DUBAI // A man dubbed the “Jumeirah Groper”, whose arrest was publicised by Dubai Police in November, was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison for sexual assault and trespassing.
The defendant S S, 28, a Sri Lankan laundry worker, was arrested on October 20 after reports were filed to police stating that a man had been entering Jumeirah homes and sexually molesting women while they slept.
On December 20, S S was charged at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance with sexual assault, trespassing and illegal consumption of alcohol, before Judge Fahmy Mounir Fahmy.
Prosecution records show that S S broke into the home of a British family at night and sexually abused a personal assistant as she slept by her husband. Dubai Police said the man crept in through an open window.
According to the woman’s statement to prosecutors, she said she felt someone touching her and she woke up.
“It was 4am and I felt a hand on my bottom as I was sleeping. I thought it was my 12-year-old son, but when I looked up, I saw the profile of a man in the shadows exiting the room,” she said.
“I woke my husband up and he thought that it was our son sleepwalking,” she added. “When I checked his room, he was sound asleep”.
Prosecutors told the court S S confessed to trespassing and illegal consumption of alcohol. He will be referred to the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours on the alcohol charge.
According to Dubai Police, the suspect, who was picked up on a traffic stop, is believed to be behind another assault, also. In the second incident, also in Jumeirah, he is accused of attacking a 35-year-old Asian woman inside her home in the same manner.
salamir@thenational.ae
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
