Category: Lifestyle

  • Autopsy reveals 10-year-old Fatima died of physical injuries

    Autopsy reveals 10-year-old Fatima died of physical injuries

    The post-mortem report of 10-year-old Fatima has been released, while the final post-mortem report has been submitted in the court of Judicial Magistrate, Ranipur.

    According to the autopsy report, Fatima died due to head and chest injuries, and she was not provided any treatment after being assaulted which eventually led to her demise.

    Marks of torture on her arm have also been identified.

    Fatima’s case

    A domestic maid, 10-year-old child Fatima Phuriro, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Ranipur.

    The child had been working as a domestic worker at a haveli owned by an influential local, Pir Asad Shah Jilani.

    Fatima’s mother, Shabana, was informed about the death by the employer who asked her to remove the body from the premises where two of Fatima’s sisters were also employed.

    According to DIG Sukkur Javed Jiskani, the parents initially did not share the facts of the case with the police and claimed that the girl was suffering from gastroenteritis. While her diagnosis was also confirmed by Dr Abdul Fatah Memon who treated her, the DIG revealed that Fatima was taken to the hospital either by the Pir or his staff and that the SHO was present at the time she was pronounced dead.

    It was not until videos of the child were leaked by an unknown source and circulated in social media that the case caught the media’s eye. By then, the family had buried Fatima on August 15.

    The body was later exhumed and sent for an autopsy which revealed that the girl had been raped both vaginally and anally.

  • New Zealand awards SSP Sonia Shamroz Khan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    New Zealand awards SSP Sonia Shamroz Khan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and District Police Officer (DPO) of Battagram district, Sonia Shamroz Khan, received ‘Officer of the Year’ award from International Association of Women Police (IAWP) in Auckland, New Zealand.

    SSP Battagram Sonia Shamrose has been awarded for excellence in policing strategies and prevention of violence against women.

    She previously worked as DPO Chitral during which she actively worked on local social issues, including establishment of a complaint cell to prevent forced marriages.

    While speaking to Geo News, SSP Sonia Shamzroz Khan dedicated her award to all the women victims of gender discrimination and diligent women police officers who are working tirelessly to ensure peace and security.

    She added that she has always been mindful of cultural norms and sensitivity attached to certain issues while working. Previously, she highlighted, women in Battagram did not approach the police, but now, there is an increase in crime reports pertaining to their issues.

  • Deadly virus kills 35 ibex in Kirthar

    Deadly virus kills 35 ibex in Kirthar

    Ibex goats are dying in large numbers in Kirthar National Park, authorities have confirmed.

    According to local sources, four more ibex were found dead on Sunday while nine infected animals were traced by wildlife officers.

    Local sources have also reported that dead ibex are being cremated and buried, while efforts are being made to clean the ibex’s watering holes.

    The water in which the dead ibex were found has been blocked by planting bushes around it. While the water has become very polluted after decomposing ibex were found in it, locals claim the water will clean naturally with rains.

    Ibex are apparently suffering from an epidemic called Peste des Petits Ruminants, or PPR.

    Locals explain that this ‘goat plague’ is a virus that spreads rapidly, usually infecting sheep and goats. It is thus feared that the disease has been spread to ibex from goats

    Currently, there are around 25 thousand ibex in Kirthar and so far, 35 have died.

    Deputy Conservator of the Department of Wildlife, Hyderabad, Wahid Shaikh told Geo News that samples of the dead ibex have been sent to the laboratory for analysis, adding that the Sindh Wildlife Department has sent more teams to the affected area.

  • ‘Take the money and run’; Danish artist submits blank canvasses to museum

    ‘Take the money and run’; Danish artist submits blank canvasses to museum

    A Danish artist owes around 500,000 kroner (Rs14,408,870) to Kunsten museum in Aalborg after submitting two blank canvasses as part of a project called “Take the Money and Run”.

    Conceptual artist Jens Haaning presses upon the issues of power and inequality through his work and one of his projects was commissioned by by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark, in 2021 in which he had to recreate banknotes in two pieces.

    Haaning, instead, gave two blank canvasses.

    He said, “The work is that I have taken their money.”

    While the museum did put his work on display, Haaning refused to return the money which he owes. Resultsntly, the museum has taken legal action against the artist.

    A court has now ordered him to return the cash – but keep some for expenses.

    The court has deducted artist fee and mounting fee from the total sum and order Haaning to refund 492,549 kroner.

    BBC spoke with Museum director Lasse Andersson who said that he had laughed out loud when he first saw the two blank canvasses in 2021, and decided to show the works anyway.

    “He stirred up my curatorial staff and he also stirred me up a bit, but I also had a laugh because it was really humoristic,” the museum’s director, Lasse Andersson, told BBC’s Newsday programme in 2021.

    Haaning, on the contrary, said that he did not intend to pursue the case any further, “It has been good for my work, but it also puts me in an unmanageable situation where I don’t really know what to do.”

    While talking to TV2 Nord on Monday, Hanning said that the museum had made “much, much more” money than what was invested because of publicity.

  • Can democracy deliver? Pakistanis answer in new report

    Can democracy deliver? Pakistanis answer in new report

    Open Society Barometer conducted a survey on one question: Can Democracy Deliver?

    The survey is based on representative polling in 30 countries with a combined population of over 5.5 billion people, including Pakistan, to reflect on geographic, economic, and political diversity.

    The report surveyed 36,344 respondents aged 18 or older in each country

    According to the survey, 86 per cent of respondents have faith in democracy while only 20 per cent believe that authoritarian countries can deliver “what citizens want.”

    72 per cent believe that human rights have been a “force for good” in the world, and 71 per cent agree that “human rights reflect values that I believe in.”

    It is noteworthy that only 57 per cent of 18-35-year-olds prefer democracy to any other form of government, compared to 71 per cent of older respondents.

    Democracy and Pakistan
    The global average percentage of respondents who deem it important to live in a democratically governed country is 86 per cent while in Pakistan it is 79 per cent.

    Similarly, 56 per cent of Pakistanis preferred democracy over other form of governance in comparison to 62 per cent of the global average.

    The global average percentage of respondents who believe human rights have been a force for good in the world is 72 per cent while in Pakistan it is 81 per cent.

    Human Rights and Pakistan

    With the global average of 72 per cent respondents, 81 per cent Pakistanis believe human rights have been a force for good in the world.

    78 per cent of Pakistanis believe human rights reflect the values that they believe in in comparison to the global average of 71 per cent.

    The highest percentage of Pakistanis, i.e. 39 per cent, rank economic and social rights as the most important. This is followed by civil and political rights with 23 per cent, environmental rights with 16 per cent and digital rights with 12 per cent.

    Most importantly, 43 per cent of Pakistanis disagree with army rule as a “good way of running a country” in comparison to 33 per cent who agree.

    Likewise, 45 per cent of Pakistanis disagree with having a leader who “does not bother with parliaments or elections is a good way of running a country” while 33 per cent agree.

    Equity, justice and Pakistan

    73 per cent of Pakistanis fear that political unrest in their country could lead to violence next year in comparison to 58 per cent of the global average.

  • American entrepreneur paying $4 per hour criticised for exploiting Pakistanis

    American entrepreneur paying $4 per hour criticised for exploiting Pakistanis

    A video shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday is being criticised by users. The video, which features an X user named Christian, says that he remotely hires people from Pakistan to work for him.

    He has a marketing agency and he stated he pays his employees $4 an hour and “they’re extremely grateful to be working with me”.

    Christian explains that he hires a virtual assistant from Pakistan for administrative level tasks for his business like formatting spreadsheets, setting up email accounts and pays them 4 USD an hour.

    He justifies the meagre amount by expounding that an average monthly income in Pakistan is 280 USD, but as he is paying them four USD an hour, they are getting 160 USD a week or 640 USD a month, which is almost 3 times the average income, “a really great living for them”, he adds.

    “They live very very well.”

    He also added that if they perform well, the pay can be raised up to $7 an hour which is 4-6 times the average monthly income of a typical person in Pakistan.

    “They’re really grateful to be working with me because of the money they make. They have a great income, I get a great employee — it’s a win win.”

    He, however, concluded the video keeping in mind the expected criticism;

    “Before you leave a comment, yes i have US based employees. Yes, they make way more than $4 an hour. I’m just saying for this specific task, I pay a Pakistani assistant $4 an hour and they are very appreciative of it.”

    While some appreciated his work, many have criticised him for exploiting people from developing countries by paying them less than those from developed countries.

  • Suspect in KP MDCAT bluetooth scam has been identified

    Suspect in KP MDCAT bluetooth scam has been identified

    The suspected mastermind behind the MDCAT test cheating scam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been identified. The accused has been alleged to have helped candidates cheat through Bluetooth devices.

    Sources have told Jang that the accused turned out to be a former employee of the Public Service Commission and the Federal Public Service Commission, and was aware of the frailties of the testing system.

    Moreover, he had ordered Bluetooth devices from China and would entice medical test candidates to cheat.

    He would also send his operatives in the examination hall to leak the tests.

    The accused has earned hundreds of thousands of rupees in return for aiding candidates to pass the MDCAT.

  • 10-year-old Fatima case: Pir Shahzeb in custody

    10-year-old Fatima case: Pir Shahzeb in custody

    The police have arrested Pir Syed Suraj Shah’s brother Pir Shahzeb Shah in the case of the death of 10-year-old Fatima.

    According to the police, Pir Syed Suraj Shah is the Gadinishin of Dargah Ghousia.

    Police say that Pir Shahzeb Shah is being investigated in relation to Hina Shah and her father, Fayaz Hussain Shah Jilani.

    Additionally, only a day after an investigating officer working on the case of the murder of 10-year-old Fatima in Khairpur, another officer has also been transferred.

    DSP Safiullah Solangi was appointed as the new investigating officer just a few days ago, however, he was removed the very next day and DSP CTD Abdul Qudous Kalhoro was appointed as the new investigating officer.

    Dissatisfied with the performance of the investigating officer Inspector Bachal Qazi, the Anti-Terrorism Court had ordered that an officer of DSP level should be appointed as the investigating officer.

    Earlier, the lawyer of the murdered girl had said in the court that the police are not cooperating, and that so far the pin code of the mobile phone has not been obtained from the main suspect, Pir Asad Shah.

    Fatima’s case

    A domestic maid, 10-year-old child Fatima Phuriro, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Ranipur.

    The child had been working as a domestic worker at a haveli owned by an influential local, Pir Asad Shah Jilani.

    Fatima’s mother, Shabana, was informed about the death by the employer who asked her to remove the body from the premises where two of Fatima’s sisters were also employed.

    According to DIG Sukkur Javed Jiskani, the parents initially did not share the facts of the case with the police and claimed that the girl was suffering from gastroenteritis. While her diagnosis was also confirmed by Dr Abdul Fatah Memon who treated her, the DIG revealed that Fatima was taken to the hospital either by the Pir or his staff and that the SHO was present at the time she was pronounced dead.

    It was not until videos of the child were leaked by an unknown source and circulated in social media that the case caught media’s eye. By then, the family had buried Fatima on August 15.

    The body was later exhumed and sent for an autopsy which revealed that the girl had been raped both vaginally and anally.

  • ‘I’m not a gold digger’: 35-year-old Pakistani man defends marrying 70-year-old Canadian woman

    ‘I’m not a gold digger’: 35-year-old Pakistani man defends marrying 70-year-old Canadian woman

    A 35-year-old Pakistani man Naeem Shahzad has gone viral on the internet for his marriage to 70-year-old Mary from Canada, after meeting her on Facebook. Their union was met with scrutiny by social media users, who criticised Naeem for being a “gold-digger” and marrying the older woman for a Canadian passport. But in an interview with Urdu Point, the couple has clarified that they married for love. Naeem revealed the two met in 2012, and after 2015 the two began talking about getting married, and finally they tied the knot in 2017.

    Addressing comments that he’s a gold-digger, Naeem said he married Mary because after struggling with depression and other mental health issues, adding that he could open up to the woman who supported him in every way, after which he fell in love with her.

    “I’m not a gold digger. You are in my house you can see we have nothing luxurious here,” Naeem clarified. “We have necessary things like a sofa set for when guests arrive. We brought our beds from our own homes. Let people say what they want to say.”

    Naeem further explained he and Mary are not living a lavish lifestyle in Canada, where they survive on the pension the woman receives.

    “The most important persons for me right now are my wife, my mother and my brother,” Naeem said, further elaborating that he was prepared before marriage to listen to criticism that he’s a gold digger, but doesn’t care anymore.

    Naeem revealed his wife had come back to Pakistan after six years, and the couple plan on making their living through a Youtube channel ‘Beast Brother’s PK’. The couple will stay for six months in Pakistan and six months in Canada.

    Watch their complete interview below:

    This case of online romance leading to marriage follows the recent string of marriages between foreign women and Pakistani men. Recently, a woman from Sweden came to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to marry 23 year old Ahmed, whom she met on Facebook.

    Read more: Love online: Swedish woman flies to KP to marry Pakistani lover

  • Pakistani-born British neither studying nor working: Government report

    Pakistani-born British neither studying nor working: Government report

    British government statistics from 2017 to 2019 reveal that British youth of Pakistani origin are dropping out of education.

    The British government collects data during the annual population survey. According to the report, among the British youth, the majority of young Pakistani origin ones are not studying.

    The survey revealed that this young lot is not part of any training program, nor are they employed.

    According to British government statistics, 12 per cent of Bangladeshis, 11.7 per cent of white British and 11.5 per cent of black British youth are not employed, nor attaining any education or training.