and bodies in billowing black cloth.

While the conversations appear harmless, Saudi media outlets say the teen was detained late last month for "unethical behavior" due to the videos. Footage posted online on Sept. 25 purports to show his arrest, and Abu Sin's YouNow site, on which he used to post almost daily, had not been updated for 13 days.

In Saudi Arabia, where the internet has become the preferred forum for young Saudis to meet and express themselves, his arrest sparked mixed reactions.

Abu Sin's videos could constitute a violation of the country's cybercrime law, which prohibits producing material that harms public order, morals or religious values, according to lawyer Abdulrahman al-Lahem. He may also be found in contempt of the kingdom's sometimes unyielding interpretation of Islamic law. Al-Lahem was quoted in the Saudi newspaper, Okaz, as saying the teenager could consequently face between one and three years in prison.

In comments to the Saudi Gazette daily, Riyadh Police spokesman Col. Fawaz Al-Mayman said Crockett and Abu Sin made "enticing videos" that "became famous and received negative attention." He said police had received requests from the Saudi public demanding Abu Sin be punished. After his arrest, the case was forwarded to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution, al-Mayman said.

The Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for further details on the case. Abu Sin's real name has not been made public. Al-Mayman said he is 19 years old.

The Saudi daily Arab News wrote that people in the kingdom argue the teenager deserves to be tried because his videos "made people laugh (at us)." In an op-ed for the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, prominent Saudi commentator Mishari al-Thaidy said the incident raised serious questions about how young people in the kingdom are being raised.

Yet in an editorial published Sunday, Arab News wrote that if Abu Sin was indeed arrested based on the demands of public opinion, then "let it be known that this published opinion believes Abu Sin should be released ... and given his own television show!"

"When did being `silly' ever become a crime?" the editorial continued.

Crockett released a video saying she doesn't really understand the situation in Saudi Arabia, but that many people are blaming her as the reason for his arrest.

"Obviously, I think this whole situation is totally crazy and unfair, but I don't feel I should be getting any hate for this because I have no control over it," she said. "It's not my fault that it went viral. It's not my fault that he got this fame from it or that I got it. Neither of us asked for it."

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Panipat, Mar 3: A 22-year-old man was charred to death after he came in contact with a live electricity wire while posing for a TikTok video near the Matlaudha railway station here, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday evening when Vikas, a resident of Dharamgarh village, climbed a pole over which the wire was passing and posed for the video, police said.

His three friends were standing below when the accident took place.

Vikas came in contact with the wire carrying 25,000 volts current and was burnt, police said.

Police have sent the body for a post-mortem and started investigation into the matter.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Mumbai, Feb 10: Ankita Pisudde, a resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, was critical after sustaining 40% burns on February 3 when she was set afire, allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on her way to college.

The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set on fire by a stalker in Maharashtra’s Wardha district last week died at a hospital in Nagpur on Monday morning, a police official said.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40% “grade III” burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, they said.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre here, located around 75 km from Wardha.

“Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 a.m. today,” Hinganghat’s police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday.

She died of “septicemic shock” after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

Around 4 a.m. on Monday, her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said.

As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in blood, but the patient remained “extremely critical”, it said.

“Around 6.30 a.m., she had bradycardia and inspite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 a.m.,” it said.

The probable cause of death was “septicemic shock”, the bulletin added.

During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed.

Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue, while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns.

The woman’s parents and uncle were kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities.

After the woman’s condition deteriorated, the hospital informed about her critical status to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar and Wardha Superintendent of Police Basavraj Teli.

Heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat to avoid any law and order problem following her death, the police said.

Several locals, mostly women and college students, took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

Home Minister Deshmukh visited the hospital on Tuesday and announced that the accused’s trial would be fast-tracked.

The State government last week flew Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre director Sunil Keswani to Nagpur to supervise the woman’s treatment.

It has also appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

According to the victim’s relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on February 3, had been harassing her for quite some time.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his “irrational behaviour”, the police earlier said.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav will probe the case, the Wardha Police said last week.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

Cuttack, Jan 16: At least 15 passengers were injured as five coaches of the Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Lokmanya Tilak Express derailed and three more were displaced after colliding with a goods train amid heavy fog near Cuttack in Odisha on Thursday, railway officials said.

Railway officials had earlier said that 25 passengers were injured in the incident but later officers who reached the site reported that four passengers were found to have suffered major injuries and 11 had received minor injuries.

Passengers with major injuries have been sent to Cuttack Medical College. All passengers are stated to be out of danger.

Officials said the accident happened when the passenger train hit the guard van of a good train around 7 am between Salagaon and Nergundi stations.

The officials said there was heavy fog at the site but it was not clear what led to the accident. The speedometer of both the trains have been seized for inquiry, East Coast Railway Spokesperson J P Mishra said.

Buses have been arranged for all remaining passengers to move towards their destination.

Cuttack is around 10-12 km away and Bhubaneswar(Terminating station) is 35 km.

The accident disrupted train services in the area.

Five trains have been affected due to the accident where restoration work in underway. These include the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai LTT SF Express, the Puri-Rourkela Express, Dhanbad-Bhubaneshwar Rajyarani Express which have all been diverted via Naraj.

"East Coast Railway acknowledges with deep gratitude help of nearby locals and villagers who have displayed great humanitarian values and come to the rescue of injured passengers," Mishra said.

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