Nose for a nose, ear for an ear

A Pakistani court has ordered the noses and ears of two men cut off after they did the same thing to a young woman whose family spurned one of the men's marriage proposal, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The anti-terrorism court in the eastern city of Lahore said it was applying Islamic law by ordering the punishment.

Lahore prosecutor Chaudhry Ali Ahmed said one of the accused, Sher Mohammad, was a cousin of the 19-year-old woman and wanted to marry her. Her parents refused his proposal.

Sher Mohammad and a friend, Amanat Mohammad, were accused of kidnapping the woman and cutting off her ears and nose in late September in the Raiwind area of Lahore.

The court on Monday also sentenced each man to 50 years in prison and told them to pay fines and compensation to the woman amounting to several thousand dollars, the prosecutor said.

Pakistan's legal system has Islamic elements that sometimes lead to orders for harsh punishments, but the sentences are often overturned and rarely carried out. Serious crimes are often referred to anti-terrorism courts in Pakistan because they move faster.

Violence against women, especially attacks by spurned lovers, also occurs frequently in this impoverished South Asian nation.

The men have seven days to appeal the ruling, Ahmed said.

Wow! Is marrying cousins allowed? What is the custom?
The parents were correct in refusing to let their daughter marry a cousin right?

This is the right punishment!

Two Chinese wives spot common husband on social networking site

The TV Series: Two Wives

Source: RIA Novosti

A Chinese man has been arrested on charges of bigamy after his two wives discovered each other on a national social networking site, China Daily said on Wednesday.

The Mexican national of a Chinese origin, identified as Chang, was arrested last week after one of the wives added her husband's "buddies," including the other spouse, to her contact list on Kaixin001, a Chinese version of Facebook. The two women soon became friends.

The bigamy was exposed when they exchanged wedding photos, featuring the same groom.

It turned out that Chang married to a woman from the eastern province of Zhejiang, in 2005. Later, while doing business in Mexico, he met a woman from Beijing, and also married her when he learned she was pregnant.

He managed to keep the secret by telling the wives he was doing business abroad and could not return home frequently. Upon his arrival to China, he usually split his time between the two homes in Zhejiang and Beijing.

The first woman sued her husband, and he was detained while secretly visiting his parents.

Sounds like a stressful situation for the guy. I thought guys worked abroad to GET AWAY from their wives and fool around.

Reminds me of the classic comedy "Diary of a Big Man"

The HUGE Baby Nighty Cap

A Chinese student is selling her own hand in marriage for £15,000 in a bid to save the life of a classmate.

A Frenchman was arrested for drunk driving after taking his car to a police station to distribute Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlets there

An Indonesian woman has given birth to an 8.7-kilogramme (19.2-pound) baby boy, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country, a doctor said Wednesday.



Doctors in China have discovered a six-inch knife blade that was left in a woman's bottom for four months.

A father in eastern India gave away his teenage daughter to a fellow gambler after he lost a card game, with police launching a hunt to retrieve the girl.

107-year-old Malaysian woman seeks 23rd hubby

Source: Yahoo!

A 107-year-old Malaysian woman says she is ready to marry for the 23rd time because she fears her current drug addict husband might leave her for a younger woman, a report said Monday.

Wook Kundor made headlines four years ago when she married Muhammad Noor Che Musa, a man 70 years her junior in northern Terengganu state, with pictures of the couple's wedding splashed across regional newspapers.

But Wook is now looking for new love as she fears that Muhammad, 37, who is undergoing voluntary drug rehabilitation treatment in the capital Kuala Lumpur, will leave her once the programme ends, she told the Star newspaper.

"Lately, there is this kind of insecurity in me," the paper quoted her as saying, showing a photograph of the smiling, wrinkled-faced centenarian wearing a Muslim headscarf.

"I realise that I am an aged woman. I don't have the body nor am I a young woman who can attract anyone."

"My intention to remarry is to fill my forlornness and nothing more than that," she said, adding that she felt lonely without her husband by her side to celebrate the coming Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr next week.

Wook said she planned to visit Muhammad on the second day of Eid if her neighbours were willing to drive her to the capital.

Muhammad, who was a lodger in Wook's house, had previously said it was "God's will" that the couple fell in love.

It was such a shocker to hear about their marriage years ago. Does she feel insecure to not have a husband or something? Gotta face reality that not alot of people will marry a 107 years old lady unless they're around the same age

Love is a battlefield

Source: Ananova

The couple, from Nanjing, are fascinated by anything to do with the military, reports Wuzhou Daily.

"We love war movies especially," said husband Wang Mian, adding that the couple also enjoyed war games.

"War is for peace, and war is for our home, our parents, wife and kids," he added.

The couple persuaded their wedding organisers to wear military uniforms and to take pictures of them in battlefield poses.

First, a gun-wielding Wang was photographed rescuing bride, Tian Houyu, from a shoot-out. Then they were pictured kissing while surrounded by soldiers performing a gunfire salute.

Tian added: "I love my husband. He's my lifelong war pal and companion. If anyone dares to invade our home, we'll fight together to the last moment."

That's very creative! And alot of hard work! It's better than a stupid 2km long train!

It's still too much work for me :)

Chinese bride trains eye on wedding dress record

Source: Reuters

A Chinese bride is hoping to enter the record books after getting married in a wedding dress with a train more than 2 km (1.2 miles) long trailing behind her.

It took guests more than three hours to roll out the gown, complete with 9,999 silk red roses attached to it, in the northeastern province of Jilin, state news agency Xinhua said.

"Both the length of the dress and the number silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," the report quoted groom Zhao Peng as saying.

Zhao, who has applied to Guinness World Records, said he was inspired after seeing a story on the previous record holder in Romania, where the dress measured just over 1.5 km.

"I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet," he said.

Bride Lin Rong "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture," Xinhua said.

The dress cost around 40,000 yuan ($5,856), which prompted initial opposition to the plan from his family.

"It is a waste of money in my opinion," said Zhao's mother. "Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day."

Cripes! Isn't planning a wedding stressful enough without having to deal with a 2km train! I know you want your wedding to be special but this is beyond stooopidity.

I want the simpliest of weddings with little stress as possible. I don't need a perfect day, I'd rather have a perfect wedding night (wink wink)

Pay Me! I'll Go To Your Wedding!

Hello Kitty are also considered fake guests!

Source: Telegraph

Office Agents, a Tokyo-based company, is renting out fake friends, colleagues and family members to help pad out the guest list at events such as weddings.

For £127 (Y20,000), an agent will attend a wedding as a guest. They deliver a heart-tugging speech for cost an extra £64 (Y10,000) and a song or dance will set clients back a mere £32 (Y5,000).

Brides or grooms who are concerned that they do not have enough friends and want to impress their prospective partners and in-laws are among those secretly boosting the guest list with fakers.

The recession has further boosted the popularity of the service. With a growing number of Japanese employed in part time jobs, many requests relate to renting phoney bosses or colleagues as wedding guests to disguise their new reduced work status.

In a country where loss of face is particularly painful, others turning to the company for fake work-related guests have recently lost their jobs but want to maintain an air of respectability, according to Hiroshi Mizutani, who heads Office Agents.

I'll go! Pay me and I can look pretty and be your friend :)

Seriously is this necessary? This whole loss of face thing has to end. There are some things that are out of ones control. Being poor, getting laid off, having less friends.

If you're getting married does it look bad that you have say 30 guests and your partner has 100 guests? Is that embarassing to your partner? I thought there was more to marriage than out-doing each other.

I'd rather have a small intimate wedding than one with fake people. The people I invite should probably know everyone else I invite :)

Sexless 10 Years Not Enough for Divorce Cause

Source: Korea Times

A court rejected a divorce filing by a husband who never had sex with his wife during their 10 years of marriage, citing the wife's willingness to have normal sexual relations.

The couple, married in May 1999, attempted to have sex early on in the marriage but failed for a variety of reasons. Since then, they maintained a sexless relationship, according to the filing to the Seoul Family Court.

The unidentified husband, 37, told his parents in 2007 about their situation. After the disclosure, the relationship between his wife and his other family members turned sour.

In August 2007, the husband filed a divorce suit with the court, claiming his wife refused to have sex with him for no justifiable reason, and her lavish spending had worsened the family's financial condition.

However, the court said there was no evidence to prove that the sexless relationship was the wife's fault. ``It's true that the couple maintained a sexless relationship for a long time, but we found no evidence backing the husband's allegation that she refused to have sex without any justifiable reason.''

The court added, ``Despite the sexless life, the husband did not complain until January 2007, and since then, has not provided any physical or periodical opportunity for his wife to normalize their relations. Also, she has shown a strong desire to restore relations.''

Eeeep!

OK let's break this down. Man marries woman, attempts to have sex but fails. Didn't they get intimate at all before marriage? Didn't he have to woo her at some point or was she just given to him? Anyways, so at this point they should talk about it or go see a doctor. Who does he turn to? His parents! Who talks to their parents about sex? Repeat, who is married and talks to their parents about sex? And he went to his parents in 2007! EIGHT years later?

I'm not surprised the court ruled this way cause the husband never complained before. So if the guy isn't getting any at home and his wife is spending all his money, why doesn't he just cheat on her and then she can divorce him and court will have justifiable cause. It's not like he'll lose anytihng, she's spending all of his money anyways!

Chinese Brides Scam Your Money

UGH. 40000 yuan for that horseface? Things must be getting desperate.
SUCKER!

Source: Wall Street Journal

With no eligible women in his village, Zhou Pin, 27 years old, thought he was lucky to find a pretty bride whom he met and married within a week, following the custom in rural China.

Ten days later, Cai Niucuo vanished, leaving behind her clothes and identity papers. She did not, however, leave behind her bride price: 38,000 yuan, or about $5,500, which Mr. Zhou and his family had scrimped and borrowed to put together.

When Mr. Zhou reported his missing spouse to authorities, he found his situation wasn't unique. In the first two months of this year, Hanzhong town saw a record number of scams designed to extract high bride prices in a region with an oversupply of bachelors.

The fleeing Mrs. Zhou was one of 11 runaway brides -- hardly the isolated case or two that the town had seen in years past. The local phenomenon has fueled broader speculation among officials that the fast-footed wives may be part of a larger criminal ring.

.....more

Video Link (can't embed cause WSJ code is screwed up)


Nothing like a good scam. This one is very creative and the victims are the families who worship their sons. I love it. Not only to the sons get duped, there is additional match-making and everyone gets duped for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Marrying after meeting for a couple of hours? Buyer beware!

First China, then Vietnam... now Myanmar brides?

Source: Asiaone

MOVE over, Vietnam brides. Here come the Myanmar maidens.

Aged between 20 and 35, they are ethnic Chinese who can speak Mandarin and cook Chinese meals.

So they would find it easier to adapt to life in Singapore, said Mr Mark Lin of Vietnam Brides International, who's offering his customers a wider choice of brides.

Mr Lin, who had specialised in Vietnam brides since 2003, said: 'I have to teach Vietnamese girls Mandarin if they don't speak it. But these Myanmar women are already fluent in the language.'

He said the women are keen to marry Singaporean men because they want better lives outside Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1988.

While agencies offering Vietnamese brides charge between $6,000 and $8,000, Mr Lin charges $8,800 for Myanmar brides.

....more

I wonder what contry will be next when men get bored of Myanmar brides? what's wrong with Singaporean brides anyways?

Related: Don't treat Vietnamese brides like consumer goods

Rural gender imbalance in China will worsen

Source: Taipei Times

The problem of too many men and not enough women in Chinese villages is likely to become much worse, a researcher warned.

China has 32 million more men aged under 20 than women, a paper published last month by Therese Hesketh of University College London. Her research suggests that rural areas, where the imbalance is greatest, will be further affected because of women “marrying out” and going to live in cities.

“It looks as if high sex-ratio areas, particularly in central China, are likely to get worse. Because of migration, we are hearing again and again that women are going to urban areas and staying. In rural areas that will exacerbate the sex ratio very markedly,” she said.

“In the past, migrants have tended to go back home to permanently settle. But women [now] are finding partners in urban areas and not going back. Men are unable to do that. Urban women will not marry a migrant man; men can’t marry up,” she said.

.....more

Too many taboos that will never change are causing the problem. Every family must have a son. So under 1-child policy rule, every family has a son. And in rural area men can't marry up. So they have to marry a farm girl too. It's the whole class society thing. There are no farm girls to begin with and if there are any, they're gone. The poorest farm girl can go into the city and find a husband, especially is she's beautiful. The poorest farm guy? He needs to find a poorer, uglier farm girl.

It never ends.

Brides and Parents Back Home Get Picky as Economy Makes America Look Risky

Source: Wall Street Journal

Vikas Marwaha would normally be considered a good catch by Indian parents seeking a husband for their daughter. The 27-year-old software engineer earns $80,000 to $100,000 a year and comes from a family "of doctors and engineers," according to his profile on a matrimonial Web site.

But Mr. Marwaha works for a start-up Internet phone company in San Francisco. And because the U.S. economy is wobbly, that's a problem. Many Indian parents now are balking at sending their daughters to the U.S. to marry.

During a two-week wife-hunting trip to India in December, Mr. Marwaha interviewed 20 potential brides in 10 days. He says several parents asked him, "How has the recession impacted your job?" Mr. Marwaha says he assured them he hadn't been affected at all, but still he returned to the U.S. brideless.

Rahul Tamrakar, 32, a full-time consultant for International Business Machines Corp. in Chicago, has been looking for a bride back home in India. But he says prospective in-laws were worried that "consultant" was a euphemism for "unemployed." One parent asked to see his tax returns. He refused, and the talks fell through. Now, "I'm trying to meet up [with] girls who are in the U.S. already," he says.

Just marrying for money. Sad isn't it. Yes meeting up with girls in the US is a good idea. How about meeting up with a blonde! There's a concept! It always amazes me how culture and religion tie everyone's hands together.

Anisha Seth, 26, has been looking for a groom for two years now. But she feels "jittery" about considering nonresident Indians as possible options.

Ms. Seth grew up in Lucknow, a medium-size town southeast of Delhi, but now works as a financial executive in Mumbai and lives alone in an apartment. Ms. Seth is part of a wave of Indian women who have, in recent years, started working and living away from their parents before marriage.
Ms. Seth says that if she were to move to the U.S. or to another developed country, she might not get a job quickly and would have to be dependent on her husband for a while. While she's open to the idea of giving up her independence, she worries that given the state of the U.S. economy, a groom based in America might not be earning enough to support her. For instance, Ms. Seth says she likes nice clothes and would like to have a flat-screen TV. "Is he really prepared to provide the kind of lifestyle that I have right now?" She expects a husband to earn more than she does.

Clothes and a flat-screen tv aren't that expensive honey. That is your criteria for a husband? Clothes and a tv? Aiya!

Whatever happened to the saying 'short term pain for longterm gain'. If these parents wanted to send their daughters to America then this recession shouldn't change their minds. Do they think that the US will be poor forever? It's a giant elephant that will get back on it's feet. Even if a girl gets married tomorrow, it'll be a year before she even sets foot in America. By then it'll be much better.

I know an Indian guy from high school that had a very steady girlfriend. But then his mom made him go back to India for an arranged marriage. So he dumped his girlfriend to go back. The marriage didn't go through cause of some big argument before the wedding. So he lost two girls in a week.