DUBAI // A British woman was kidnapped and raped after a night out with her sister at a Dubai nightclub, a court heard yesterday.
SA told investigators that on the night of October 12 last year, after waiting for some time for a taxi, she accepted the offer of a lift home from a Jordanian sales executive.
SM, 30, was charged by the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance with rape, kidnap and illegal consumption of alcohol.
He denies the charges, but faces the death penalty if convicted.
According to records SM kidnapped SA after promising to drive her to her home in Garhoud from the nightclub in Jumierah 1.
According to SA, he drove past the exit for her home off the al Garhoud bridge, then drove around the neighbourhood before parking. She became suspicious and asked SM to let her out, but he locked the doors. He then tried to kiss her, exposed himself and molested her, she told investigators.
The woman jumped into the back seat of the Volkswagen Golf, and tried to break the car window by kicking it, but failed. The defendant then jumped into the back seat, where he raped her.
Forensic evidence presented to court by the Deira Chief Public Prosecutor, Yousif Foulaz, revealed that DNA gathered from the victim's clothes originated from SM.
The court adjourned the case until June 30.
@Email:amustafa@thenational.ae
Test
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Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The White Lotus: Season three
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Pakhtoons 137-6 (10 ov)
Fletcher 68 not out; Cutting 2-14
Sindhis 129-8 (10 ov)
Perera 47; Sohail 2-18