DUBAI // Two of three men convicted of kidnapping, robbing and raping a woman before selling her to a prostitution ring will have to serve life in jail after their sentences were upheld.
Two Bangladeshi defendants, aged 30 and 33, were arrested while arriving back in the UAE at Sharjah Airport and, on March 16, they were convicted at Dubai Criminal Court of rape, kidnap, robbery, issuing threats and human trafficking, convictions that were upheld by Dubai Court of Appeal.
The third suspect remains at large and was sentenced in his absence.
The woman was raped after she accepted a ride home from a man she did not know on December 21, 2014.
The 32-year-old Filipina was waiting for a taxi in Al Quoz when a car stopped and offered her a lift to her home in Motor City for money.
She got into the back seat and, shortly after, the driver stopped at a petrol station and picked up two other men.
The woman was then molested by one of the men. “I tried to move away but I was in the middle, between the two,” said the victim, adding that one of the men stripped her naked.
She offered them her money and valuables to let her go but her pleas were ignored. All three then took turns raping her in the back of the car.
The victim said that after the rapes, she tried to escape from the car but was stopped by one of the men who grabbed her leg. “After my escape attempt, they tied both my hands and beat me up,” she said.
The men then stole her phone and money before they stopped at a shopping centre where a woman got into the car with them.
“She told me that I will have to come with her to work as a prostitute. When I refused she said it’s my only option as the other was to leave me with the three men,” she said.
They then drove to a villa. “I found another victim, also Filipina, locked up there,” she said.
The villa’s front door was locked and guarded by two men. One of them, the victim said, had sex with her and she was too scared to refuse.
“After the sex, he slept so I climbed to a small opening in the kitchen wall and crawled out of the very small hole with much difficulty then hid under a truck the entire night,” said the woman. In the morning she stopped a passer-by and asked for help. The man called police.
Police managed to track down the men from the car after checking CCTV cameras at the petrol station.
“They confessed to raping the woman and said they sold her for Dh3,000 and also asked the buyer to pay them Dh100 for petrol,” testified an Emirati policeman, 40.
Forensics confirmed the woman had been subjected to a forceful sex act.
Records did not mention the woman who had bought her or whether she had been arrested.
The men will be deported after serving their jail terms.
salamir@thenational.ae
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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SQUADS
South Africa:
Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada
Coach: Ottis Gibson
Bangladesh:
Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.
Coach: Chandika Hathurusingha
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Wonka
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