Seven illegal Indian nationals arrested near US/Canada border to be deported
New York(PTI): Seven Indian nationals, who entered the US illegally and were arrested near the US/Canada border last week, will be deported to India after they were released from US Border Patrol's custody.
All seven migrants who illegally entered the United States last week were administratively processed for removal and/or placed into removal proceedings as per the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to a statement by the US Customs and Border Protection.
The statement added that six of the seven Indian nationals were placed under an Order of Supervision and one was released on an Order of Recognisance for humanitarian purposes.
All the migrants have been released from Border Patrol's custody and ordered to report to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a later date, the statement added.
The seven Indian nationals, reportedly from Gujarat, were apprehended last week by US authorities near the US/Canada border. Steve Shand, 47, has been charged with human smuggling.
Shand was arrested on January 19 less than one mile south of the US/Canadian border in a rural area between the official ports of entry located at Lancaster, Minnesota and Pembina, North Dakota.
He was driving a 15-passenger van and was transporting two Indian nationals, who were present in the US illegally.
While Shand and the two passengers were being transported to the Pembina Border Patrol Station in North Dakota, law enforcement encountered five additional Indian nationals approximately a quarter mile south of the Canadian border walking in the direction of where Shand was arrested. All seven Indians were then arrested by border authorities.
The five Indian nationals told authorities that they had walked across the border from Canada expecting to be picked up by someone.
The group said it had been walking around for over 11 hours. One of the group members was carrying a backpack that did not belong to him.
He told authorities that he was carrying the backpack for a family of four Indian nationals that had earlier walked with his group but had become separated during the night.
The backpack contained children's clothes, a diaper, toys, and some children's medication.
Later during the day on January 19, Canadian authorities found the bodies of the four Indian nationals near Emerson, Manitoba, approximately 12 metres from the Canada/US border.
The deceased family members have been identified as Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, 11 and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, 3.
Identities of the victims were confirmed by Canadian authorities and autopsies were completed on January 26.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Manitoba has confirmed that the cause of death was due to exposure, a statement from Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Thursday.
The criminal complaint against Shand had added that two of the seven Indian nationals arrested sustained serious injuries.
A male adult and female adult were taken to the hospital for suspected frostbite. The male was later released from the hospital, but the female was life-flighted to a larger hospital and will likely require partial amputation of one hand from exposure to extreme cold weather conditions. The female also stopped breathing several times while being transported by Border Patrol, the complaint had said.
Authorities have said the weather in the area was severe, with high winds, blowing snow and temperatures well below sub zero. The area is also known by Border Patrol as a high incident area for human smuggling.
Shand is charged with one count of knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law, having transported, and moved or having attempted to transport and move such aliens.
The complaint said that all the seven nationals arrested spoke Gujarati, a language spoken in Gujarat in western India. Most had limited or no English language speaking ability.
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Deaf and mute woman breaks 16-year silence, exposes serial sexual abuse, blackmail in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): A deaf and mute woman's complaint about a sexual assault that took place 16 years ago in Mumbai has unmasked a serial predator, revealing a disturbing pattern of abuse and blackmail he perpetrated on several women from the community.
The accused was arrested on December 13 after the survivor broke her silence recently following the suicide attempt by one of the women he allegedly sexually harassed.
Disturbed by the suicide attempt, she confided in her friends during a video call about the assault that occurred in 2009.
According to the police, the survivor, a resident of the western suburbs, communicated in sign language during a video call with her friends and colleagues, who were part of a WhatsApp group, that the accused had drugged and raped her when she was a minor.
She also took her husband into confidence, and with support from Thane Deaf Association president Vaibhav Ghaisis, activist Mohammed Farhan Khan, sign language interpreter Madhu Keni, and a retired officer from the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities Divyangjan, the survivor approached the police.
The survivor, her husband and a few of her friends went to the Kurar police station, where her statement was recorded in camera, with Keni as interpreter, and the accused, Mahesh Pawar, was arrested a few hours later from Virar, a suburb in Palghar district.
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Recalling the trauma she endured 16 years ago, the survivor said that a female friend had invited her to explore the city in July 2009 and took her to Pawar's home in Vakola, Santacruz, an official said.
The accused allegedly offered her samosas and some beverage to celebrate the female friend's birthday. The survivor said she was forced to have the drink, which Pawar had allegedly spiked, and after a while, her friend left her alone with him.
The accused allegedly overpowered and raped her, and later blackmailed her with the recorded video of the assault.
The trauma of assault stayed with her over the years, and the attempted suicide of another woman from the community, allegedly assaulted by Pawar, propelled her to come forward.
A probe has revealed that the accused had similarly drugged and assaulted speech and hearing impaired women and threatened them into silence by blackmailing them with obscene videos, a senior police officer said.
The accused allegedly shot obscene videos of several women, using which he blackmailed them and extorted money, gold and mobile phones, he said.
He allegedly forced women into participating in nude video calls with him and recorded these to threaten them, the official said.
"As per initial investigation so far, we have evidence of his abuse of seven women, but the number can increase to more than 24," the official told PTI.
While Pawar has been remanded in judicial custody, no other woman has come forward with a complaint against him as yet, he said.
Talking to PTI, Keni said all women who have survived abuse and harassment by Pawar want to lodge a complaint against him.
She claimed that the accused had extorted money from one of the women he abused, but did not return the sum even when she needed it for a medical emergency.
