Asia Briefs: Couple convicted of killing adopted child

Couple convicted of killing adopted child

MADRID • A Spanish court has convicted a couple of drugging and suffocating their 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter, in a case that has prompted a statement of concern by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Rosario Porto, a former lawyer, and her ex-husband, journalist Alfonso Basterra, were accused of periodically drugging their daughter Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto with a sedative for three months and asphyxiating her in September 2013.

Her body was found in a wooded area near the city of Santiago de Compostela. A jury unanimously found the pair guilty of murdering Asunta, who was adopted as a baby. They could face up to 20 years in jail.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Screening of India beef documentary axed

NEW DELHI • Organisers of an Indian film festival said yesterday the government had pressured them to drop a documentary on the beef industry, amid a heated debate about beef eating in the largely Hindu country.

Officially secular India is the world's top exporter of beef, but the slaughter of cows - which Hindus consider holy - has long been contentious.

Organisers said the documentary, called Caste On The Menu Card, was the only film among 35 submitted to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry that was not cleared. The Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival opened in New Delhi yesterday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE•

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 31, 2015, with the headline Asia Briefs: Couple convicted of killing adopted child. Subscribe