According to them, the current amount between GH¢ 450 and Gh¢900 per graduate, is woefully inadequate for quality research.

The Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) in a release on the matter, lamented the delay in the release of their 2016/2017 academic year.

“The annual Bursary and Thesis Grant ranging from GH¢ 450 – GH¢900 per student; depending on one’s programme of study, is woefully inadequate for quality research work, and we plead with government to come to the aid of the graduate students by seeing to at least 50% increment in our Bursary and Thesis Grant, across board.”

The Graduate Students also urged the government to adopt technology in the application process for Bursaries and Thesis Grants to ease the stress on students.

“We also would want government to take a second look at the application process for the Bursary and Thesis Grant. In this age of technological advancement, we wish to be migrated, from the cumbersome manual process, to an electronic platform, to ease the stress on graduate students”

“The Bursary and Thesis Grant for the 2016/2017 academic year is also yet to be released, and we plead with the government to see to the quick release of the funds to aid in our research work,” the statement said.

The Graduate Students also expressed fear that their monies for the next academic year may delay due to the fact that “we are yet to receive application forms to commence the application process. We ask that the forms be released on time to commence the process of application.”

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The case is currently under investigation at the Tema Division of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU).

A family member of the alleged victim told Citi News on condition of anonymity,that the alleged victim had told him that “she couldn’t sit properly” and had problems walking as well.

He added that the victim needs serious medical attention which the family was unable to afford.

He said he was disappointed that the suspect has been granted bail after his arrest on July 18.

He also alleged that the doctor’s position and influence contributed to his release.

Lawyer Oscar Asante, Dr. Wood’s counsel, had argued that the charge preferred against his client was a fab­rication, explaining that his client and the victim had been dating and that the victim consented before the sex act.

However, the victim’s relative is convinced of the suspect’s guilt and  says that he expects him to be severely dealt with to serve as a deterrent to other people.

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A spokesman for President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the request was made by the Egyptian embassy in Washington.

The woman asked for the video to be taken down when Mr Sisi visited her in hospital on Wednesday, he said.

YouTube has not yet responded to news of the request.

The graphic video, which apparently shows a woman being stripped naked and attacked in the capital’s Tahrir Square, went viral earlier this week.

A string of assaults during the recent celebrations have caused uproar.

‘Horrifying’

State-run television showed the president personally apologising to a victim, whose identity has been kept anonymous, at a military hospital in Cairo on Wednesday.

The woman was seen asking Mr Sisi to have the video of the attack removed from the video-sharing website.

“My daughter watches it every day and collapses,” she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

On Tuesday, a presidential spokesman said Mr Sisi had ordered officials to enforce a new law making sexual assault a crime for the first time.

The law decrees that those found guilty of harassment in public or private will face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($6,990; £4,160).

Women’s rights groups have accused the authorities of failing to address the issue of sexual harassment.

A 2013 UN study said that nine out of 10 Egyptian women had experienced some form of sexual assault, ranging from minor harassment to rape.

Human rights campaigners have describe the extent of the problem in Egypt as “horrifying”.

Incidents have soared in the three years since the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

Source: BBC

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Police Sergeant Emmanuel Agbafe told the court that at about 8p.m. on May 28, 2014, the victim and others attended an all-night prayer meeting where the presiding pastor, Rev. Newton, told her in  confidence that he had a vision about her during the prayer time.

According to Sgt. Agbafe, Newton told the victim that her grandmother had given her some evil beads which she was wearing and invited her to come to his house for counselling and deliverance.

At about 8:40 a.m.the next day, the victim went to Newton’s place and he told her to remove the beads around her waist, but she declined on the grounds that she was a married woman and therefore preferred him coming over to her house instead,’ the prosecutor stated.

Sgt. Agbafe said the suggestion by the victim angered Newton who pulled a knife with which he tore the victim’s beads after pulling down her slit and demanded for sex which she declined.

‘Newton then shoved the victim onto his bed and threatened to kill her if she dared scream. He eventually succeeded in  carnally knowing her,’ Sgt. Agbafe said.

The prosecutor added that after the act, Newton apologised for what he had done and begged the victim not to disclose it to anyone.

The apology notwithstanding, the victim reported the matter to the Nyakrom Police who gave her a medical report form to go to the hospital after which Newton was arrested .

The prosecutor said the case was later referred to the Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit, (DOVVSU), of the Agona Swedru Divisional Police Command, where Newton admitted to the offence. He was, therefore, charged with the offence of rape contrary to Section 97 of the Criminal Offences Act 29/60.

When he appeared in court on Thursday, June 2, 2014, the Magistrate, Mr Isaac Apeatu, did not take Newton’s plea and remanded him until June 23, pending a directive from the Attorney-General’s Department.

Source: Daily Graphic

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Freedom From Torture said medical reports of 34 women showed many of them had been brutally gang-raped.

The women – who included traders and professionals aged between 18 and 62 – are seeking asylum in the UK.

DR Congo spokesman Lambert Mende said he would respond to the charity’s claims if it gave more details.

In its report, Freedom From Torture said one woman was arrested and raped after organising a protest against rape.

It said another women had “documented 68 scars attributable to torture. Fifty-six of these scars were attributable to a specific instance of gang-rape”.

The group’s Dr Juliet Cohen told the BBC: “There are some striking consistencies in the experiences of sexual violence and torture of the women in this report which strongly suggests that this horrific abuse is being routinely carried out in prisons in the DRC.”

‘Not human beings’

DR Congo is often dubbed the “rape capital of the world”, with rights groups saying that rape and sexual violence has become a weapon of war since conflict broke out in the early 1990s.

In May, two soldiers were convicted of rape by a military court in eastern DR Congo, where numerous armed groups still operate.

Thirteen other officers were cleared of the charge.

Freedom from Torture said women were raped by security force members to stop “women speaking out about politics, human rights and, in some cases, rape itself”.

One woman, named as Faith in the report, said security force members raided her home in early 2013 after she organised an anti-rape protest in the western province of Bas Congo, some 2,000km (1,100 miles) from the conflict zones.

“One of them said: ‘You are talking about rape, now we’ll show you what rape means’. They raped my niece in front of us. Then they took me to prison,” she is quoted as saying in the report.

“Now I know, because I have been there, that it is normal for women to be sexually abused in prison… The soldiers and the prison guards, they don’t see women as human beings, they don’t see any value in women. I can’t even remember how many times I was raped,” she added.

Since her arrival in the UK, Faith has been admitted to hospital, Freedom From Torture said.

“She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and she no longer likes being around other people,” it added.

Source: BBC

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They were also charged with criminal conspiracy, police said, adding that three people had been arrested so far.

The government has pledged to set up a fast-track court to prosecute the crime, which took place earlier this week in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Alleged police inaction sparked outrage in the teenagers’ village.

The father of one victim told the BBC he was ridiculed by police when he sought help in finding his missing daughter.

He said that when policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they “refused to look for my girl”.

Authorities said on Friday that they were still looking for two other suspects.

Meanwhile, reports are emerging that two more gang rapes of minors occurred in the state this week.

‘You are safe’

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh reacted angrily when asked about the rising number of rape cases at a news briefing.

“You are safe, why are you bothered?” Akhilesh Yadav told a journalist.

“No other state has the kind of police control room we have here. If there is any incident, we will take action.”

Senior police official Atul Saxena earlier announced there would be a “thorough investigation” into the allegations of caste discrimination by police.

Divisions between India’s castes run deep, and violence is often used by upper castes to instil fear in lower castes, correspondents say.

Although both the victim and the accused in the latest case belonged to a group known as “Other Backward Classes”, the victims were lower in that hierarchy.

The girls, two cousins aged 14 and 16, went missing in Badaun district on Tuesday night. They had apparently gone out to relieve themselves as they had no toilet at home.

Their bodies were discovered the following day. A post-mortem examination confirmed multiple sexual assaults and death due to hanging.

Campaigners have highlighted the lack of sanitation in rural areas as being a risk to women’s security as well as their health, as they are often attacked when having to go out to use the toilet, particularly at night.

Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.

The government tightened laws on sexual violence last year after widespread protests following the attack.

Fast-track courts were brought to the fore to deal with rape and the death penalty was also brought in for the most extreme cases.

Some women’s groups argue that the low conviction rate for rape should be challenged with more effective policing rather than stiffer sentences.

Source: BBC

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The Agona Swedru Division of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service has arrested a 17 year–old form one student of the Nsaba Presbyterian Senior High School (SHS), for raping a 20-year old teacher-trainee at Agona Asafo.

Source: Graphic Online

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