For children not from their own womb, some depraved stepmothers have disquieting methods of 'disciplining' them.
Video screencap
A 12-year-old child in Yibin Sichuan whose stepmother had allegedly cruelly beaten her with a coat hanger repeatedly was emancipated from her parents on the 25th of August after being rescued by a passerby.
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For children not from their own womb, some depraved stepmothers have disquieting methods of 'disciplining' them.
A 12-year-old child in Yibin Sichuan whose stepmother had allegedly cruelly beaten her with a coat hanger repeatedly was emancipated from her parents on the 25th of August after being rescued by a passerby.
The woman who helped the girl, named Ms Zhong, saw her bowing her head on the street and went to ask if she was alright. Only then did the story of her abuse come into the light of public attention. Ms Zhong said: "[The girl] said she cried so much that no more tears can come out of her eyes anymore; her stepmother's beatings have become as routine as eating a meal."
Ms Zhong took the poor girl back to her store, where she noticed the girl's scar. To take a better look at her injuries, Ms Zhong took off the girl's clothes, revealing appaling streaks of reddish purplish streaks of bloody scars on her back. Her arms and shoulders were also swollen from beating, and her face also suffered injuries.
When the store owner asked the girl where the injuries came from, she answered, "It's my stepmother who hit me."
When interviewed by reporters, Ms Zhong said, "After I took [the girl] into my store for refuge, I opened up her clothes, and a lot of her, including private parts, were severely damaged.
"When the child described how she was abused to me, she was very calm throughout. She said that she had already gotten used to the beatings, and it was as commonplace as eating a meal."
The abused girl said during an interview, "[My stepmother] sometimes hits me with a coat hanger, at times on my mouth.
"One time when I forgot to bring my little brother along with me to the playground, she (the stepmother) bent me over, hung me up on the windowsill and beat me up, then left me there hanging for the entire night."
The police were alerted of this incident by Ms Zhong. Authorities state that the girl had accused her stepmother of child abuse, therefore, the police believe the stepmother is unfit to have guardianship over the girl ever again.
After the girl was brought to the police station, her biological mother was contacted, who rushed to the station to pick her daughter up. The case is still under investigation.
Ms Zhong, the passerby who rescued the girl (Video screencap)
The woman who helped the girl, named Ms Zhong, saw her bowing her head on the street and went to ask if she was alright. Only then did the story of her abuse come into the light of public attention. Ms Zhong said: "[The girl] said she cried so much that no more tears can come out of her eyes anymore; her stepmother's beatings have become as routine as eating a meal."
Video screencap
Ms Zhong took the poor girl back to her store, where she noticed the girl's scar. To take a better look at her injuries, Ms Zhong took off the girl's clothes, revealing appaling streaks of reddish purplish streaks of bloody scars on her back. Her arms and shoulders were also swollen from beating, and her face also suffered injuries.
Video screencap
When the store owner asked the girl where the injuries came from, she answered, "It's my stepmother who hit me."
Video screencap
When interviewed by reporters, Ms Zhong said, "After I took [the girl] into my store for refuge, I opened up her clothes, and a lot of her, including private parts, were severely damaged.
Video screencap
"When the child described how she was abused to me, she was very calm throughout. She said that she had already gotten used to the beatings, and it was as commonplace as eating a meal."
Video screencap
The abused girl said during an interview, "[My stepmother] sometimes hits me with a coat hanger, at times on my mouth.
The girl being interviewed, where she talks about her stepmother abusing her (Video screencap)
"One time when I forgot to bring my little brother along with me to the playground, she (the stepmother) bent me over, hung me up on the windowsill and beat me up, then left me there hanging for the entire night."
The girl's biological mother being interviewed (Video screencap)
The police were alerted of this incident by Ms Zhong. Authorities state that the girl had accused her stepmother of child abuse, therefore, the police believe the stepmother is unfit to have guardianship over the girl ever again.
Video screencap
After the girl was brought to the police station, her biological mother was contacted, who rushed to the station to pick her daughter up. The case is still under investigation.
Video screencap
The girl's biological mother pointed out that she had been divorced from her ex-husband for 11 years. She had always known that the girl's stepmother was 'more demanding', but she "didn't know it was so serious". She stressed, "I'll do whatever it takes to get legal custody over my daughter, never back to [her father and stepmother], it's too dangerous.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space, calling it “a dirty spectacle” that cherry picks weapons of mass destruction from all other weapons that should also be banned.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining.
The resolution would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the U.S. and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.
“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the resolution as “absolutely absurd and politicized,” and said it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.
Russia and China proposed an amendment to the U.S.-Japan draft that would call on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”
The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes required for adoption.
The U.S. opposed the amendment, and after the vote Nebenzia addressed the U.S. ambassador saying: “We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). But you don’t want that. And let me ask you that very same question. Why?”
He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”
Nebenzia accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.
Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”
She called Wednesday’s vote “a real missed opportunity to rebuild much-needed trust in existing arms control obligations.”
Thomas-Greenfield’s announcement of the resolution on March 18 followed White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.
Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”
It could destroy “thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world — and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend on,” she said.
The defeated draft resolution said “the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security.” It would have urged all countries carrying out activities in exploring and using outer space to comply with international law and the U.N. Charter.
The draft would have affirmed that countries that ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty must comply with their obligations not to put in orbit around the Earth “any objects” with weapons of mass destruction, or install them “on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space.”
The treaty, ratified by some 114 countries, including the U.S. and Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”
The draft resolution emphasized “the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.”
It reiterated that the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, has the primary responsibility to negotiate agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space.
The 65-nation body has achieved few results and has largely devolved into a venue for countries to voice criticism of others’ weapons programs or defend their own. The draft resolution would have urged the conference “to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive program of work.”
At the March council meeting where the U.S.-Japan initiative was launched, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”
He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”
“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the U.N. chief said.
United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses members of the U.N. Security Council before voting during a meeting on Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)
