Tortured husbands in Jamshedpur city of eastern Indian state of Jharkhand formed an organization "Save Me From My Wife," to get relief from oppression by wives at home, IANS reported on Friday. "We have formed the organization to derive solace from each other against torture from our wives. The group will extend legal and emotional support to hubbies who are subjected to domestic abuse by wives," said Kishan Khanna, its convener.

A 9-year-old girl burned herself to death following abuse by her father and paternal grandmother. The girl was studying in Class IV and she looked to her teachers at her school for attention.

A French court sentences a Togolese woman to six years in jail after finding her guilty of sexual violence, torture and acts of cruelty against two girls, also from Togo. Mimi Tele Mensah, 50, was accused of a shocking level of abuse. The court heard how the victims were held as virtual slaves. It began in 1990 when Mensah went to Togo and brought 15-year-old Olivia back to France, promising her parents she would receive an education in return for a few hours of babysitting.

Animal rights activists staged a nude protest Saturday in northeastern Barcelona to demonstrate against the torture and killing of animals to make fur coasts. 70 men and women curled up on the pavement outside Barcelona's City Hall. The protest, staged by AnimaNaturalis and PETA international animal rights groups, was watched by several dozen passers-by. In a statement, AnimaNaturalis said millions of animals were captured, tortured and killed each year to make fur coats. In Spain alone, 26 million animals - among them rabbits, foxes, minks and lambs - were killed in 2003 to make coats, the group said.

Researchers at the University of Bath found that some young girls will mutilate and torture their Barbie dolls, reports The Associated Press. Coming from the university's marketing and psychology departments, the researchers questioned 100 children about their feelings toward a number of products. The girls had the strongest reaction to Barbie. Children reported feeling "rejection, hatred and violence," says Agnes Naim, one of the researchers.