A 10-year-old boy was set on fire and killed after he stopped a wedding procession in the northern suburbs of the Indian capital. When the boy, Sanjeev, stopped a car that had hit his bicycle and demanded compensation, the men inside got out and beat him. The drunken men then dragged him to a nearby field where they dumped him on a heap of cow-dung cakes, which are used as fuel, and set him on fire. Hundreds of villagers staged a demonstration at the police station at Alipur, where the incident occurred, and stopped the wedding. They also blocked the adjoining highway for hours in protest. Five members of the wedding party have been detained.

 

Police in the Indian resort state of Goa have charged a second man, an alleged drug dealer, with the murder of a British teenager, amid continued accusations of law enforcement links to the crime. Placido Carvalho was arrested and charged with murdering 15-year-old Scarlett Keeling, more than three weeks after her bruised and partially naked body was found on popular Anjuna beach. In the other arrest in the case, police charged 29-year-old Samson D'Souza with statutory rape.

 

KATHMANDU, Nepal

A wild elephant strayed into a village in east Nepal and trampled three people to death including a nine-year-old boy, forest officials said last week. "We are trying to drive it back into the forest so that it does not cause further human losses," said forest official Tadhi Kandel. There are about 250 elephants in Nepal, including about 100 domesticated ones that are used on safaris by private hotels and national parks. Elephants are protected by law and anyone guilty of killing one can face up to 15 years in jail.

 

In yet another case of violent vigilante justice, a suspected thief was lynched by a mob in a village in Gaya district last week. The victim, identified as Sajan Singh, was brutally beaten in Barki village after being caught allegedly breaking into a house. The police have lodged a case of murder, without identifying any suspect. The incident comes a day after a man was lynched in Methwalia village as he was allegedly trying to flee after stealing a cow. In the last two and a half months nearly a dozen cases of lynching were reported across the state.

 

A Pakistani court has quashed the last of seven corruption cases against the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, clearing the way for him to hold government office. Courts this month had dismissed six corruption cases against Asif Ali Zardari, who led his wife's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to election victory in February 18 polls and is now set to form a coalition government with other parties. Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack on December 27.

 

India's Supreme Court has shelved an arrest warrant issued against Hollywood heart-throb Richard Gere for showering kisses on Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The move clears the way for Hollywood's best-known Buddhist to meet next week with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader who has lived in northern India since fleeing Tibet. Gere tightly clasped Shetty - winner of Britain's Celebrity Big Brother reality show - and planted kisses on her cheek. The incident triggered a firestorm in India, where chaste public behaviour is a stern tradition.

 

A 24-year-old unemployed man beheaded his father and chopped the body to gain "immortality and spiritual powers," police said last week. Jitendra Singh was booked for murdering his father Kartar Singh, a 65-year-old retired railway official, at their Nabi Karim house in old Delhi. According to the police, Jitendra beheaded his father with a sharp knife and then chopped the body. He wrapped the head in a black cloth and placed it near an idol in the house. Screaming and crying, he told the police that he had been "directed by god in his dream" to sacrifice his father.?

 

Three passengers were injured when a mob of 20-25 men attacked a Blueline bus in west Delhi with sticks, rods and stones, the police said, adding the motive of the mob was not clear. "Suddenly some youths, numbering more than 30, came and without provocation started smashing the windowpanes of the bus with sticks, rods and stones," said Anil Kumar, the driver of the bus. "The men then attacked some passengers, who tried to protest. They didn't rob any one," Kumar added. Three passengers were treated in hospital.

 

Unidentified men kidnapped and robbed an Uttar Pradesh police constable at the weekend, abandoning him in an injured condition. City Superintendent of Police Vijay Bhushan said that constable Amit was on his way for duty at 5 a.m. when four armed men in acar kidnapped him. The men robbed Amit and severely beat him with iron rods when he tried to resist. Local residents found the unconscious policemen and informed the police.

 

Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan has blamed President Pervez Musharraf for Australia's move to put off its tour of Pakistan, saying the nation was paying the price for backing the US-led war on terror. "Musharraf blindly follows the US in the war against terror and we are paying the price. Because of that we are now at a stage when no one is ready to play cricket here," Imran said. The world champions temporarily cancelled their tour last week citing security fears after twin blasts rocked Lahore on Tuesday. ??