Three accused of gang-raping woman

Dubai: Three men have been charged with gang-raping a waitress after pretending to be police officers to lure her to a hotel in Ajman.

A 26-year-old Bangladeshi carpenter, M.K, and his two compatriots, who remain at large, are charged with posing as CID men then kidnapping the Filipina waitress and driving her to a flat in Ajman where they gang-raped her. The defendants were also accused of stealing the 33-year-old Filipina's mobile phone and Dh200.

M.K. failed to appear before the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday where he was scheduled to stand trial.

Presiding Judge Jasem Al Beloushi adjourned the case until M.K. was legally notified about the next hearing on June 21.

Chief prosecutor Ahmad Mohammad Al Hammadi asked for the implementation of a death punishment against the defendant.

According to the charge sheet, M.K. and the two runaways, L.S. and M.A., claimed to be police officers and forced the waitress into their car. Then they threatened to throw her in jail or kill her if she refused to have sex with them.

When she refused and asked them to take her to the police station, one of the defendants punched her on the face.

Bus station

The trio then took her to a hotel apartment where they raped her one at a time.

Records said the defendants stole her money and mobile phone then they handed her Dh50 and left her at the bus station in Sharjah.

The waitress, identified as J.M., testified that she had finished work around 2am when the suspects, posing as policemen, stopped her near a supermarket.

"One of them showed me a police ID. They pushed me into the car and they drove off. On the way, one of them said they will throw me in prison or kill me if I refused to have sex with the three of them… I rejected and asked to be taken to police detention. They beat me on my face and I bled. They blindfolded me and continued driving around 30 minutes. They stopped in front of two furnished apartment buildings before they forced me into a flat.

"They said I will be killed if I cried for help or tried to escape… then beat me again and removed my clothes by force. The trio raped and molested me one by one," J.M. claimed to prosecutors.

Arrested

Prosecution records said the defendants took her back in their car and dropped her in Sharjah. When they dropped her in the bus station, according to her statement, she recorded the car plate number before she reported to the police.

An Emirati lieutenant testified that the airport police at Dubai International Airport arrested M.K. when he returned from abroad. "M.K. claimed during questioning that they had consensual sex with the Filipina… he denied the rape and kidnap charges," the lieutenant claimed.

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Julphar set to begin insulin production in three months

Rory Jones

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Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, also known as Julphar, is set to begin producing insulin within the next three months at its new factory in Ras Al Khaimah.

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By producing insulin locally, Julphar aims to lower the cost of the drug to the growing number of diabetics in the region.

"Commercial production from the insulin plan is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2012," Julphar said yesterday.

Julphar, based in RAK, started construction of an insulin plant in the summer at a total cost of Dh500 million (US$136.1m).

The factory has the capacity to produce more than 50 million vials of insulin each year.

About 90 per cent of pharmaceuticals in the UAE are imported.

Insulin is in high demand in the UAE and the Middle East due to a growing incidence of diabetes, linked to obesity.

According to figures from the World Health Organisation, obesity affects nearly 34 per cent of the adult population in the UAE and nearly a fifth of residents are diagnosed with diabetes, the second-highest incidence of the disease worldwide.

Julphar also announced yesterday that its sales crossed the Dh1 billion (US$272.2 million) mark for the first time last year, with total revenues up 11.3 per cent to Dh1.024bn.

The company predicts the GCC's health expenditure to grow from $34.7bn in 2009 to $53.5bn by 2014, growing at a rate of 9.1 per cent per year.

rjones@thenational.ae

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Julphar, a pharmaceuticals company based in Ras Al Khaimah, will begin producing insulin in the next three months, which could lower the cost of the drug in the region.

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Three in court over deaths, injuries at Dubai steel factory

Salam Al Amir

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DUBAI// Two workers died and five more were injured when they were splashed with molten steel from a furnace at a Jebel Ali steel factory, a court was told today.

SH, 47, MA, 41, and DK, 42, all from India, have been charged with causing the deaths and injuries to the workers by failing to provide the victims with safety equipment while working at the factory.   

They denied the charges when they appeared in the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours.

Prosecutors said the defendants caused the deaths of Indian nationals FP, 28, and PD, 30 by allowing them to work in a danger zone without ensuring that they wore their safety suits and without providing them with the proper supervision.

They also face charges of causing injuries to SN, 47, SS, 22, AJ, 37, RS, 38, and SK, 24, who were working with the deceased on the day of the incident but miraculously escaped death by being further from the furnace door.

Following the accident on November 8 last year, the factory’s manager signed an undertaking to introduce more safety procedures and to install curtain walls around each furnace to confine accidents.

Defendant DK, a furnace operator, said that the furnace operated 24 hours a day. Around 1am on the day of the incident the workers were loading the furnace as others cleaned the area surrounding it.

He said a piece of steel flew in the air and fell into the furnace causing the molten steel to splash onto the victims.

“I’m not guilty, what happened was merely an accident,” said DK.

SH also told prosecutors that while a crane driver was pouring metal scrap into the furnace, the molten steel splashed onto the workers. About 200kg of steel scrap was loaded into the furnace in every operation.

The men were rushed to Rashid Hospital where two died and the rest suffered burns of between 8 and 10 per cent to their heads, arms, abdomens, backs, chests, and feet. The medical report in the case file said the burns to the injured men were of first and second-degrees and caused no permanent disability.

The cause of the accident was not identified in records but the injured workers attributed it to extreme pressure and an overload in the furnace.

The hearing will continue next month.

salamir@thenational.ae

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Shurooq Announces Three Ecotourism Projects

Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), has announced that the Authority is intending to launch three ecotourism projects in Sharjah that will be the first of their kind in the emirate.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the 18th annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM), which concluded yesterday at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The facility is part of a series of projects Shurooq announced during its participation in ATM 2011.

Said Al Sarkal: "Through the launch of projects such as the planned ecotourism facilities in the emirate of Sharjah, Shurooq aims to build on and maintain the natural beauty of the emirate of Sharjah. We are keen to choose the best possible sites for a tourism project of this nature, being rich in natural beauty and variety. These unique projects form an important part of our plan to boost the emirate’s tourism sector and to attract local and international tourists and investors, and will also have a positive impact on the UAE’s economic development process".

He added that Shurooq is working with various government entities in Sharjah to develop the emirate’s ecotourism sector, consulting with local and international ecotourism agencies to better protect chosen sites and preserve the emirate’s natural beauty. Studies are currently underway to ensure accurate selection of areas for such projects, with particular focus on the necessity to maintain the sensitive balance needed to protect the environment, while also developing an exclusive environment friendly tourism product.

Al Sarkal clarified that the three projects will be developed in a number of important natural reserves and islands in the emirate. Shurooq has finalized initial conceptualization of the three projects, which will be located in the city and the eastern region. Final details will be announced upon the completion and approval of the final master plan for each project.

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