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Transgender woman forced to have testicle removed after twisting it in excruciating injury due to practice called ‘tucking’

The habit of “tucking” testicles caused a transgender woman to have a testicle surgically removed in Philippines. This practice of “tucking” has been made pupular by Internationally-famous TV Show RuPaul’s Drag Race, which is a talent reality show which searches for “America’s next drag superstar!”

The transgender woman is a 24-year old in the Philippines who has not fully gone through gender reassignment surgery. The person was a cross-dresser who had the habit of pushing her testicles back into her stomach four times a week ever since becoming an adult, in an effort to hide her genitals. This habit, which is known as “tucking”, often caused pain but was ignored by the person.

However, when pulling her testicles back down into her scrotum during her final attempt, one of them twisted around the cord it dangles from. 

This gruesome accident is known as testicular torsion. The transgender woman was left in enormous pain because of the injury, which also cut off the blood flow to her genitals. A prolonged lack of blood supply can lead to the death of testicles, causing them to be removed.

“Tucking” is a common practice in transgender and drag communities, popularized by the American reality show VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race. Trinity ‘The Tuck’ Taylor, a contestant from the show’s ninth season, has a video guide on how to “tuck” on YouTube, which warns of the dangers of testicular torsion towards the end. 

The transgender woman was admitted at the Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries in Davao City after her horrifying injury. It was told to the doctors that she regularly tucked her testicles into her inguinal canals, which are passages in the abdomen that hold the sperm cords.

The case of this particular transgender woman was published in a medical journal where Dr Calrence Debarbo made his observations. His observations revealed that the patient would tuck her penis and empty scrotum back between her legs. In order to return her testicles back to their normal position afterwards, she would tug them back out of her body by grabbing her scrotum and pulling. 

“The patient already experienced discomfort and pain for six years because of tucking, which is also the same with other transgenders. But they are reluctant to seek medical care for testicular complaints and when they do, it may be already late to salvage the testis,” he said

‘Although at a younger age, trans women desire to hide their testicles or wish to have gender-affirming surgery, as they grow older many transgender individuals desire to have biological children, thus awareness of the problem should be disseminated for them not to resent in years to come,’ the doctor added.

The transgender woman had initially requested to have both her testicles removed. But an hour after being informed the life-altering decision would prevent her ever from having children, she decided instead to just lose one.

Upon operating, surgeons found that the testicle had been damaged by years of “tucking” and removed it. The surgery went smoothly without any complications.

According to the Mayo Clinic, Testicular torsion occurs when a testicle rotates, twisting the spermatic cord that brings blood to the scrotum. The reduced blood flow causes sudden and often severe pain and swelling. Testicular torsion is most common between ages 12 and 18, but it can occur at any age, even before birth.

Testicular torsion usually requires emergency surgery. If treated quickly, the testicle can usually be saved. But when blood flow has been cut off for too long, a testicle might become so badly damaged that it has to be removed.

CM Uddhav Thackeray meets Sooryavanshi director Rohit Shetty over delay in release as Covid cases shoot up in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met Rohit Shetty, director of the movie ‘Sooryavanshi’, over another postponement in the release of the movie due to rising cases of the novel Coronavirus. The makers of the movie announced the decision on Monday.

The filmmakers said in a statement, “The Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Uddhav Thackeray had a discussion with director Rohit Shetty yesterday. In the meeting, Mr. Uddhav Thackeray appreciated Rohit Shetty as he took the brave and difficult decision of postponing Sooryavanshi owing to the current COVID situation in the state.”

Akshay Kumar, one of the stars in the movie, announced on Sunday that he had tested positive for the Coronavirus. He said, “Thank you, everyone, for all your warm wishes and prayers, they seem to be working. I am doing fine, but as a precautionary measure under medical advice, I have been hospitalised. I hope to be back home soon. Take care.”

Cinema Halls and malls have been ordered shut by the Maharashtra government over the rising Coronavirus cases in the state. The government issued a long list of stringent guidelines late on Sunday to ‘Break the Chain’ (title of their new campaign). Along with night curfews on weekdays, the state will go into complete lockdown on weekends starting Friday 8 pm to Monday morning 7 am.

Meanwhile, the state government is also under pressure over the Antilia Bomb Scare case and the Mansukh Hiren death case. The arrest of Sachin Vaze in the matter has opened a can of worms. Following troubling allegations by former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh, Anil Deshmukh resigned as the Home Minister of Maharashtra on Monday.

Italians tried to fake their own kidnapping, got sold to real Jihadists in Syria: Here is what happened

Two Italian men hatched a scheme to stage their own kidnapping by fake terrorists in hopes of securing ransom money from the Italian Government; only for it to go awry when they were sold to real Jihadists, according to Italian prosecutors.

According to Italian prosecutors, the two men, Alessandro Sandrini and Sergio Zanotti, are suspected of separately faking their own kidnappings with the help of a gang of two Albanian men and another Italian man whom they met in their home town of Brescia, Lombardy.

Prosecutors claim that both the men were taken to Turkey five months apart in 2016 by the same gang. The deal was to split the ransom money which would be paid by the Italian Government after taking the men to a secret location and staging a fake ISIS-style kidnapping video.

Police claims that Sandrini’s girlfriend overheard the kidnapping gang promising to keep Sandrini in a villa filled with “drugs, alcohol, and women”.

Sandrini, who is now under formal police investigation, allegedly informed his girlfriend about the plan and promised her €100,000 if she did not divulge it to the police or the reporters. Prosecutors claim that Sandrini’s girlfriend was being paid €50 a week by the gang to ensure her silence.

An Italian justice system source said that the gang held Sandrini for almost a week before double-crossing him by taking him across the border into Syria and selling him as a hostage to members of the Islamist group Turkistan Islamic Party, one of the many Islamist Jihadist terrorist groups active in the country. “He became a victim of his own game,” the source said.

Sandrini has vehemently denied these allegations, telling a local newspaper that his kidnapping “was a real kidnapping from start to finish”.

The gang behind this kidnapping has now been arrested and is also suspected of attempting to stage the fake kidnapping of Zanotti. Zanotti had earlier claimed that he was kidnapped whilst buying rare coins in Turkey. Zanotti was handed over to another Islamist terror group linked to Al-Qaeda before he was released in 2019, just like Sandrini.

“Sandrini is under investigation and Zanotti will be soon since we strongly suspect he too faked his kidnapping,” the source said.

In a 2018 video depicting Sandrini’s real kidnapping, he was kneeling before his armed kidnappers and pleading for help, otherwise, he would be killed. After his release in May 2019, Sandrini claimed that he was drugged and kidnapped near his hotel during a holiday in Turkey. Upon his return, he was put under house arrest for being a suspect in multiple robberies.

Zanotti has not responded to the allegations so far. He was released in April 2019, with the then PM of Italy Giuseppe Conte saying that Zanotti appeared in good shape and thanked the Italian intelligence service for their “complex and delicate” investigation that secured his release from the terrorists.

An ex-wife of Zanotti told Italian newspaper La Republica that she was shocked to hear about the allegations. “He told us that when he was held prisoner near Aleppo he was forced to eat grass, like a horse,” she said.

The Italian Government has long been suspected of paying ransoms in order to free their citizens held hostage. According to the Italian justice system source, the two men did not earn any money from this failed endeavor. “If anything was paid, they certainly got nothing,” he said.

Permission for IPL in Mumbai despite shutdown of other private business sparks outrage

Social media users are particularly miffed with the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra after permission is granted for IPL to continue their matches in Mumbai despite the latest government orders to curb the ominous spread of the COVID-19 virus in the state, an article published on Cricbuzz said.

A Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official recently confirmed that the Mumbai municipal commissioner has given his approval for the organisation of IPL matches in the city. The municipal commissioner also assured them that the lockdown restrictions introduced in the state will have no impact on the IPL games.

“We have had a call from the city municipal commissioner. The association has been assured that the lockdown measures will have no impact on the IPL games. The other cricketing activities will, however, have to be immediately stopped,” Cricbuzz quoted the official as saying.

However, the official confirmed that the IPL teams can continue to practice normally. “Any cricket activity that is a part of a bio-secure bubble will be permitted uninterrupted,” the official said.

Netizens fume over Maharashtra government’s hypocrisy to allow IPL while imposing curbs for others

The permission to allow IPL in Mumbai uninterrupted, however, sparked outrage among netizens, who questioned the decision of the Maharashtra government to allow IPL matches to happen in Mumbai while imposing restrictions for small businesses because of the worsening coronavirus crisis.

Netizens took to Twitter to express their displeasure over the government’s differing stance on IPL and the local businesses.

Highlighting the hypocrisy of the Maharashtra government, one Twitter user said, “Malls closed. Restaurants closed. 8pm ke baad everything closed. But sure, let the games begin.”

Several others too expressed their discontent with the government for allowing IPL to continue while placing curbs for private offices, restaurants, non-essential shops to be shut for almost a month.

Mumbai is slated to host 10 games and some of them are on the weekends, including the first match, which is between the Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals on Saturday. Six teams—Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, Royals Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders—are scheduled to play their matches in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium from April 10 to 24.

It is worth noting that 10 groundsmen at the Wankhede stadium had recently tested positive for the coronavirus.

Maharashtra government announced lockdown restrictions in the wake of rising coronavirus cases

Following a cabinet meeting on Sunday afternoon, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government announced a few restrictions measures, including total lockdown during the weekends starting at 8 PM on Friday till 7 AM on Monday.

The permission for IPL to continue uninterrupted in Mumbai is allowed even as the state is witnessing a renewed surge in the number of COVID-19 caseloads reported daily. On Saturday last week, over 49,000 new cases were reported from across the state. A day later, Mumbai reported close to 10,000 new cases—the highest since the start of the pandemic.

The government issued a long list of stringent guidelines late on Sunday to ‘Break the Chain’ (title of their new campaign). Along with night curfews on weekdays, the state will go into complete lockdown on weekends starting Friday 8 pm to Monday morning 7 am.

The lockdown will impact the hospitality industry gravely, which was already struggling to recover amidst the pandemic.

SC calls 2008 Bengaluru Blasts accused Abdul a ‘dangerous man’, was once supported by Congress leader Oommen Chandy

A Bench of Chief Justice of India, while hearing a plea on Monday by 2008 Bengaluru Blasts accused- PDP leader Abdul Nasser Maudani remarked that he is a “dangerous man”, as per a Bar & Bench report.

The plea by Maudani was to seek permission to leave Bengaluru for his hometown in Kerala and stay back in the state till the trial in the case was over. Maudani was granted bail in July 2014 by the Supreme Court considering his health condition but was ordered to not leave the city of Bengaluru. 

Citing a delay of more than 6 years in completing the trial, Maudani cited the deteriorating condition of his eyesight adding that doctors in Bengaluru have suggested him to undergo an Ayurvedic treatment in Ernakulam district of Kerala and hence he should be allowed to return to his hometown.

Former Kerala Chief Minister and Congress leader, Oommen Chandy had offered full support to the Bengaluru Blast accused and Muslim leader Maudani when he was taken into custody. Chandy had announced that he will take up the matter of keeping Maudani in prison without trial with the Karnataka government. 

While on bail for a month, the former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy even met Maudani at a health resort in Bengaluru validating his support, angering the prosecution team in Karnataka. Pointing out that Maudani was in custody for no ordinary crime but his alleged involvement in a terror case, a member from the prosecution team remarked, “If chief ministers call on an accused, then it could prove fatal.”

Reports suggested that the former Kerala chief minister who first thought of Maudani as a liability was later convinced of the idea that he could not ignore a man who had influence over the Muslim votes in the state’s Malabar region where there were posters seeking the release of their leader.

2008 Bengaluru Serial Blasts:

A series of nine bombs were detonated across various locations in Bengaluru like Adugodi, Madiwala, Ashok Nagar, Byatarayanapura, Sampangiram Nagar, Kengeri, and Koramangala police station limits killing one and injuring eight.

The police have identified the role of 32 accused and arrested 22 accused till now on whom legal actions have been initiated.

Bijapur-Sukma attack led by new CPI Maoist leader Basava Raju, suggests reports: Here is what we know about him

An ambush by 400 Maoists which resulted in the martyrdom of 22 jawans in the Bijapur-Sukma district of Chhattisgarh was led by new CPI Maoist leader, Basava Raju, as per a News18 report. 

The report also suggests that the most-wanted Maoist commander and leader of the ‘People’s Liberation Guerilla Army’- Hidma, was offered as a bait to the security forces to trap them with little room to escape. This attack in which the Maoists used low-intensity IEDs and rocket launchers and open-fired at the security forces from three sides was guided by Maoist leader, Basava Raju. It is suspected that Hidma was in the vicinity when the security forces were ambushed, but he was not a part of the attack.

Basava Raju’s modus operandi is considered to be lethal where he focuses on hiding and killing rather than close encounters. The past few attacks in Jharkhand and Dantewada witnessed pressure bomb explosions, a tactic used by Basava Raju to execute killings. “The pressure bombs earlier used one or two kgs of explosives, now 7-8kg is being used. The intention is to kill and not just deter forces from going inside Maoist strongholds,” Dr Abhishek Pallav, SP Dantewada told News18.

Nambala Keshav Rao, alias Basava Raju, was made the new general secretary of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2018, as per a Hindustan Times report. One of the most elusive Maoist leaders, Basava Raju carries an AK-47, according to a 2011 Intelligence Bureau (IB) report and promotes a military approach to strike terror within the security camps. 

As per the report, in an article published in the party’s theoretical organ “People’s War” in 2013, Basava Raju laid down the roadmap for a revolution. The report read, “If we can mobilize the peasantry on a vast scale and militantly into an armed agrarian revolution to completely solve the land issue in our country, we will acquire the most essential basic condition and preconditions to defeat all our enemies and complete the New Democratic Revolution.”

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a reward of Rs 1.5 million for information leading to him apart from rewards announced by the governments of Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

A resident of Jiyannapeta village in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, Basava Raju holds a BTech degree from the Regional Engineering College, Warrangal. In 1987, Basava Raju underwent training in the forests of Bastar from a group of former fighters of the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in ambush tactics and the handling of gelatin.

‘Bring back my husband as you brought WC Abhinandan’: Missing Jawan’s wife appeals to PM Modi after Naxal attack

On Monday (April 5), the wife of missing Jawan Rakesh Singh Manhas has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the safe return of her husband. Manhas is believed to have been captured by the Maoists following the deadly encounter with the security personnel along the border of Bijapur-Sukma district in Chattisgarh.

In a heart-warming appeal, the wife of the captured jawan, Meenu Manhas, said, “I want to request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to bring back my husband. Wherever he is, I appeal to you to bring him back. If he is safe, bring him back somehow. I request Modiji to bring him back like he brought Wing Commander Abhinandan from Pakistan.”

“I last talked to my husband on Friday at 9:30 pm. He told me that he was going for his duty and will talk to me the following day. No one is giving us any information. We have called the control room but they assured us that we will be given information soon. But it has been two days now. We are relying on the news for now. I appeal to PM Modi to ensure his freedom,” the woman broke into tears.

The encounter between security personnel and Maoists in Chattisgarh

In the deadliest terrorist attack of 2021, a group of 400 Naxals ambushed a massive operation that included the STF, DRG and District Force of the Chhattisgarh Police, the CRPF and its elite COBRA unit. The teams were deployed in the forests of Chhattisgarh for a search and destroy anti-Naxalite operation along the border of Bijapur-Sukma district.

It was during this operation that the security teams of around 1500 personnel were ambushed by 400 Naxalites from three sides- led by the most-wanted Maoist commander and leader of the ‘People’s Liberation Guerilla Army’- Hidma. The close encounter between the Naxalites and security forces lasted for four hours in which the Naxalites rained bullets from light machine guns.

A group of Maoists chopped off a security official’s hand before killing him and fled the scene with weapons, including bulletproof jackets, guns, ammunition, as well as his shoes. Some security officials were martyred due to dehydration. The attack by Naxalites which resulted in the martyrdom of 22 Jawans and injured 32 others, is believed to be a trap laid by the Maoists. One Jawan has been missing in action.

A senior official informed, “…There are clear signs that the Maoists know we are listening to their code. We are being played. The kind of fire we came under, and the positions they took, show it was well-planned. They knew we would find nothing at the spot and would return. When our team did, they were waiting, with a very little escape route for our men.”

Bangladeshi smugglers attack BSF troops along the International Border in West Bengal’s Coochbehar

A group of Bangladeshi smugglers attacked one of the Border Security Forces(BSF) personnel while trying to pick some suspected bundle from near the International Border(IB) in the Indian side of West Bengal. After attacking the BSF personnel, the miscreants fled away.

As per reports, the incident took place on Sunday evening at around 9:30 pm near Border Outpost(BOP) Narayanganj in the Coochbehar sector while the BSF troops were engaged in performing their patrolling duty. The location was about 250 metres from the International Border and at a distance of 3.4 km from the BOP.

The BSF released a statement saying that the incident took place after the miscreants had disconnected the electricity supply to switch off the Border Fencing Lights(BFL) so they could hide their movements and reach up to the International Boundary Border Fence(IBBF) to smuggle a bundle of illegal objects.

“The BSF team simultaneously observed movements of five to six Bangladeshis in two groups ahead of IBBF and saw them approaching towards Indian side while remaining concealed in the paddy field to collect the bundle thrown by Indian miscreants. The BSF team lobbed one stun Grenade at one group and fired one Pump Action Gun (PAG) round on the other group,” the statement said.

In response to BSF troops’ action, the group of smugglers aggressively charged towards them and assaulted them. In the ensuing scuffle, one of the BSF troopers was injured with a torch that hit him on his left eyebrow. As other BSF personnel rushed closer, the smugglers escaped away.

The BSF personnel injured in the attack was subsequently evacuated and admitted to Dinhata government hospital for further treatment. Upon search, troops recovered one mobile, two sim cards of Bangladesh and a torch.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-kilometre-long(2,545 mi) international border, a major part of which is a riverine border or unfenced border, making it easy for smugglers to smuggle between India and Bangladesh. Smugglers based out of Bangladesh use the porous nature of the border to smuggle illegal items. Cattle smuggling has been a lucrative form of illegal trade along the India-Bangladesh border and becomes particularly prolific as the festival of Eid comes closer. However, in the last few years, the BSF has foiled many attempts by smugglers to transport contraband and cattle across the border into Bangladesh.

Information of over 5 lakh users allegedly leaked in Bookchor Data Breach: What we know so far

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Another day and another data breach have been reported. A hacker has alleged that he has breached the website of famous second-hand book dealer Bookchor.com and downloaded information of 5,33,275 users. As per the post on a hacking forum, the threat actor breached the website in February but made the data available online on March 26.

What is Bookchor?

Bookchor is a platform to buy, sell or share old books and textbooks. The portal, managed under BookChor Literary Solutions Pvt. Ltd was founded by four friends Alok Raj Sharma, Bhavesh Sharma, Prateek Maheshwari, and Vidyut Sharma, in 2015. It allows users to buy old books and textbooks at an affordable price and lets sellers list their old books.

Details about the leaked data

In the post, the hacker wrote that he took the data dump on February 18, 2021. Though he had counted 5,05,373 unique email IDs, the total number of customers in the CSV file was 5,33,275. In the data, he had included IP Addresses, Hashed Passwords, Full names, Phone Numbers, Physical Addresses, Orders, Email addresses, and what type of phone they use (If they were using a phone).

Post on hackers’ forum about Bookchor data breach

Hacker claimed Bookchor uses unsalted MD5 encryption

In his post, the hacker claimed that Bookchor had used unsalted MD5 hash to encrypt the passwords. MD5 hashing seems reasonable at first look, but it is not recommended to encrypt sensitive information such as passwords as it is quite easy to crack. There are tools available on the internet that can decrypt unsalted MD5 hash within seconds. The passwords are reportedly available for those accounts that did not use social media authentication to create the account on Bookchor.

Sample data provided by the hacker in his post

OpIndia reached out to Bookchor

We got the contact information of one of the founders, Vidyut Sharma. On calling him, Sharma said that he was busy with some work and will get back over the phone soon. We will update the report with his comment when he reverts to us.

What can Bookchor users do?

As a Bookchor user, there is nothing much you can do about the leak other than questioning the company about the data breach. As it seems the data contains contact information and possibly the password of the users, it is better to change your password. If the password you have used on Bookchor was the same as your email ID or any other important account, make sure to change the password there too.

As more details come in, we will update the story.  

Man arrested after defrauding a donor from Telangana of Rs 60,000 in the name of Sonu Sood

On Saturday (March 3), a 23-year-old man was arrested for duping a person in Telangana in the name of Bollywood actor Sonu Sood.

As per a report in Business Today, the miscreant has been identified as Ashish Kumar Singh. A resident of Muzzafarpur in Bihar, Ashish was arrested by the cybercrime unit of the Cyberabad police. He had posted his number on social media and claimed that he was the advisor to the actor’s company, Sonu Sood Corporation. Ashish impersonated as the actor’s associate, even though he was not connected to the company. The accused then duped a man from Telangana to the tune of ₹60,000.

The matter came to light after the victim filed a complaint with the police on March 3. He wanted to help the poor people in Telangana and learnt that the actor had been helping those, who were affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. He found the contact details of his company, including a phone number. On dialling the number, Ashish picked up the call and claimed that Sonu Sood would make a donation of ₹50,000 for the cause. He, however, said that such a contribution was only possible if the complainant deposited ₹8300 as registration charges.

The accused then made a follow-up call and claimed that Sonu Sood was willing to make a donation of ₹3.6 lac in exchange for a fee of ₹60,000. The complainant ended up paying the new registration charges in the hopes of the actor making the generous contribution. He later realised that he had been duped. Following this, he registered a complaint with the police. While speaking about the matter, Sonu Sood cautioned, “People must be wary of a gang claiming to work for a charity run by me. I urge people not to entertain such online requests for donation,”

Sonu Sood’s philanthropy

During the lockdown that was imposed to curb the pandemic, many migrant workers who live and work in other states were stuck as buses, trains and flights came to a halt. Later, the government arranged for Shramik Express to facilitate the migrant workers to go to their home states. Many individuals, like Sonu Sood, also came forward to help migrants reach home.

In September last year, Sonu Sood ‘promised help’ to 350 boatsmen in Varanasi. He made the promise while responding to viral images. Some videos were shared on social media where claims were made that the boatsmen in Varanasi are facing financial crunch and that as many as 350 families are forced to sleep hungry. However, the truth was far from what is propagated.

Speaking to OpIndia, members of Nishad community clarified how they have never had to beg for food and the media reports of 350 families being hungry are all rumours. Local councillor Narsingh Das was engaged in distributing ration even when OpIndia contacted him.