Indian 'yoga guru' held in Australia for assaulting two women
Melbourne, May 8: A self-proclaimed spiritual leader from India has been arrested and remanded in custody in Australia for allegedly assaulting two women who invited him to their homes for prayers in Sydney.
Anand Giri, 38, was arrested from the western suburb of Oxley Park in Sydney early on Sunday and was subsequently charged with two counts of committing an act of indecency on two women on separate occasions, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) news website reported.
He was due to fly overseas on Monday after completing a six-week spiritual teaching tour.
According to the New South Wales police, the man attended a house in Rooty Hill to participate in Hindu prayers on New Year's Day in 2016 where he met a 29-year-old woman and allegedly assaulted her in a bedroom.
"While in the bedroom of the home, the man has allegedly indecently assaulted the woman," police said in a statement.
It was also alleged that the accused man also attended a home in Rooty Hill in 2018 where he met a 34-year-old woman in the lounge room of the home for prayers and indecently assaulted her.
Police said that officers from Mt Druitt Police Area Command were notified and commenced investigations.
After being denied bail over concerns that "more women victims could be at risk if released", he was remanded in custody.
He will appear at Mt Druitt Local Court on June 26.
Both the complainants were known to the 'yogi', police said.
Giri hails from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
According to his website, the primary objective of his life is to "provide life solutions to people and to be a change agent in the society".
He organises several spiritual teaching lessons and yoga classes throughout the year in India and abroad.
He is a graduate and is currently pursuing his doctorate in Yoga Tantra, according to his website.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
