Cannibal who killed and ate his own mother has death sentence stayed
India’s top court put a temporary stay on the execution of a man convicted of killing his mother and eating her remains in what is being deemed as the “rarest of rare” cases of cannibalism.
Sunil Rama Kuchkoravi of western Maharashtra state’s Kolhapur district was handed a death penalty by a lower court in 2021 for killing his 63-year-old mother in 2017.
The High Court in October this year upheld the death sentence against Kuchkoravi, stating that the convict possibly has a “syndrome of pathological cannibalism”.
The court was told that Kuchkoravi murdered his mother Yallava Kuchkoravi on 28 August 2017 at their home and cooked her organs. The convict used to regularly pick quarrels with his mother, demanding money for buying alcohol.
In an 11 December hearing, the Supreme Court temporarily stayed the High Court and trial court sentences of the death penalty after it was challenged by the convict. Courts set the “rarest of the rare” standard to justify capital punishment in India.
The panel of three Supreme Court judges, justices Surya Kant, Pankaj Mithal, and Ujjal Bhuyan, issued notice to the parties in the case to submit all the relevant documents and records for the review of the case.
“The records of the trial court as well as the High Court along with translated version and soft copies of the same be requisitioned,” the order said.
The case will be heard next on 14 April 2025.
Upholding the verdict in October, the High Court said: “The case falls under the rarest of rare category. The convict not only murdered his mother but he also removed her body parts – brain, heart, liver, kidney, intestine and was cooking them on a pan.”
There is no chance of reformation of the convict as he has tendencies of cannibalism, the High Court added.
The incident came to light when an eight-year-old girl from the neighbourhood came into the house and found the body of the woman lying in a pool of blood. The son was also spotted with his hands and clothes soaked in blood.
After the news spread in the village, a mob of outraged people thrashed him before a police officer arrived on the scene and rescued Kuchkoravi from being lynched.
The officer Sanjay More, who rescued Kuchkoravi, told Times of India in an interview in October that he begged for his life with the promise of getting the capital punishment for him.
“I still shudder to recall the brutal murder,” he said.
In July last year, police in the eastern Odisha state arrested two men who were allegedly found eating the half-burnt remains of a human body in an inebriated condition. The men were related to the woman who was being cremated, according to a report.
One of the most disturbing cases that involved cannibalism in the country, dubbed the “Nithari killings”, happened in 2006. At least 19 young women and children had been killed and dismembered inside a house, known as the “house of horrors”, in Noida city’s Nithari area.
The accused, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Kholi, were subsequently sentenced to death for the crimes. Koli had admitted to eating some of the body parts.
Malaysia foreign minister to be fined for smoking in prohibited area
Malaysia’s foreign minister Mohamad Hasan will be fined after being caught smoking in a designated non-smoking area, confirmed the country’s health minister.
The incident came to light after a photograph showing Mr Mohamad holding a cigarette at an eatery in the state of Negeri Sembilan on the Malay Peninsula’s southwest coast went viral on social media.
Smoking in all eateries and restaurants was declared illegal in Malaysia in 2019, with further restrictions introduced in October this year.
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad confirmed the offence, emphasising that “no one is above the law” under the Tobacco Control for Public Health Act 2024, which came into effect on 1 October.
In a statement posted on X, Mr Dzulkefly said: “The Foreign Minister’s office has been informed of this matter. Honestly, Mohamad himself requested that the Health Ministry issue a fine for the offence and he told me that the fine will be paid.”
Addressing the matter at a press conference, Mr Hasan expressed remorse for his actions and acknowledged receiving a notice from the Seremban District Health Office earlier in the day.
“If it has become a concern and an issue among the public, I would like to sincerely tender my apology,” said Mr Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat. “I will pay the fine, and I hope it will not be too high.”
The amount of the fine will be determined by the attorney general’s chambers, said Mr Mohamad. Under Malaysian law, those violating laws around smoking in prohibited areas can be fined up to 5,000 ringgit (£880).
The controversy erupted after a social media post highlighted the incident shared a photograph of Mr Mohamad smoking with a few men during his visit to his constituency.
Speaking after attending a presentation ceremony for Malaysia’s contribution to Palestine in Putrajaya, Mr Hasan pledged to comply with the legal process and pay the compound once the amount is confirmed.
“I will pay the fine, but I will have to wait for the summons letter, as they only issued the notice (of the offence),” he explained, referring to the attorney general’s chambers.
China warns UK ‘to stop creating trouble’ amid Prince Andrew spy row
China has accused the UK of “creating trouble” over the Prince Andrew spy row, saying Britain should “stop anti-China political manipulations”.
A spokesperson for the country’s embassy in the UK also claimed that “anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs” have “revealed their twisted mentality towards China” and accused them of trying to “smear China” and “undermine normal personnel exchanges” between the two countries.
Last week Prince Andrew’s connections to the alleged spy became the latest scandal to engulf the Duke of York, after the man was barred from the UK because he was judged likely to pose a threat to national security.
Keir Starmer has said he is ‘”concerned about the challenge” posed by China, but added “our approach is one of engagement, of co-operating where we need to co-operate… to challenge where we must and where we should.”
On Sunday home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed the government’s approach was “complex” because Britain needed economic cooperation with China – even as she warned the communist state the UK would take a “very strong approach” to national security.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has accused a “weak” Labour government of not wanting to be seen to criticise China.
In a statement, the Chinese embassy added: “We always believe that a sound and stable China-UK relationship is not a one-sided favour but what meets the common interests of both sides.
“The UK side must have a right perception of China, see the historical trend clearly, and handle its relations with China on the basis of mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit.
“We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK.”
The 50-year-old director of a Chinese investment consultancy firm had initially been barred from the UK in 2023 after it was deemed he would likely pose a threat to national security.
He was found with letters addressed to Beijing’s United Front Work Department – a shadowy arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with gaining influence over foreign officials – after he was detained in 2021.
He said he had “done nothing wrong or unlawful” and the “widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue”.
His case came to light after he challenged his removal from the UK at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission – which was dismissed on Thursday.
On Monday a High Court judge lifted an anonymity order so he could be identified.
Prince Andrew has indicated that he will stay away from this year’s traditional Christmas royal get-together at Sandringham in Norfolk. His ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, will also miss the gathering in what will be seen as a show of solidarity with her former husband.
With the spy’s identity revealed, MPs have raised concerns about the extent of the influence held by the Chinese Communist Party within the UK through political donations, lobbying, business deals and universities.
Sir Iain, who has been banned from entering China, said Mr Yang was “not a lone wolf”.
“He was one of some 40,000 members of the United [Front] Work Department, which the intelligence security committee report last year said, and I quote … ‘had penetrated every sector of the UK economy, spying, stealing intellectual property, influencing and shaping our institutions’.”
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran raised concerns about the university sector, and expressed anger that Peking University’s bid for expansion in Oxfordshire had been accepted.
No 10 said the government was committed to dealing with anyone who poses a threat to Britain. Asked about the statement from the Chinese embassy, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I am not going to comment on individual intelligence cases, but as the security minister said in the House yesterday, where there are individuals who pose a threat to our national security we are absolutely committed to using the full range of powers available to disrupt them.
“We will always take an approach to these things that is rooted in the national interest and put national security and public safety first.”
Japan dismayed as Denmark frees anti-whaling activist Paul Watson
Japan said it was disappointed after Denmark rejected its extradition request for anti-whaling activist Paul Watson.
Mr Watson, 74, founder of the Sea Shepherd group, was released from jail in Greenland on Tuesday. He had been detained since July on a 2010 Japanese Interpol warrant.
The Danish justice ministry decided to release Mr Watson due to uncertainty around Japan crediting his detention time and the nature and age of the charges.
“It is regrettable that the Denmark government did not accept Japan’s request of passing him over,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said, adding that Tokyo had conveyed this to the Danish side.
“Paul Watson is wanted internationally as an accomplice of the February 2010 incident where activists of Sea Shepherd injured Japanese whalers and damaged properties after an arrest warrant was issued.
“The Japanese government will continue to deal with it appropriately based on law and evidence.”
Mr Watson, known for disrupting Japanese whaling operations, was arrested while refuelling his ship John Paul DeJoria. He faced potential extradition on charges related to the 2010 whaling confrontation, including interference with an alleged lawful business and property damage. He was accused of obstructing the crew’s official duties by instructing his ship’s captain to throw explosives at the vessel.
Mr Watson has long been critical of Japan’s whaling practices and legal system.
Following his release, he plans to return to France to spend Christmas with his wife and young sons.
“We are happy and relieved that Paul Watson is now free,” Jonas Christoffersen, executive director of the Danish Institute of Human Rights, said.
“I guess he will have some lunch or breakfast as a free man and then will find a way to get back home.”
Mr Watson appeared in the reality TV series Whale Wars and established the Captain Paul Watson Foundation after leaving Sea Shepherd.
“I’m certainly relieved,” Mr Watson told Reuters after his release. “I haven’t seen my children since June. But the support here in Greenland has been incredible.”
He added that he “received more than 4,000 letters of support, including around a dozen from supporters in Japan”. “My arrest has focused international attention on Japan’s continuing illegal whaling operations and their intent to go back to the Southern Ocean. So, in fact, these five months have been an extension of the campaign,” Mr Watson said.
One of his lawyers, Jean Tamalet, said “the fight is not over”.
“We will now have to challenge the red notice and the Japanese arrest warrant, to ensure that Captain Paul Watson can once again travel the world in complete peace of mind, and never experience a similar episode again,” Mr Tamalet said, according to The Japan Times.
Red panda diplomacy offers glimmer of hope amid China-Taiwan tensions
Taipei is sending African penguins to Shanghai in exchange for red pandas in a bid to establish a cooperative relationship between the two cities through animal exchange.
The capital city of Taiwan on Tuesday signed an agreement to exchange the animals during a rare visit by a Chinese delegation led by Shanghai’s deputy mayor to the contested island for an annual city-to-city forum.
The Taipei Zoo said that the agreement is focused on animal exchange, professional development and collaborative research on wildlife conservation management and cooperation in breeding.
The zoo is home to 11 red pandas, including three breeding pairs, and used artificial incubation to welcome seven new African penguins this year.
The animal exchange programme comes amid heightened tensions between China and the self-governed island, which Beijing claims to be its territory.
China deployed its largest naval fleet in nearly three decades in the waters around Taiwan that simulated a blockade with one string of ships off the island and a second farther out at sea. China hasn’t ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its sovereignty.
Taipei’s mayor, Chiang Wan-an, told the visiting Chinese delegation that he hoped for peace and wanted less of the “howls of ships and aircraft” around the island.
“More dialogue and less confrontation; more olive branches of peace and less sour grapes of conflict. More lights from fishing boats to adorn the sunset; less of the howls of ships and aircraft,” Mr Chiang, a member of Taiwan’s pro-China opposition party Kuomintang, said.
“I always say that the more tense and difficult the moment, the more we need to communicate.”
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in Beijing, said representatives of the two cities reached positive consensus that led to the signing of two memoranda of understanding on exchanges and cooperation.
“Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are Chinese and one family and should have frequent exchanges and cooperation,” Ms Zhu said, according to Chinese state media Global Times.
“We will work with our compatriots in the Taiwan region to adhere to the One China principle and the 1992 Consensus” and to oppose “Taiwan independence”, she added.
Ms Zhu claimed that some members of the Shanghai delegations and journalists were “deliberately obstructed” by Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te’s Democratic Progress Party, which made it “impossible for them to make the trip”.
She said the ruling party’s actions were “unreasonable and unpopular”.
The forum, first held in 2010, is one of the few high-level venues for talks between Chinese and Taiwanese officials after China cut off a regular dialogue mechanism with Taiwan’s central government in 2016 following the election of Tsai Ing-wen as president.
South Korea’s Yoon given until December 21 to appear for questioning
South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has been directed by prosecutors to appear by Saturday for questioning regarding his failed attempt to impose martial law, it was reported.
Mr Yoon’s refusal to comply with the order could lead to an arrest warrant, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Mr Yoon on Monday resisted calls from investigators to answer questions about his failed attempt to impose martial law earlier this month.
A summons for Mr Yoon to appear for questioning over alleged insurrection was delivered to the presidential residence on Tuesday but returned, the agency quoted a joint investigation team as saying.
If he responds to the summons, it will be the first time in history that a sitting president appears before prosecutors as a suspect.
The South Korean leader was impeached on Saturday through a second vote in parliament over his attempt to impose martial law, a move that threw the nation into chaos and split his party.
Meanwhile, Mr Yoon’s legal defence team said on Tuesday his brief declaration of martial law on 3 December does not constitute insurrection.
Mr Yoon denies the insurrection charges and will present his position in court if a public hearing is held during his impeachment trial, his lawyers told the media.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court is set to decide whether to reinstate or remove Mr Yoon after the National Assembly impeached him. He is currently suspended from office with prime minister Han Duck Soo serving as the interim leader.
Mr Yoon is under investigation for alleged insurrection by both South Korean prosecutors and a joint team of police, the defence ministry and anti-corruption authorities.
“President Yoon will state his position in court confidently and according to his own convictions,” a lawyer on his team, Seok Dong Hyeon, said.
“The president is not giving a single thought to the insurrection charges as a legal concept, but realistically, since investigation agencies are acting this way, there will be a response to the investigation,” he added, according to Yonhap.
Mr Yoon, who is under a travel ban, faces possible life imprisonment or even the death penalty if found guilty.
On Monday, the leader of South Korea’s ruling People Power Party resigned for backing Mr Yoon’s impeachment over his attempt to impose martial law.
Han Dong Hoon, once a close ally of Mr Yoon, said he was concerned about violence breaking out if martial law hadn’t been lifted, and defended his decision as a stance against illegal actions. “Martial law in the advanced nation that’s South Korea, in 2024. How angry and disappointed must you have all been?” he said at a press conference on Monday.
North Korean state media reacted to Mr Yoon’s impeachment on Monday, calling him a “ringleader of rebellion”.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency criticised Mr Yoon for attempting to shift blame for his “foolish emergency martial law declaration” onto opposition parties.
“The investigation into puppet Yoon Suk Yeol, the ringleader of the rebellion, and his accomplices is under way,” it added.
Massive 7.3-magnitude Vanuatu earthquake triggers tsunami warnings
A powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu on Tuesday, triggering a series of alerts from the US Tsunami Warning System.
At least one person is dead, police confirmed.
The earthquake’s epicentre was 30km west of the capital Port Vila and at a depth of 57.1km, according to the US Geological Survey.
The earthquake caused damage to a building housing several foreign embassies, including the US, British, French, and New Zealand missions, Reuters reported. Videos and pictures of the damage caused to buildings in Port Vila were starting to emerge.
“The US Embassy Port Moresby is aware of the recent earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The US Embassy in Port Vila has sustained considerable damage and is closed until further notice,” the US embassy said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this earthquake and the US government will work closely with our partners in Vanuatu.”
Vanuatu state broadcaster VBTC aired footage of vehicles crushed by a building collapse on a retail-lined street. The broadcaster reported one person trapped in the rubble.
A number of small tsunami waves measuring 25cm were observed at Port Vila, according to the New Zealand Herald, but the US warnings were later lifted.
New Zealand’s authorities, including the National Emergency Management Agency and GNS Science (Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences), said that there was no perceived threat of a tsunami to New Zealand.
“Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand,” they said.
The ministry of foreign trade and affairs said that “there are 37 New Zealanders registered on SafeTravel as being in Vanuatu” and advised New Zealanders to follow the advice of authorities.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology also said that there was no threat to Australia from the earthquake, which was followed by a number of smaller aftershocks, one of which was recorded at magnitude 5.5.
“It was the most violent earthquake I’ve experienced in my 21 years living in Vanuatu and in the Pacific Islands. I’ve seen a lot of large earthquakes, never one like this,” Dan McGarry, a journalist with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project based in Vanuatu, told Reuters.
The earthquake struck an area where the Australia and Pacific tectonic plates meet, one of the most seismically active regions in the world.
Nonetheless, earthquakes as large as Tuesday’s are relatively rare. “In the century leading up to the 17 December 2024 earthquake, there were 24 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or larger within 250 km of this interface,” the US Geological Survey said.
The largest recorded earthquake in the region was of magnitude 7.9 in December 1950, about 86km southwest of Port Vila.
USGS data showed that Vanuatu was hit by six aftershocks following the initial quake.
Japanese bar forced to stop slapping customers
A Japanese izakaya chain has discontinued its “face slap service” after receiving a customer complaint about injury and fearing a blow to its reputation.
The Yotteba chain, known for its affordable beer and chicken wings, previously allowed customers to receive a sharp slap on the face – known locally as a binta – from a waitress for 500 yen (£2.70). For an additional 100 yen (£0.5), diners could even choose their preferred staff member to deliver the stinging blow.
Originally intended as a post-meal gimmick to help patrons “sober up”, the service appeared popular in niche circles, with social media videos showing amused onlookers applauding patrons who endured the slap. However, a complaint filed by a customer claiming injury proved to be the final straw.
A spokesperson for Tokyo-based Project M, which operates Yotteba’s outlets across Japan, explained the decision. “We have been doing it at our restaurants for more than two years now, but we did not think it was very popular,” the unnamed marketing official told This Week in Asia. “Also, our chain is getting bigger, and we wanted to change our image.”
The representative confirmed to the South China Morning Post that the slap service ended two months ago following the injury incident but declined to provide further details.
While Yotteba’s slapping gimmick has officially ended, it was not the first of its kind in Japan. Another izakaya chain, Shachihoko-ya in Nagoya, gained similar notoriety in 2012 for its “Nagoya Lady’s Slap” service, where customers paid 300 yen ( (£1.53) for a slap delivered by kimono-clad waitresses. For a surcharge of 500 yen (£2.70), patrons could select specific staff members to perform the task.
Videos of the bizarre service resurfaced on social media recently, attracting thousands of views and humorous commentary. Some clips showed patrons thanking waitresses after receiving a slap, while others appeared to embrace the service as part of the restaurant’s quirky charm.
The viral attention led Shachihoko-ya to issue a statement clarifying that the service had been discontinued years earlier. “Shachihoko-ya currently does not offer slaps,” the restaurant said in a post on X. “We appreciate the attention it has received today, but we cannot accommodate visits with the intention of receiving slaps.”
The origins of the term binta trace back to southern Japan’s Kagoshima region, where it initially meant “head” in the local dialect. During the Meiji era (1868-1912), it became associated with slapping as police officers were known to discipline offenders with a sharp smack to the head.
Despite its controversial history and unexpected resurgence, the era of face-smacking services in Japan’s izakayas appears to have come to an abrupt end.