■ China
Butcher's children appeal
The children of a Chinese butcher executed for murdering a waitress have appealed against his conviction after the "victim" turned up alive, the second such judicial blunder to be made public in recent weeks. Shi Xiaorong was 18 when she disappeared in 1987 at the same time as six pieces of a woman's body, sliced off "in a professional manner," were found in a river in southern Hunan province, a newspaper said Thursday. Police arrested Teng Xingshan because he was a butcher by trade and because of rumors he used to go to the hotel where Shi worked to find prostitutes, the Beijing News said. Hunan Provincial Court sentenced Teng to death for murder despite an appeal and a signature campaign by hundreds of local villagers and officials. He was executed by gunshot in 1989.
■ China
Gas leaks injure dozens
Dozen of people were hospitalized after a 20m-high chemical mushroom cloud rose over a district of Chengdu, Sichuan Province on Wednesday, state media said yesterday. The leak was caused by an animal-medicine manufacturer losing control over the chemical process, the China Daily said. The massive cloud eventually engulfed 60 homes, causing panicked residents to flee, some of them vomiting as they ran, according to the paper. It was not until Thursday that the district was declared safe and people were allowed to return to their homes, but 38 remained in hospital, the paper said. Another gas leak occurred in Shaanxi Province when a gas truck ignored the overpass height limit when passing under a railway, slamming into the bridge and releasing large amounts of gas, the paper said.
■ India
Child killed in religious ritual
Three people, one a tantric, have been charged with murder after pouring boiling oil over a four-and-a-half-year-old girl before beheading her as part of a religious sacrifice, Indian police said yesterday. The tantric, or person who practices black magic, and two accomplices were arrested Wednesday in the town of Muzaffarnagar in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state, the Press Trust of India said, quoting police. The body of the girl, named Surjo, was found in a field the previous day. She had been "beheaded, her fingers cut off and her hair burnt to a cinder," a police spokesman said. He said the three had apparently poured boiling oil on the girl before beheading and mutilating her.
■ Pakistan
Women beaten, humiliated
A widow and her two daughters were beaten and forced to parade naked through a market after her son had an alleged affair with another man's wife, police said Thursday. Seven men have been arrested over the incident which took place in a village called Qabula, 175km east of the central city of Multan on Wednesday. One of the arrested men, Muhammad Yousaf, accused Sakina Bibi's 22-year-old son Rehmat Ali of sleeping with his wife. He burst into Bibi's home with six armed men who beat the women and forced them to undress and walk naked through the local bazaar.
■ Malaysia
Free Suu Kyi: ex-premier
The former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, who while in power was an important ally of Myanmar's junta, yesterday called on the ruling generals to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Mahathir, who engineered Myanmar's entrance into the ASEAN, said the junta should not be afraid of the ramifications of freeing Aung San Suu Kyi or making other reforms. "I fought hard for Myanmar to be admitted into ASEAN. I think the leaders of Myanmar should consider public opinion [in support of her release] and there is nothing they have to lose," he said.
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