Weird news - In Britain, man banned from speaking to women strangers for 10 years, will face prison if he does

Sometimes one comes across strange court judgments, which do not make sense from a layman's perspective. A typical judgment from the court typically would involve either a person getting exonerated by a court, or being sentenced to some sort of community service, or to probation, or to a prison term. These are the sort of court judgments in criminal matters that we have come to expect, and if something deviates from such a judgment, it seems weird. What would you say to a court judgment where a man is sentenced to a prison term if he speaks to a unknown woman in public, unless it is an emergency. This was a strange case where a man walked up to a lady in her mid 20's, kissed her on the cheek and told her that he was a sex offender.
You can imagine the shock that this lady would have felt, including the fear that she would have felt. The only reassurance that she would have felt was that they were in public; the problem is that such a situation is so odd that one does not know whether such a man is safe in public. At the same time, since the offence conducted was not one to jail him for a long period of time (in a sort of preventive custody), there was not much that the judge could do; and hence the unusual judgment. But how does one make such a judgment effective ? How do you determine whether the man spoke to an unknown lady, or just replied back. Similarly, how do you determine what is an emergency ? Read this news article (link):

A 56-year-old Briton has been banned by court from speaking to women for 10 years after he told a woman he was a rapist who had just been freed from prison. David Delahunty, 56, faces up to five years in jail if he just says hello to a woman he does not know, The Sun reported. A judge imposed the ban after the man admitted sexual assault. The order bans him from speaking to any woman he does not know in a public place for the next 10 years, except in an emergency. He said he walked up to a woman stranger at a bus stop, kissed her on the cheek and told her she was a "bonny lass".

Weird news - Man jumps into tiger enclosure in zoo, escapes with injuries

If you see programs about wildlife or see movies where wild animals are involved, you will understand the sheer power of these animals. They can be very dangerous, and their instincts are not the same as that of humans - which means that they can attack you for reasons that seem natural to them, but which may be dangerous to you. Which is why people are advised to be careful when they are near wild animals, and when they are in the zoo, there are enough protection measures to prevent people from getting close to these wild animals.
However, you cannot make everything fail safe, and there have been cases where people have climbed over protective measures and entered the cages of animals such as bears, tigers, lions, etc, and have been mauled, and sometimes have died. So, it is hard to understand the motives of this person who made an effort to jump into the enclosure from a monorail that moves over the zoo at tree height (link to article):

A man was mauled by a 400-pound tiger after leaping from a moving monorail train and plummeting over a protective fence at the Bronx Zoo, authorities said. The man was alone with the tiger for about 10 minutes Friday before he was rescued by zoo officials, who used a fire extinguisher to chase it away. He suffered bites and punctures on his arms, legs, shoulders and back and broke an arm and a leg. The tiger mauling happened at around 3 p.m. in the Wild Asia exhibit, where a train with open sides takes visitors over the Bronx River and through a forest, where they glide along the top edge of a fence past elephants, deer and a tiger enclosure.

The man was lucky to have escaped with whatever injuries he suffered.

Weird news - Man spent money received accidentally from bank

Suppose a person is living a middle class life, and then suddenly gets a large amount of money deposited into his account. The next steps depend on the amount of money. Some months back, there was a case where an ATM in Britain was loaded with 20 pounds bills rather than 10 pound bills, and a number of people benefited before the bank realized. However, the bank decided not to pursue cases with the people who had benefited, letting them take the extra money. But when the money involved is much higher, the bank will take decisive action.
So it was in this case where a man received a huge amount of money in his account, and over a period of time, withdrew the money before the bank realized. And before the bank could take back the money from him, he went on the run along with his girl-friend, with the bank getting him declared as an international fugitive, spending more than 2 months on the run before he was arrested in Hong Kong where he had run away from New Zealand. Now he is back on trial (link to article):

A New Zealand gas station owner turned international fugitive has been sentenced to four years and seven months in prison after stealing millions of dollars accidentally deposited into his bank account. Hui "Leo" Gao, dubbed the "accidental millionaire," sparked a global manhunt after fleeing New Zealand with his girlfriend Kara Hurring in April 2009. Gao had applied for overdraft financing for the gas station he co-owned with his mother in Rotorua, New Zealand, court documents said. The bank approved his application with a $100,000 limit, however while inputting the figure a bank employee made a clerical error and gave him access to 100 times the intended amount.

Weird news - Man dies after his penis is injected with silicone

The length of the male sexual organ is something that drives a large amount of spam on the internet, and is actually a huge part of the self-esteem of a large number of males. People will do all kinds of treatments to increase the length of the male organ, and this is something that is fraught with danger. The penis, the male organ, is very sensitive, and is a center for pain as well, so any mis-step in this area can be very dangerous.
Taking medicines or any other medical treatment is a dangerous step if you are not sure of the credentials of the person who is doing it, such as this case where young male got his penis injected with a silicone implant, and it was this implant that was the cause of death (link to article):

Authorities have filed homicide charges against a woman after she allegedly administered a silicone injection into the penis of a 22-year-old man, who suffered a fatal blood clot.
The victim, who died in May, had been seeking a penis enhancement, authorities said today.
Kasia Rivera, 34, of East Orange, was arrested today on manslaughter charges and unauthorized practice of medicine in the death of Justin Street, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.

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Weird news - Man kills unknown woman and then hides the body

When we read about murders or homicides, in most of the cases, there are motives for the incident. In many cases, these are revenge killings, or done in the heat of the moment, and when the person ends up in court, there is a motive. In some cases, where the reason is reason enough (such as in self-defence or to avenge some utter humiliation), people can think that the motive is something that may get convince that there was no option other than the killing, and the murder punishment can be reduced to that extent. However, there are cases where the killing is so random, or when there is no motive for the murder, and society cannot determine why the crime occurred. In such cases, the punishment is even more severe, with the trial typically ending in a very severe penalty (link to article):

A Dutch engineer accused of murdering the woman who lived next door in southwest England strangled her and then researched how long it would take a body to decompose, his trial heard on Monday.
Vincent Tabak, 33, admits manslaughter but denies murdering 25-year-old landscape architect Jo Yeates, whose body was discovered hidden under leaves and snow next to a country road near Bristol on December 25 last year.
Prosecutor Nigel Lickley told Bristol Crown court that Tabak attacked the woman in her flat, bundled her body into his car, dumped it and then sent a text message to his girlfriend saying he was "bored".
Yeates had gone missing on December 17 after going for a drink with colleagues and buying a pizza from a supermarket on the way home.

Weird news - Man charged with sex with a horse, especially for the second time

Having sex with animals is regarded as a crime, with specific laws against it. In some cases, people who have been charged with this crime have been also listed as sex offenders and placed on a watchlist. In this case, there are further problems where the owner of the animal with which the alleged crime has taken place is highly confused by the behavior of the animal and tried to find out what had happened, especially since the same thing had happened earlier. The owner was shocked to find the same man doing the same thing, especially since the problem was reported some years back and the person had been charged (link to article);

Kenley said she noticed several weeks ago her 21-year-old horse Sugar was acting strange and getting infections again. She noticed things in the barn had been moved around – dirt piled up and bales of hay stacked near the horse's stall at her Lazy B Stables in Longs, about 20 miles northeast of Myrtle Beach. "Police kept telling me it couldn't be the same guy," Kenley said Wednesday. "I couldn't believe that there were two guys going around doing this to the same horse."
Kenley didn't call police because she was certain the man would come back to the stable, and she wanted to make sure he was arrested. So she staked out the barn and caught Vereen inside Monday night, chasing him to his truck and holding him with her shotgun until police came. "He said he wasn't there to do anything, and I said, 'I know you were. I have you on tape.' And then he said he was sorry if he hurt me," Kenley said.

Superbug kills man at an extremely fast speed

Once in a while you hear about bacteria or viruses that can kill a person inspite of the best efforts of doctors, and you wonder about how there can be diseases that can kill people like this; and then you remember about hearing of some diseases such as Ebola where the rate of death is more than 80% of those infected, where the disease actually ends because it has killed too many people before the disease could spread to more people. But how many times have you heard of a bug that could kill people in an incredibly short period of time ? Well, read on (link to article):

A flesh-eating superbug claimed the life of a British father just four hours after he was hospitalised with leg pains. The Daily Mail reports Richard Johnson, 54, died from a rare infection known as necrotising fasciitis in November last year.
The infection moved through Mr Johnson's body so quickly that doctors could actually see it spreading up from his leg to his abdomen as they operated, an inquest into his death was told. The rare infection occurs in the deeper layers of skin and is typically caused by many types of bacteria entering an open wound, especially after major surgery. While commonly known as a flesh-eating bug, the bacteria don't actually eat tissue, instead destroying skin and muscle by releasing toxins.

How horrific it must be to know that you have a condition that will not allow you to last through the day, and how horrible it must be for doctors and for family members to know that you are going down, and there is nothing that they can do.

Man held in Brazil for kissing daughter

It seemed pretty weird when I read the story for the first time. In Brazil, strangers on a beach found a person kissing a young girl, and with all the stories about child molestation, particularly when the skin color of the man and the girl were different, and it was not immediately apparent that the 2 were related. However, as a result of a complaint, the man was put in prison and faces a long jail term if convicted. The mother of the child, the man's wife, denies that anything improper happened, but the man has already spent a week in jail for this charge (link to article):

There is growing controversy in Brazil over the arrest of an Italian tourist held after kissing his eight-year-old daughter in public. Witnesses told police the man allegedly touched the girl in an intimate way. Under a strict new law partly designed to combat child sex abuse in South America's largest country, he faces eight to 15 years in jail if convicted.
However the wife of the arrested tourist says it was all a misunderstanding by witnesses who had misinterpreted seeing a foreign white man with a young darker-skinned girl. She told the Brazilian state news agency if there was any suggestion the claim was true she would not hesitate to take her daughter's side, and recalled that she had been present the whole time.

Man charged with unlicensed driving car twice, hits police

When people are charged with a driving offence, they normally obey all the rules and laws, and desist from whatever activity for which they are were charged, since they do not want to suffer further problems (further driving problems could mean points on the license, or problems in getting insurance, and so on). However, once in a while there will be a person who will not care too much about the offence, and is even willing to take offensive action if charged with something (link to article):

A north Queensland man who was allegedly caught driving unlicensed twice in one day and became irate and has been charged with assaulting police. The 19-year-old was given a notice to appear in court for unlicensed driving about 10am (AEST) on Monday, and about 30 minutes later, the same officer saw him allegedly driving the same car, police said.
The officer was questioning the man when he allegedly became aggressive and punched his car's window, smashing it. He then allegedly kicked the side mirror of the police car and punched the police officer. While struggling with the man the officer was allegedly assaulted by a 15-year-old male youth who was in the man's car.

Foolhardy: Getting mauled by a lion after climbing into its cage

Wild animals are called wild for a certain reason. Their behavior is unpredictable, they can be aggressive if they feel that they or their young ones are threatened, or if their territory is being encroached upon. Further, for many of them, their nature is such that they can be aggressive; but that does not deter people from trying out some crazy and wild stunts. What would you call a person who gets into a lion cage in a zoo and is then saved from serious damage by the keeper of the cage ? Such a person was inviting trouble, and it is only prompt action that saved him (link to article):

A travel writer was lucky to escape with minor injuries after his venture into a lion's den turned ugly. British journalist Charles Starmer Smith visited the South African wildlife park to "play" with one-year-old lion Mapimpan — whose name translates to "little baby".
Finally the handler was able to corner the cat in the pen's corner, allowing the journalist to calmly make his escape. He could be seen bleeding from his leg through his shredded torn pants and required stitches for his relatively minor injuries.

Weird law: Denying your wife food if you don't get sex

In April, there was wide-spread international condemnation when a legislation catering to the Shia sect in Afghanistan was passed. This legislation tilted the gender balance very strongly towards men, something not uncommon in Islamic countries. However, since Afghanistan was a place where troops from many nations were fighting the Taliban, and many of these troops were losing their lives, there was more outrage. How could a country have such a law if the Government of the country was dependent on foreign aid and foreign support. At that time, the President of Afghanistan, Karzai, shook off the criticism by claiming that he had not read the legislation clearly before signing it, and he would take steps to revert. However, seems like nothing really happened after that (link to article):

Afghanistan has enacted a new legislation empowering men of Shia sect of Islam to deny their wives food and sustenance if they refuse to obey their husbands' sexual demands, a media report said on Saturday. The new final draft of the legislation also grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers, and requires women to get permission from their husbands to work, The Guardian reported.
According to the report, the new law has been backed by the hardline Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohseni, who is thought to have influence over the voting intentions of some Shias, who make up around 20 per cent of the population. Karzai has assiduously courted such minority leaders in the run up to next Thursday's election, which is likely to be close, a poll indicated.

Given that the President is now contesting for re-election as the President of Afghanistan, and Shia votes will also be important, it is doubtful whether this legislation will be so easily reversed; would be so ironic that a state supported by the West enshrines a massive gender bias.

Man in US jailed 83 days for missing jury duty

The United States has a system of justice that depends on jury trials for a large number of cases, based on the belief that a citizen should be judged by a jury constituted of 12 of their fellow citizens, and it is these citizens who can be depended upon to deliver a judgment. A condition of that is that every citizen can be called for jury duty, and it is only those who can show some sort of valid reason who are excluded from being on the jury. However, it was shocking when it was found that a person was jailed for 83 days for avoiding jury duty (link to article):

A man arrested for allegedly failing to appear for jury duty was released on Saturday after spending 83 days in jail, a length of detention that a judge called "unacceptable." Douglas Maupin was released a day after The Dallas Morning News brought his plight to the attention of a Collin County judge.
All American citizens and permanent residents are required to report for jury duty from time to time to supply potential jurors for court cases. District Judge Chris Oldner said he was unaware of Maupin's detention until Friday, even though the case was assigned to his court. The judge who signed the original 2003 warrant had retired, and officials said the case was assigned to the court of his replacement but the offense didn't fall under that court's responsibility.

This is part of the blind nature of the legal system. Maupin was caught as part of an earlier warrant issues in 2003 and when caught for speeding, this warrant showed up and he was jailed; further, he could not afford the bail amount.