6000 Trees Axed to Prevent Sex Romps

LONDON: As many as 6,000 trees have been felled in a forest near a British town to prevent couples from having sex there, a media report said.

The trees were hacked at the 12-hectare site on the outskirts of Darwen, Lancashire, after a "health and safety survey", Daily Express reported Tuesday.

Officials say the forest that runs for kilometers along the busy A666 was cleared as some of the trees, planted after the Second World War, were in danger of falling.

Police and councillors have, however, confirmed another reason was to discourage strangers from the known "dogging" area.

Dogging is a term for people having sex with strangers in public places, or watching others have sex, often in woods or country lay-bys.

The felling of 6,000 trees to try to stop couples having sex there has prompted an angry backlash.

"It's awful that a public green space, an asset to the local community, has been destroyed mindlessly. If the law was enforced properly then there would be no need to chop down these trees," Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, was quoted as saying.

Terry Hardman, who travels past the clearance site every day, said the work had "absolutely devastated the area", adding: "There was a massive forest that's been reduced to open space. Surely that can't be good for the environmental situation?"

Sergeant Mark Wilson said the sexual activities in the area were "an on-going problem and very worrying for members of the public". "It's far too early to tell if cutting the trees back has had any impact on the dogging situation, but we'll be paying regular attention to the area."

"I'm more than happy this is being carried out and it has a double whammy in terms of the sexual behavior. I've heard anecdotal that since the trees have been cleared it's quietened down a lot," ward councillor Jean Rigby was quoted as saying.

Source:  Times of India (link)

Dad on Moped Killed by Son on Motorcycle

PUNE (India): In a strange twist of fate, a moped rider was killed in a head-on collision with a motorcycle driven by his own son at the Pirangut ghat section of the Pune-Paud road around 8 pm on Wednesday.

The deceased has been identified as Laxman Kudle (46), a resident of Khatpewadi, a hamlet in the interiors of Bhukum grampanchayat of Mulshi taluka. Sagar (21), who sustained injuries on the chest and legs is recuperating in a private hospital. He was not told, for obvious reasons, till Friday evening, that the man he knocked down was his own father.

Ironically, Kudle’s relatives, who rushed to the hospital to enquire about Sagar’s condition, were not even aware that the body of the youth’s father was kept in an adjacent room of the hospital until one of them went to check out of curiosity. “After about an hour, when one of the relatives went to check who the deceased was, he got the shock of his life when he discovered it was Sagar’s father,” Vijay Mazire, a local resident who helped rush Sagar to the hospital told TOI.

When TOI visited Kudle’s home at Khatpewadi, his younger brother Sopan Kudle said that on the day of the incident, Laxman was working in the fields till 4 pm. “Soon after, he left for Pirangut, a few kilometres away from his village, on his moped to meet his married daughter Sheetal. It was also the day of Urs (a local festival) in Pirangut.”

Bridegroom Dumped Twice in 24 Hrs

KOLAR (India): Brides being dumped at the altar is the stuff soppy movies are made of. But heard of a bridegroom being ditched at the marriage mantap, that too not once but twice inside of 24 hours? Filmi as it may sound, that's what happened in Kolar, 70 km from Bangalore, on Sunday.

Manjunath and Anitha were engaged eight months ago. The March 7 marriage seemed on track with all the pre-marriage rituals going swimmingly well. Just as the groom was preparing to tie the mangalsutra, the bride — a la Kareena Kapoor in 3 Idiots — stunned her family and friends saying she wasn’t willing to go through the marriage as she was in love with Nagaraja, who, incidentally, was present in the wedding hall.

It soon dawned on the guests that the object of Anitha’s affection was amidst them. Unsurprisingly, he and his friends were at the receiving end of blows rained on them by the irate gathering. In the melee, Anitha and Nagaraj escaped and sought police protection, which was promptly given.

Here’s where the drama restarts. The elders figured that an eloping bride was no reason to stop Manjunath’s marriage and they would look for a bride for him from among those present. They settled on Mamatha, a 16-year-old, first-year PU student and a close relative of the brideless Manjunath. Mamatha, playing outside the marriage hall with other children, was brought in and dressed up. She went through the ceremony crying as she had no desire to marry Manjunath.

The twist in the tale starts now. The newly-wed went to Manjunath’s house, but Mamatha left with her brother as she had exams on Monday. Her brother did, indeed, drop her off at the college. However, a couple of hours later, he was horrified to know Mamatha, instead of taking the exam, had eloped with her boyfriend, Anil Kumar.

Shivaswamy, sub-inspector of police of Bangarpet in Kolar pleaded ignorance of Mamatha’s minor status. Manjunath, dumped twice in a day, is left wondering if he will ever find a bride again.

Two Bottled Ghosts for Sale

MELBOURNE (Australia): Spooky as it may sound, but online auction site TradeMe is putting two vials, which apparently contain spirits of ghosts exorcised from a house in New Zealand, up for sale.

Entitled "Two Captured Ghosts" the auction had reached a top price of 62 New Zealand dollars after 35 bids yesterday (AEDT).

The auction description claims the spirits were captured by an exorcist from a spiritual church at a property in Christchurch, the largest city on New Zealand's South Island.

And the seller has claimed that one spirit belongs to a man who died in the house in the 1920s.

"We have had no (paranormal) activity since they were bottled on July 15, 2009," the Herald Sun quoted the seller as saying.

"So I believe they are in the bottles," he added.

The auction said the "holy water" in the vials dulled the spirit's energy and put them to sleep.

To revive the spirit, the buyer would need to pour the contents into a dish and let it "evaporate into your house''.

"I just want to get rid of them as they scare me,'' said the seller.

Indian Polygamist Expecting 31st Child

Assam(India):  Most family men just want a beautiful wife, a few adorable kids, and a big-screen HDTV.

80-year-old Hussain Ali, a frail skeleton of a man from Mohkuli village in Assam, has always sought much more, which is why he’s beaming with joy now that his third of four wives is pregnant with his 31st child.

The self-proclaimed polygamist already has 30 children, 15 of who have their own children to boast. Added to that, his 30th child is only two-months old and in need of frequent diaper changes.

In spite of his age, Ali remains quite content. In fact, during a recent interview with reporter Syed Zarir Hussain from the Indo-Asian News Service, he claimed to have zero regrets and even admitted to finding his wives to be “very good and caring.” He added, “It is all god’s gift and wish that I have a large family of four wives and 30 children.”

Ali’s wives share the same sentiment about him, even though they are each confined to a separate hut and afforded only one or two nights with him per week. Mohirun Nessa, his first wife and mother to 11 of his children, said, “He is a very nice man and very responsible.”

Ali’s only discernible stress stems from his inability to correctly remember the names of all his children. He was, in fact, unable to list all his children to Syed. He explained, “At times I do forget their names but recognize them from their faces.”