DUBAI // The defence lawyer for three bus workers accused of molesting a four-year-old girl told a court yesterday that GPS data exonerated his clients and that the charges had been filed in an attempt to blackmail the child’s school.
J?T, 43; M?P, 44; and F?S, 38, all Indians, who worked as the girl’s school bus driver and attendants, are accused of sexually assaulting her on November 11 last year, after dropping off all the other students at their destinations.
Sameer Ja’afar, of Ja’afar Alwan and Al Jaziri and Associates Advocates, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday that if he had found one piece of evidence showing his clients’ guilt, he would not have represented them. He noted official medical examinations showed no sign of rape nor conclusive evidence of abuse.
He added that the bus’s GPS system data, submitted yesterday, showed the bus took its ordinary route and did not stop in an abandoned area as the charges allege.
“The bus made five stops to drop students to their homes,” the defence filing said. “The device provides the location of the bus every three minutes as well as any stops made and their timings. It also shows the timings it leaves the school and those of its return to school. The report from the GEMS GPS control room said the bus stopped at 10.53am to drop off a child and then continued to its next destination to drop off the girl without stopping, and arrived at her house at 11.02, which eliminates any possibility that they had parked and molested the girl.”
Mr Ja’afar told the court the real motivation for the charges was to blackmail the school into granting the girl’s mother a job at the GEMS-operated Modern High School in Nad Al Sheba. He said text messages from her to the school’s principal as recently as March 13 stated that she wanted to be hired.
The mother confirmed that she had sought a job there, but told The National she had applied so she could be near her traumatised daughter.
Mr Ja’afar questioned why the parents had waited 59 days before filing their report to police, noting that, in the meantime, the mother had sent a letter to the school seeking a job.
“Based on her testimony, she said she made sure of the molestation on November 18, a week after the alleged incident, your honour. Then why did she go the police [nearly two months later]?” he asked.
The family had testified they took the girl to a clinic for an examination on November 18 after suspecting abuse, but were told by the clinic to go to the police, which they did not. The girl’s father told The National he was aware of the importance of reporting such crimes quickly to preserve evidence, but added he gave priority to his daughter, who he said was threatened with death by the defendants.
He added that the family had a report from a hospital in India that said there were obvious signs of sexual trauma. That report has not been submitted to the court because it is handwritten and not translated into Arabic.
Mr Ja’afar said the girl went to India with her family after her father told the school on November 26 they were visiting her ill grandmother, and mentioned nothing of a hospital examination.
The second defence lawyer, Hussein al Jaziri, told the court the media had already painted his clients as predators and rapists. Both lawyers argued the confessions of their clients were obtained by torture.
Prosecutor Ahmed Abdulla al Attar told the court that a psychiatrist had studied the defendants’ confessions and denials and found they were trying to deceive themselves and the court. He asked the court to add the report to the evidence file.
But Mr Ja’afar reiterated there was no concrete evidence connecting his clients to the crime.
“All I found, your honour, are baseless accusations,” he said.
A verdict is scheduled for April 6.
salamir@thenational.ae
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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Company%20profile
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.0L twin-turbo V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 571hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,000-4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L/100km
Price, base: from Dh571,000
On sale: this week
6 UNDERGROUND
Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco
2.5 / 5 stars
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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