Brother of late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed also accused of sexual violence: BBC

Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had received more than 420 inquiries, mainly related to the store but also regarding Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and other Fayed entities. (File/AFP)
Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had received more than 420 inquiries, mainly related to the store but also regarding Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and other Fayed entities. (File/AFP)
Short Url
Updated 14 November 2024
Follow

Brother of late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed also accused of sexual violence: BBC

Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had received more than 420 inquiries, mainly related to the store. (File/AFP)
  • Three women say the late Salah Fayed assaulted them during the period when he jointly owned the department store with his brother, the broadcaster said

LONDON: Three women formerly employed by Harrods have accused the brother of its late boss Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual violence, following hundreds of similar claims against the former owner of the luxury London store, the BBC reported Thursday.
They say the late Salah Fayed assaulted them during the period when he jointly owned the department store with his brother, the broadcaster said.
The women alleged they were abused in London, the south of France and Monaco between 1989 and 1997.
The report follows a slew of claims in recent weeks by hundreds of women against the Egyptian former Harrods and Fulham Football Club owner Mohamed Al-Fayed of sexual assault including rape.
Salah Fayed died in 2010 and Mohamed Al-Fayed died last year aged 94.
One of the three women behind the most recent accusations, named Helen, who waived her right to anonymity, told the BBC that she had been working for the retailer for two years when Mohamed Al-Fayed raped her in 1989 during a business trip in Dubai.
He then offered her a personal assistant job with his brother Salah, who she said went on to drug her and rape her while she was unconscious.
Mohamed Al-Fayed “shared me with his brother,” she said.
She said she had stayed silent about the experience, having signed a non-disclosure agreement, a document the BBC reported having seen.
The second woman said Salah Fayed abused her during a trip to Monaco, while the third woman, who was hired at the age of 19 in 1997, said she was sexually assaulted in his Monaco apartment.
Contacted by AFP, Harrods said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward” and encourages survivors “to come forward and make their claims” to the company, which is offering compensation and counselling support.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate,” the company said.
On Tuesday, the New York Times published the claims of a victim accusing another brother of Mohamed Al-Fayed, Ali, aged 80, of knowing about the “trafficking” of women.
Allegations have mounted since the airing of a BBC documentary in September that detailed multiple claims of rape and sexual assault by Mohamed Al-Fayed.
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had received more than 420 inquiries, mainly related to the store but also regarding Fulham Football Club, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and other Fayed entities.
London’s Metropolitan Police said earlier this month that it was “actively reviewing 21 allegations reported to the Metropolitan Police prior to Mohamed Al-Fayed’s passing... to determine if any additional investigative steps are available or there are things we could have done better.”


Cyclone Chido kills at least 34 people in Mozambique

Cyclone Chido kills at least 34 people in Mozambique
Updated 8 sec ago
Follow

Cyclone Chido kills at least 34 people in Mozambique

Cyclone Chido kills at least 34 people in Mozambique

MAPUTO: Cyclone Chido claimed at least 34 lives after sweeping across Mozambique, the National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management announced Tuesday.

The cyclone first hit the country on Sunday at the Cabo Delgado province, where 28 people were killed, the center said, releasing its latest information as of Monday evening.   Three other people died in Nampula province and three in Niassa, further inland, it said.

Another 319 people were reported injured by the cyclone, which brought winds of around 260 kilometers (160 miles) an hour and heavy rainfall of around 250 millimeters (10 inches) in 24 hours, the center said.

Nearly 23,600 homes and 170 fishing boats were destroyed and 175,000 people affected by the storm, it added.

Chido struck a part of northern Mozambique that is regularly battered by cyclones and is already vulnerable because of conflict and underdevelopment.

The cyclone landed in Mozambique after hitting the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, where it is feared to have killed hundreds of people.

It moved to Malawi on Monday and was expected to dissipate Tuesday near Zimbabwe, which had also been on alert for heavy rains caused by the storm.


Pope reveals he was target of suicide bomb attempt during 2021 Iraq visit

Pope reveals he was target of suicide bomb attempt during 2021 Iraq visit
Updated 5 min 18 sec ago
Follow

Pope reveals he was target of suicide bomb attempt during 2021 Iraq visit

Pope reveals he was target of suicide bomb attempt during 2021 Iraq visit

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has revealed he was the target of an attempted suicide bombing during his visit to Iraq three years ago, the first by a Catholic pontiff to the country and probably the riskiest foreign trip of his 11-year papacy.

In an excerpt published on Tuesday from a forthcoming autobiography, Francis said he was informed by police after landing in Baghdad in March 2021 that at least two known suicide bombers were targeting one of his planned events.

“A woman packed with explosives, a young kamikaze, was heading to Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” wrote the pontiff, according to an excerpt from the book in Italian daily Corriere della Sera. “And a van had also set off at full speed with the same intent.”

Francis’ visit to Mosul was a key moment during his Iraq trip. Iraq’s second-largest city had been under the control of Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. The pope visited the ruins of four destroyed churches there and launched an appeal for peace.

During the trip, the Vatican provided few details about the security preparations for the pope. Many of the events during his visit, which took place as the COVID-19 pandemic was first easing, were open only to a limited number of people.

Iraq is known to have deployed thousands of additional security personnel to protect Francis.

The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for further details about the pope’s new comments.

Francis’ new autobiography, titled “Hope,” is due to be published on Jan. 14. The pope also published a memoir this March. In the excerpt published on Tuesday, Francis said the Vatican had been informed about the assassination attempt by British intelligence.

The pope said he asked a security official the next day what had happened to the would-be bombers. 

“The commander replied laconically: ‘They are no more’,” wrote Francis. “The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up.”


Father and stepmother jailed for 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder after UK trial

Father and stepmother jailed for 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder after UK trial
Updated 17 December 2024
Follow

Father and stepmother jailed for 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder after UK trial

Father and stepmother jailed for 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder after UK trial
  • Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking after ‘serious and repeated violence’
  • The family fled to Pakistan after Sharif was killed, before they were arrested last year in September

LONDON: The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, were on Tuesday jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively for her murder after a trial which heard harrowing details of Sara’s treatment.
Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors said was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence.”
The family fled to Pakistan immediately after Sara Sharif was killed, before they were arrested in September 2023 at London’s Gatwick airport after flying from Dubai.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered injuries including burns, multiple broken bones and bite marks.
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 43, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, stood trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder, which they denied.
Last week, the jury convicted Urfan Sharif and Batool of Sara’s murder. Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of causing or allowing Sara’s death.
Sharif and Batool appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey, where they heard a statement read on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin who called them “executioners.”
“You are sadists, although even this word is not enough for you,” her statement read. “I would say you are executioners.”
Judge John Cavanagh sentenced Sharif to a minimum of 40 years in prison and Batool to a minimum of 33 years. Malik was sentenced to 16 years.
“The courts at the Old Bailey have been witness to many accounts of awful crimes, but few can have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this poor child that the jury in this case have had to endure,” Cavanagh said.
“It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”


Father and stepmother jailed in UK for 10-year-old Sara Sharif's murder

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik, respectively father, stepmother, and uncle of murdered British-Pakistani girl Sar
Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik, respectively father, stepmother, and uncle of murdered British-Pakistani girl Sar
Updated 17 December 2024
Follow

Father and stepmother jailed in UK for 10-year-old Sara Sharif's murder

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik, respectively father, stepmother, and uncle of murdered British-Pakistani girl Sar
  • Sara Sharif was killed after campaign of 'serious and repeated violence'
  • Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively

LONDON: The father and stepmother of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, were on Tuesday jailed for 40 and 33 years respectively for her murder after a trial which heard harrowing details of Sara’s treatment.
Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors said was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence.”
The family fled to Pakistan immediately after Sara Sharif was killed, before they were arrested in September 2023 at London’s Gatwick airport after flying from Dubai.
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered injuries including burns, multiple broken bones and bite marks.
Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 43, and his wife Beinash Batool, 30, stood trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder, which they denied.
Last week, the jury convicted Urfan Sharif and Batool of Sara’s murder. Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of causing or allowing Sara’s death.
Sharif and Batool appeared in the dock at the Old Bailey, where they heard a statement read on behalf of Sara’s mother Olga Domin who called them “executioners.”
“You are sadists, although even this word is not enough for you,” her statement read. “I would say you are executioners.”
Judge John Cavanagh sentenced Sharif to a minimum of 40 years in prison and Batool to a minimum of 33 years. Malik was sentenced to 16 years.
“The courts at the Old Bailey have been witness to many accounts of awful crimes, but few can have been more terrible than the account of the despicable treatment of this poor child that the jury in this case have had to endure,” Cavanagh said.
“It is no exaggeration to describe the campaign of abuse against Sara as torture.”


Serving the forgotten: Delhi woman performs last rites for city’s abandoned dead

Serving the forgotten: Delhi woman performs last rites for city’s abandoned dead
Updated 17 December 2024
Follow

Serving the forgotten: Delhi woman performs last rites for city’s abandoned dead

Serving the forgotten: Delhi woman performs last rites for city’s abandoned dead
  • Pooja Sharma has performed funeral rites for more than 5,000 people since 2022
  • She is featured on the BBC’s list of 100 inspirational women around the world

NEW DELHI: Pooja Sharma’s life was turned upside down when her older brother was killed, leaving her with a tragic responsibility that soon became a mission of serving those no one thought to serve — New Delhi’s unclaimed dead.

The 27-year-old spends most of her time collecting bodies released from mortuaries by the police and taking them to a crematorium for their final dignified farewell.

“My elder brother was shot dead in front of my eyes because of a small tiff with some goons. No one came to help me out. When I took him to the hospital, he was declared dead and my father went into a coma. When my brother’s dead body came home from the hospital there was no male member to perform the last rites,” Sharma told Arab News.

“I did the last rites of my brother, tying a turban on my head. When I went to the cremation ground to collect his ashes, I started crying inconsolably. That day I took a vow that, from now on, no dead body will go unattended to the cremation ground.”

Quitting her job as an HIV counsellor at a government hospital, she established Bright the Soul Foundation, which has since helped perform funerary rites for more than 5,000 people.

“I perform the last rites not only for Hindus, but also Christians and Muslims and other religions too,” Sharma said.

“God has made us human, and we deserve respect both while living and while dead. I want to serve the dead.”

Delhi police data shows that thousands of unidentified bodies are found in the city every year. After an investigation and attempts to locate relatives, officers either bury them in mass graves or cremate them. Or they call Sharma.

She performs funeral rites for about eight people every day and tries to raise awareness on her Instagram page and the foundation’s website, hoping she will be able to expand the reach of her service.

“I want to spread the wings of my organization across the country so that the orphaned dead bodies can get their respect and decent cremation. There are some states which are really poor, and poor people when they die, they don’t get their due respect. They are buried or cremated in a very rude manner,” Sharma said.

“I feel it’s important that the dead bodies also get their rights, and they should be buried with full religious and ritual rites.”

Earlier this month, Sharma’s work was recognized when the BBC included her on its 2024 “100 Women” list of inspiring and influential women from around the world.

She hopes the recognition will help more women enter the service of final rites and destigmatize their presence. Sharma herself has faced resistance from priests and the wider community as the role is traditionally held by men in Hinduism.

She has also sacrificed her personal life in pursuit of her mission.

Living with her father and grandmother, who also financially support her work, Sharma does not feel accepted by society at large.

“People don’t talk to me normally. They are scared of me, and they don’t mingle with me. Even my childhood friends have also stopped talking to me. They say that their parents have stopped them from talking to me, and they say that if they talk to me, they will turn impure,” she said.

“This is a lonely journey for me, but I have accepted my fate ... My life is dedicated to the service of humanity.”