New York: Two sisters allegedly beat a three-year-old boy to death with a baseball bat for stealing a cupcake in the US city of Atlanta, police said.

According to police Kejuan Mason had sneaked the cupcake from the kitchen while at home with Glenndria and Lashirley Morris. Lashirley then beat the child with a baseball bat while her sister Glenndria, his legal guardian, slapped him with her hand.

The child died of blunt force trauma to his head and his torso, a hospital official said.

However, the Morris sisters had given conflicting accounts of what happened on October 31, 2017, initially claiming he had choked on the cupcake.

The sisters were charged with two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of cruelty in the first-degree. They face life in prison without parole if found guilty.

According to reports, the child's mother had lost custody of her son when she lost her home, but she was attempting to get him back.

She had even asked a judge to remove Mason from Glenndria's care when she noticed he had scratches and bruises, but her request was denied three days before the child died, a newspaper report said.

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New Delhi  (PTI): A Private Member's Bill seeking a clear legal framework for regulation of deepfakes has been introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The Regulation of Deepfake Bill, introduced by Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde in the House on Friday, aims to protect citizens by mandating prior consent from individuals depicted in deepfake content.

"Misuse of deepfakes for harassment, deception and misinformation has escalated, creating an urgent need for regulatory safeguards," Shinde said.

The Bill also lists penalties for offenders creating or disseminating deepfake content with malicious intent.

"With advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, deepfake technology has emerged as a significant tool for media manipulation. While the technology has potential applications in education, entertainment and creative fields, it also poses severe risks when misused, threatening individual privacy, national security and public trust," Shinde said in the statement of objects and reasons in the Bill.

The proposed Bill seeks to establish a clear legal framework to govern the creation, distribution and application of deepfakes in India, said Shinde, a three-term Lok Sabha member from Kalyan.

The Bill also seeks to establish the Deepfake Task Force, a dedicated body to combat national security implications and evaluate the influence of deepfakes on privacy, civic participation, and potential election interference.

The task force will collaborate with academic and private sector institutions to develop technologies that detect manipulated content, thereby promoting credibility in digital media.

The Bill also proposes to establish a fund to support public and private sector initiatives in the detection and deterrence of advanced image manipulation.

A Private Member's Bill is a procedure of Parliament that enables lawmakers, who are not ministers, to draw attention to issues that might not be represented in Government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework that require legislative intervention.