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Tag: hanging
Robin Williams Hanged Himself In Bedroom With A Belt, Sheriff Says

Robin Williams Hanged Himself In Bedroom With A Belt, Sheriff Says

By James Queally, Los Angeles Times

Actor and comedian Robin Williams committed suicide by hanging himself after first apparently trying to slash one of his wrists, authorities said Tuesday.

Marin County sheriff’s Lt. Keith Boyd said Williams hanged himself with a belt in his bedroom, where he was found by his personal assistant shortly before noon on Monday.

Williams was found “in a seated position” in his bedroom shortly after 11:45 a.m., Boyd said.

The 63-year-old actor was discovered with a pocket knife nearby, Boyd said, and had suffered several cuts to his wrist that may have been self-inflicted.

Williams was last seen at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area community of Tiburon at 10 p.m. Sunday. His body was discovered at about noon Monday, sheriff’s officials have said.

His wife left the couple’s home around 10:30 a.m., believing Williams was still sleeping, according to Boyd. Williams’ personal assistant became concerned when Williams failed to answer several knocks to his bedroom door at 11:45 a.m., and discovered his body moments later.

While officials are awaiting the results of an autopsy to confirm the cause of the actor’s death, investigators said Monday that they believe Williams appeared to have committed suicide and died of asphyxiation.

Williams, whose career took off after he appeared as an alien in the sitcom “Mork & Mindy” and rose to prominence through a mixture of comedic and maudlin roles, had long struggled with depression as well as alcohol and cocaine abuse. He had recently entered a rehabilitation program.

Boyd declined to say whether Williams left a suicide note, and said the results of a toxicology screen would not be available for several weeks.

Photo: Los Angeles Times/MCT/Ricardo DeAratanha

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Indian Cousins Found Hanging From Tree After Gang-Rape: Police

Indian Cousins Found Hanging From Tree After Gang-Rape: Police

Lucknow (India) (AFP) – Two teenage girls have been found hanging from a tree in a northern Indian village after they were gang-raped by five men, police said Thursday.

A postmortem report indicated that the cousins from the low-caste Dalit community, aged 14 and 15, hanged themselves late Tuesday after being attacked in a village in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh state.

“The report suggests ante-mortem hanging, which means the girls probably committed suicide. But we will take into account all aspects before coming to a conclusion,” Atul Saxena, Budaun police chief, told AFP.

The prime accused Pappu, who goes by one name, was arrested after an initial police complaint was registered by the girls’ relatives against five men for gang-rape, murder and child sexual abuse, Saxena said.

“A team of around 50 police officers is on the lookout for the absconding accused,” he added.

Saxena could not confirm the exact ages of the accused, but said they were in their “late teens.”

The incident sparked protests by the victims’ families and villagers, who accused the police of apathy early on Wednesday when the bodies were discovered.

The attack is the latest to highlight India’s dismal record on preventing sexual violence, despite tougher laws and efforts to change attitudes towards women after the fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi in December 2012 shook the nation’s conscience.

Earlier this year, a young girl was gang-raped in a remote village in West Bengal state on orders from tribal village elders who objected to her relationship with a Muslim man.

©afp.com / Raveendran

Teacher Placed On Leave After Allegation Of Mock Hanging

Teacher Placed On Leave After Allegation Of Mock Hanging

By Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — A California charter school teacher has been placed on leave after allegedly singling out an African-American student to demonstrate a hanging during a class trip.

Scharrell Jackson says a teacher at Oxford Preparatory Academy in Mission Viejo volunteered her 14-year-old son, the only African-American in his class, to participate in a simulated hanging during a living history field trip about the Civil War.

“I don’t think any child, especially an African-American child, given our heritage … should be called to participate in that,” Jackson said.

“If a child chooses to participate, so be it. But my child did not make that choice.”

Keith Fink, the attorney for the Orange County school, said the teacher was placed on leave, and an investigation was conducted and is now complete. He declined to say whether the teacher would return to the job, saying only that another instructor is now in the classroom and that “the school year is almost over.”

“A field trip that was designed with the best of intentions to educate the students about a very important period in U.S. History is being falsely turned into some sort of racial event,” Fink said in an email.

“You can ask any of the students that were on the field trip, the parent chaperons or the employee from Riley’s Farm — all will tell you that the student was not asked to do this.”

James Riley, chief executive of Riley’s Farm in Yucaipa, Calif., where the school field trip took place, said in a statement that the demonstration was about military discipline and the punishment soldiers faced for desertion. During the session, a historian asked the teacher to pick children to participate “who like drama and who can speak before a group of people.”

During the demonstration, the historian holds a noose as a prop.

“It is NEVER put over a child’s head,” the statement said. “We understand, of course, that certain images (the Confederate States flag and uniform, for example) can be seen as offensive to some groups. However, there is simply no way to conduct a living history teaching experience without using the clothing and props of the era.”

Jackson said whether the noose was placed over her son’s head is beside the point.

“I think that particular station and them having a child put their head in the noose, whether they put it in there or not is irrelevant, the bottom line is to have an African-American boy stand up there … lacks judgment. Period,” she said.

Jackson said she learned about the incident the day after the late April field trip, when her son did not want to go to school and said he did not believe his teacher liked him. She said the alleged incident is not the first time her son has been subjected to racial insensitivity from the teacher.

Jackson took her concerns to the Orange County Human Relations Commission, whose members are appointed by the Board of Supervisors and OC League of Cities to deal with issues of prejudice and discrimination in the county. Executive Director Rusty Kennedy met with Jackson and the school’s principal the day after the incident.

The noose is particularly fraught as a symbol of hate toward African Americans, Kennedy said. “To use them lightly, make fun of them, we all need to know better than that.

“Only 2% of the population in Orange County is African American. There needs to be some awareness,” he said.

Jackson said the school should have handled her concerns with more sensitivity. She initially complained to the school’s principal the day after the incident, but the teacher was not placed on leave until she reached out to representatives of the Capistrano Unified School District, which approves charter schools to operate in the district, she said.

“The educational institution is supposed to be a place where not only children go to learn but they are supposed to be able to build their self-esteem, to build their character,” Jackson said.

Fink, the school’s attorney, said the incident has  been blown out of proportion.

“The mother who was not present at the event has made numerous false statements to the media,” he said in an email. “The whole issue her(e) should be a non issue. Field trips are wonderful outings where all students have the ability for a culturally enriching experience.”

Man Who Oversaw Saddam Hanging Recalls Dictator’s End

Man Who Oversaw Saddam Hanging Recalls Dictator’s End

Baghdad (AFP) – Mowaffak al-Rubaie sits in his office with a statue of Saddam Hussein behind him, the rope used to hang the dictator around its neck, recalling his final minutes.

The former national security advisor, who oversaw Saddam’s 2006 execution, said he remained strong until the end, and never expressed any regret.

“A criminal? True. A killer? True. A butcher? True. But he was strong until the end.

“I received him (Saddam) at the door. No one entered with us — no foreigners, and no Americans,” Rubaie said in an interview with AFP at his office in the Kadhimiyah area of north Baghdad, near the prison where the execution took place seven years ago.

“He was wearing a jacket and a white shirt, normal and relaxed, and I didn’t see any signs of fear.

“Of course, some people want me to say that he collapsed or that he was drugged, but these facts are for history,” Rubaie said.

“I didn’t hear any regret from him, I didn’t hear any request for mercy from God from him, or request for pardon.

“A person who is about to die usually says, ‘God, forgive my sins — I am coming to you.’ But he never said any of that,” Rubaie told AFP.

Saddam Hussein, who ruled Iraq for more than two decades marked by brutal repression, disastrous wars and punishing international sanctions, was hanged after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite villagers in Dujail.

He was president from July 1979 until the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and was found by American forces hiding in a hole on a farm in December of that year.

Saddam was executed three years later on December 30, 2006 after a summary trial.

Some Iraqis, particularly Sunni Arabs, look back fondly on the time of Saddam’s rule, especially the periods of internal stability that stand in stark contrast to the brutal violence that has plagued the country since his overthrow.

Saddam is also held in high regard by some Arabs for his 1980-88 war with Iran, his confrontations with the United States, his strikes against Israel, and his composure during his execution, which was recorded on mobile phone videos.

‘This is for men’

“When I brought him, he was handcuffed and holding a Koran,” said Rubaie, ignoring the statue of Saddam behind him, which depicts the dictator dressed in a uniform bearing the insignia of his exclusive military rank.

“I took him to the judge’s room, where he read the list of indictments, as Saddam repeated: ‘Death to America! Death to Israel! Long live Palestine! Death to the Persian magi!”

Rubaie then took Saddam to the room in which he was to die.

“He stopped, looked at the gallows, then he looked me up and down… and said: ‘Doctor, this is for men’.”

When it was time for Saddam to mount the gallows, his legs were still bound, so Rubaie and others had to drag him up the steps.

Just before he was hanged, witnesses taunted him with shouts of “Long live Imam Mohammed Baqr al-Sadr!” and “Moqtada! Moqtada!” — references to an opponent of Saddam who was killed during his rule, and the dead man’s relative, who rose to command a powerful militia after 2003.

Saddam replied: “Is this manhood?”

Rubaie said he pulled the lever to hang Saddam, but it did not work. Another person he did not name then pulled it a second time, killing him.

Just before he was hanged, Saddam began to recite the Muslim testament of faith.

“I testify that there is no god but God, and Mohammed…,” he began, but he was hanged before he could say the final words, “is the messenger of God.”

Rubaie went under the gallows to retrieve the body, which he said was put in a white bag and placed on a stretcher.

The body was then transported in an American helicopter from the prison where he was hanged to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s residence in the heavily-fortified Green Zone.

The helicopter was crowded with people, Rubaie said, so the body had to be put on the floor, and the doors of the helicopter were left open during the flight, as the stretcher was too long to fit otherwise.

“I remember clearly that the sun was starting to rise” as the helicopter flew over Baghdad, Rubaie said.

‘The room was full of death’

At his residence, “the prime minister took our hands and said: ‘God bless you.’ I told him, ‘Go ahead and look at him.’ So he uncovered his face, and saw Saddam Hussein,” said Rubaie, who is still a close ally of the premier.

“I have never had such a very strange feeling,” Rubaie, who was thrice imprisoned during Saddam’s rule, said of participating in the execution.

“He committed countless crimes, and he deserved to be hanged a thousand times, live again, and be hanged again. But the feeling, that feeling is a strange feeling,” he said. “The room was full of death.”

Rubaie said Saddam’s execution was set in motion after a video conference between Maliki and then U.S. president George Bush, who asked the Iraqi prime minister: “What are you going to do with this criminal?”

Maliki replied: “We hang him.”

Bush gave him a thumbs up, signaling his approval.

AFP Photo