Saudi's ban on women driving officially ends
Riyadh, June 24 : Saudi women are officially allowed to get behind the wheel, after a decades-old driving ban was lifted. The change was announced last September and Saudi Arabia issued the first licences to women earlier this month, BBC reported on Sunday.
It was the only country left in the world where women could not drive and families had to hire private chauffeurs for female relatives.
However, the move comes amid an intensified crackdown on activists who campaigned for the right to drive.
At least eight women's rights activists are being detained and could face trial in a counter-terrorism court and long prison sentences for their activism, human rights group Amnesty says.
They include Loujain al-Hathloul, a well-known figure in the campaign for women's driving rights. Amnesty has also called for wider reforms in Saudi Arabia, where women remain subject to male guardianship laws.
Human rights groups in the kingdom have campaigned for years to allow women to drive.
Dozens of women were arrested for driving in Riyadh in 1990 and some Saudi women began posting videos of themselves at the wheel in 2008, and between 2011 and 2014.
Thousands of women could soon take to the roads. "It is a historic moment for every Saudi woman," Saudi television presenter said.
She said she was behind the wheel minutes after the end of the driving ban at midnight local time (21:00 GMT Saturday).
"Those days of waiting long hours for a driver are over," said pharmacy student Hatoun bin Dakhil, 21.
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Delhi: Couple with four daughters bought kidnapped male infant; five held, child rescued
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested five people, including a woman who had been absconding for seven months, for allegedly kidnapping and trafficking a toddler from Delhi's Seelampur metro station, an official said on Saturday.
The 1.5-month-old child was kidnapped in June and has been recovered safely and reunited with his mother. Police said the couple who bought the infant -- 40-year-old Dheer Singh and his wife Baneeta -- did so because they have four daughters and wanted a male child. Both have been arrested.
According to police, the main accused, Devaki (22), who had been frequently changing her hideouts for months, was finally traced to a rented accommodation in the Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh. She had allegedly kidnapped the newborn from the metro station on June 4 and later sold him for Rs 1.5 lakh in Delhi's Arya Nagar.
A case under Section 137(2) (kidnapping) of the BNS was registered at the Shastri Park Metro police station, but initial attempts to locate the infant, and the accused yielded no breakthrough. The investigation was subsequently transferred to the Anti-Theft Squad of the Metro Unit.
Technical and manual intelligence indicated Devaki's movement in Mahoba. A police team raided her hideout and arrested her, securing three days' police custody, a senior police officer said.
During interrogation, Devaki identified the others involved in the kidnapping and sale. Police said she had abducted the infant at the behest of Manju Devi (44), an Anganwadi helper in Gandhi Nagar, while the transaction was mediated by Sheela (35), a domestic worker.
Following Devaki's disclosure, the police recovered the child from the possession of Baneeta. Her husband, Dheer Singh, a private contractor, was also arrested. Both confessed to purchasing the boy as they longed for a son, officers said.
All four co-accused -- Manju, Sheela, Dheer, and Baneeta -- were arrested under the relevant sections of the BNS and the Juvenile Justice Act and were subsequently remanded to judicial custody.
The rescued child was produced before the Child Welfare Committee, which ordered that he be restored to his mother after due formalities.
Police said none of the accused has a previous criminal record. Further investigation is underway.
