Odd News
Police search for rapist thought to be dead
South African police announced on Monday that they were looking for a fugitive serial killer and rapist, whom they thought had been dead since May 2022 and the discovery of a charred corpse in his prison cell in Bloemfontein, where he was serving his sentence.
DNA analysis determined that the victim was not Thabo Bester, South African police revealed over the weekend.
“At this time, our priority is to find this fugitive and establish how exactly he made up his own death,” police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe told AFP on Monday.
Nicknamed “the Facebook rapist” for luring his victims through the social network – at least one of them had been killed – Thabo Bester was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison.
On Sunday, the police revealed that according to the autopsy, the victim found in his cell had succumbed to a violent blow to the head, before his body was set on fire. A new murder investigation has been opened.
The case has caused a stir in South Africa where women’s rights associations regularly criticize the government for its inability to curb violence against women.
“The scenario of this story is like a movie and sends shivers down your spine. I can imagine how it was received by its victims”, lamented Bafana Khumalo, co-director of the NGO Sonke Gender Justice.
Between October and December 2022, the police recorded no less than 12,000 rapes in the country.
It was local media, GroundUp, which first raised doubts in November 2022 about Bester’s death. Since then, photographs have emerged showing the convict shopping in a shopping centre in an upscale neighborhood of Johannesburg.
And several women have publicly claimed that the serial rapist contacted them via social media.
Prior to his escape, Bester had reportedly managed to run a media scam from his cell under a false identity. A video, which has gone viral, shows him speaking to a company by videoconference where he claims to be in New York. –Africanews
Odd News
NASA Astronaut shows how he wears pants in Space: ‘two legs at a time’
Astronauts have a unique way of getting dressed in space. In a fascinating video posted on February 21, NASA chemical engineer, Don Pettit, demonstrated how he puts on his pants aboard the International Space Station. Instead of the traditional one-leg-at-a-time approach, Mr Pettit descended into his floating trousers, essentially jumping into them with both legs at once.
He simply captioned the video, “Two legs at a time.”
The lighthearted video delighted viewers, prompting a flurry of comments and reactions from users who enjoyed the humorous glimpse into life in space. One user wrote, “I thought you were going to land right in them at first. Haha. That might be fun to try.”
Another joked, “This is the real content that I needed! I attempted to recreate this on Earth and well.it didn’t go well.”
A third said, “Missed opportunity to not have the theme from Space Odyssey 2001 playing for this.” A fourth added, “Such a pro! Well done.”
Odd News
Company threatens to fire employees …..if they don’t get married and have children
A company based in China’s Shandong province caught the attention of government officials after it threatened to fire its single and divorced employees if they remained single by the end of September.
According to a report in South China Morning Post, Shandong Shuntian Chemical Group Co. Ltd., issued a notice to its 1,200-odd employees, emphasising that they work well and establish families.
The notice required single employees aged 28-58, including those divorced, to get married and settle down by the end of September this year. Those who do not by the end of March need to write a self-criticism letter. If they do not get married by the end of June, the company will conduct an “evaluation” of them. If they are still single by the end of September, they will be fired.
The company said the move was intended to promote the spirit and cultural values of “diligence, kindness, loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness”.
As the news went viral, Chinese social media users slammed the decision, stating the company was violating several laws.
“Corporate rules should not override laws or social morals,” one user commented, while others pointed out that the Chinese marriage law guarantees freedom of marriage.
“This crazy company should mind its own business and stay away from the personal lives of employees.”
