New Delhi – Three men have been arrested after video emerged showing them assaulting two women in broad daylight as a dozen others looked on and ignored their screams for help, police said Monday.　

The blurry video aired by Indian television showed the men groping and pushing the women in Uttar Pradesh state as onlookers laughed and filmed the assault, later posting it on social media.　

The incident took place last week in a remote village in Rampur district when the men surrounded the two women, whose ages and identities have not been revealed.　

“We have arrested three of the main culprits and expect to get the fourth one shortly,” Mohammad Tariq, a senior Rampur police official, told AFP.　

Police have analysed the footage and concluded there were four main attackers but they would be investigating the others who gathered to watch, Tariq added.　

One of the victims told India’s NDTV network they begged the men to stop and called for help.　

“But nobody came, rather some more men came and joined the others in harassing us,” she said, covering her face with a scarf to hide her identity.　

Police have charged the three men with sexual harassment and offences under India’s internet laws for sharing the video on social media.　

India has a terrible record of rape and sexual assault, and rights groups accuse authorities of failing swiftly to bring offenders to justice.　

Uttar Pradesh’s new leader Yogi Adiyanath, who came to power in March, sought to tackle the scourge through “anti-Romeo squads” — police units tasked with patrolling the streets ostensibly to protect women.　

But the squads themselves quickly came under fire after revelations they were harassing young couples in parks and colleges and publicly shaming them.　

Azam Khan, a former Uttar Pradesh minister, invoked outrage in the wake of the latest assault when he suggested women stay indoors to avoid “misbehaving” men.　

“People should ensure that women of their house stay indoors as much as possible,” he said, describing Uttar Pradesh as “lawless”.　

LAHORE: Two government teachers allegedly pushed a class-IX girl student from the third floor of the school building in Shahdara, causing her life-threatening injuries.

The teachers, who have been booked for attempted murder case, reported to have committed the crime after the girl refused to “clean the classroom on her turn”.

The 14-year-old Fajjar Noor is battling for her life at Ghurki Hospital, Lahore. Doctors say she has multiple fractures and her spinal cord is also broken. Her parents, present at the hospital, are in a state of disbelief and have expressed their shock as to how teachers could turn so inhuman. They want ‘Khadim-e-Ala’ not only to provide best medical care to her but also ensure [stern] action against her tormentors.

The incident took place at the City District Government Girls School, Kot Shahabdin, Shahdara.

Punjab Secretary Education (schools) Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik confirmed to Dawn on Sunday that two senior teachers – Rehana Kausar and Bushra Tufail – first inflicted corporal punishment on Fajjar Noor and then took her to top (third) floor of the school building and pushed her down.

“The incident took place on May 23 but the school administration and some other officials kept it secret from the education department.

“We came to know about [the incident] on Saturday evening. A departmental inquiry has been launched and the matter has also been referred to the Chief Minister Inspection Team for a thorough probe.

“The chief minister has immediately placed District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Ehsan Malik, Deputy DEO Tayyaba Butt and Headmistress Naghmana Irshad under suspension for hiding the incident. Both teachers have also been suspended and they will be proceeded under the Punjab Employees Efficiency and Disciplinary Act,” he said.

Dr Malik said the government would not only bring the teachers to justice but also bear full expenses of the girl’s treatment. “Noor’s life is out of danger and doctors are trying their best that she could walk again,” he said.

But Noor’s parents are not satisfied with the government’s efforts so far.

“Although Dr Malik visited us and tried to allay our concerns. The CM should come and see my daughter’s condition…she is in extreme pain,” Rukhsana Bibi, Noor’s mother, told this reporter.

Talking about as to how the school administration covered up the incident, she said: “It informed us that Noor fell from stairs and sustained serious injuries. When we reached the Mayo Hospital, doctors told us that she had multiple fractures. Her spinal cord was also broken. They asked us to shift her to the Spine Centre at Ghurki Hospital for better treatment.”

After regaining consciousness at Mayo, Noor said: “My class teachers Bushra and Rehana ordered me to clean the classroom as today (May 23) was my turn to do so. I told them that I was not feeling well and she would do it some other day. On this they took me to another room and started slapping me. Then they took me to the rooftop and ordered me to clean it (roof). When I argued, they pushed me from the rooftop.”

Noor is second among her five siblings – three girls and two boys. Her father Muhammad Akbar is a van driver.

“I have not been going to work since May 24. At the moment I am concerned about the health of my daughter who wants to be a doctor. She is battling for her life because of her teachers. This is tormenting,” Akbar said and urged the chief minister to visit his daughter.

On the other hand, the Shahdara Town police have registered FIR against the teachers under section 324 (attempted murder). “Police teams are raiding their residences, however no arrest has been made so far,” a police official said.

Marawi – Security forces traded heavy gunfire with Islamist militants inside a southern Philippine city Monday, as fears grew for up to 2,000 people unable to escape a week of fighting that has left women and children among the dead.　

President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law across the southern third of the Philippines shortly after the fighting erupted, warning the gunmen were involved in an effort by the Islamic State group to set up a local caliphate.　

But street-to-street battles and a relentless military bombing campaign has so far failed to end the crisis in Marawi, one of the biggest Muslim cities in the mainly Catholic Philippines, and authorities expressed alarm about the fate of those trapped.　

“They are texting us and calling us for help,” Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesman for the provincial crisis management committee, said of the 2,000 people his office had recorded being unable to leave areas held by the militants.　

“They can’t leave because they are afraid of running into checkpoints put up by the gunmen.”　

Authorities said the gunmen had already murdered at least 19 civilians, including women and children, while 17 members of the security forces had died in the clashes and 61 militants were killed.　

Eight bodies were found on Sunday morning dumped off a bridge on the outskirts of Marawi, which is normally a bustling city of 200,000 people known as a centre of Islamic culture and education.　

Myrna Bandung, a Catholic woman, told reporters at a checkpoint on Monday as she accompanied one of those bodies out of the city that she had been with the eight when they were murdered.　

“They did not kill me because I was able to recite a Muslim prayer. The others were not so lucky,” a visibly shocked Bandung said.　

Most of the city’s residents had fled to nearby towns.　

But adding to the fears for those who remained, the military announced on the weekend that it would intensify a bombing campaign on the areas being held by the militants.　

When asked on Monday about fears of civilians being bombed, military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla told reporters that airstrikes would be done with precision.　

However he said the bombings would continue in whichever areas the militants were hiding.　

Meanwhile, an AFP reporter heard intense gunfire on Monday afternoon near the main university in Marawi, and saw smoke apparently from a bomb explosion rise up in the distance.　

Raid backfires 

The violence began when dozens of gunmen went on a rampage throughout Marawi in response to an attempt by security forces to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as the local leader of IS.　

The United States regards Hapilon as one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists and has offered a bounty of $5 million for his capture.　

The gunmen on Tuesday planted black IS flags, took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage from a church, and set fire to buildings. The fate of those hostages remained unknown.　

Duterte and military chiefs have said most of the militants belong to the local Maute group, which has declared allegiance to IS and which the government estimates has about 260 armed followers.　

Malaysia, Indonesian, Singaporean and other foreign fighters had joined them, the military said.　

Padilla said Monday that some of the more than 100 inmates who had escaped a local jail during the initial rampage last week were also suspected to have joined the fighting.　

He said some of those who escaped were members of the Maute group.　

Duterte had previously said local criminals were also backing the Maute in Marawi.　

Cooperation between Islamist militants, criminals and corrupt politicians is common across Mindanao, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has claimed more than 120,000 lives since the 1970s.　

The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging a final peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy.　

The Maute and other small hardline groups are not interested in negotiating and have in recent years looked to IS to help them.　

Duterte said Saturday he was prepared to enforce martial law for as long as was necessary to end the terrorist threat, and even ignore constitutionally mandated safeguards such as Supreme Court and congressional oversight.　

The Philippine city of Iligan was overflowing with evacuees and on lockdown on Monday over fears Islamist militants had sneaked out of nearby Marawi, where troops were battling to drive out gunmen holed up in buildings for a seventh day.

The fighting in the city of Marawi with pro-Islamic State militants of the Maute group is the biggest security challenges of Rodrigo Duterte’s 11-month presidency, with gunmen still holding parts of the city and fending off helicopter air strikes and ground attacks by commandos.

Most of Marawi’s 200,000 people have left, many pouring into Iligan, some 38 km (24 miles) away, where authorities said they were stretched to the limit and worried that Maute fighters were blending in with the displaced and could launch attacks.

“We don’t want what’s happening in Marawi to spill over in Iligan,” said Colonel Alex Aduca, chief of the Fourth Mechanized Infantry Battalion.

“We want to ensure the safety of people here, to prevent elements from entering and conducting terroristic activities,” he told DZMM radio.

He said some rebels had been caught trying to get into Iligan, but did not give details.

Sixty-one militants, 20 members of the security forces and 19 civilians have been killed since Tuesday, when Maute rebels went on the rampage in Marawi after a botched attempt by the military to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, who the government believes is a point man for Islamic State in the Philippines.

The ability of the Maute group to fight off the military for so long will add to fears that Islamic State’s radical ideology is spreading in the southern Philippines, and it could become a haven for militants from Indonesia, Malaysia and beyond.

The military believes the Maute carried out their assault before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to capture the attention of Islamic State and earn its recognition as a Southeast Asian affiliate.

Witnesses in Marawi said they had seen militants flying the Islamic State flag and wearing black outfits and headbands typical of the group.

CIVILIANS STRANDED

Troops on the streets of Marawi fired at Maute snipers as smoke poured out of several buildings.

Trucks loaded with marines arrived to reinforce soldiers guarding deserted streets as helicopters circulated above the lakeside city surrounded by jungle-clad hills.

The military said the Maute group was still present in nine of the city’s 96 Barangays, or communities. Thousands of people were stranded, worried they could be intercepted by militants that have set up checkpoints on routes out of the city.

Civilians stuck in Marawi were without food and were as anxious about rocket strikes as much as they were the militants, said Zia Alonto Adiong, a politician coordinating efforts to evacuate civilians.

He said there were still dead bodies in Marawi and civilians wanted the military to stop air strikes.

“The anticipation of death is worse than death itself,” he said in a television interview. “We appeal to our military forces to do a different approach.”

Bodies of what appeared to be executed civilians were found in a ravine outside a Marawi on Sunday as the crisis took a more sinister turn. Most of the eight men were shot in the head and some had bound hands.

The army said it was possible more “atrocities” had taken place.

Duterte imposed martial law last week on Mindanao, an island of 22 million people where both Marawi and Iligan are located, to quell the unrest and wipe out militancy.

Some rights activists and lawmakers say martial law across the island is an overreaction that will increase the risk of human rights abuses by security forces.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the imposition of martial law was necessary, and constitutional.

“It started flying the flag of the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria in several areas, thereby openly attempting to remove from the allegiance to the Philippine government this part of Mindanao,” Abella told reporters.

“This constitutes the crime of rebellion.”

Jakarta – Kaesang Pangarep, the President’s youngest son and an ardent vlogger, commented in his latest vlog on a video that had gone viral showing groups of children chanting “Kill Ahok now” in a night parade just before Ramadhan began.

The children in the video were referring to non-active Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy by the North Jakarta District Court on May 9.

“How come children like them have already learned to spread hatred? […] Who taught them that?,” said Kaesang in his vlog, which is titled #BapakMintaProyek (#FatherAsksforProject).

Kaesang also criticised sectarian sentiment in the recent Jakarta gubernatorial election.

“We need to work together to build a better Indonesia, not by slandering each other or claiming others as infidels. Moreover, there was campaign to not provide proper burial rites to Muslims on the basis of voting preferences, how did that come about?”

In the last part of his vlog, Kaesang calls for tolerance.

“We are Indonesia, we live in diversity.”

The two-minute-and-forty-second video, uploaded on YouTube on Saturday, has been viewed more than 240,000 times as of Monday.

Jakarta – Amelia Deva Puspita, 17, a resident of Pejompongan, Tanah Abang, in Central Jakarta, was allegedly locked up for nearly two days by Hendra Kurniawan, 22, an unemployed man she recently met on Facebook, the police have said.

Amelia’s mother, Suharmi, 51, said her daughter asked her permission to go out on Tuesday afternoon but did not return home that evening. Family members attempted to locate Amelia but she was not contactable by phone.

Suharmi then directly filed a report to the Jakarta Police after being informed by Lia, 17, that she received a message from Amelia on Thursday saying that Hendra had locked her up, tribunnews.com reported.

“In the message, Amelia was asking for help because a man she had just met locked him up,” Palmerah Police chief Comr. Armunanto Hutahean said.

The police quickly followed up on the report and discovered that Amelia was locked up in a rented house in the Kemanggisan area in West Jakarta, where Hendra was arrested, he said.

“Hendra and Amelia only knew each other via Facebook. They made an appointment to meet up and Hendra picked her up at her house,” Armunanto said, adding that Hendra then locked her up at his rented house because Amelia refused to give him money.