His Excellency also highlighted key statistics for the year, including rulings related to public funds. A total of 32 rulings were issued in 2024 and the previous year, with 25 of the cases referred to the courts in 2023 being implemented. These rulings resulted in fines totaling 1.4 million riyals and restitution and confiscation amounting to 15.4 million riyals, bringing the total to over 16.8 million riyals.

In addition, the Public Prosecution dealt with 192 cases related to public funds and money laundering, with 33 felonies and 159 misdemeanours. The number of cheque and fraud crimes, which are considered predicate crimes to money laundering, amounted to 132.

His Excellency also announced the appointment of 73 specialised juvenile public prosecutors across Oman, with plans to expand this number in the future. Modern technology, such as artificial intelligence, has also been integrated into the Public Prosecution’s operations, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of decision-making.

Regarding social media, His Excellency confirmed that rulings have been issued on cases involving harmful content, with a dedicated team monitoring and addressing the spread of false information and forged content online.

The conference also revealed an alarming rise in crimes against children, with 1,325 cases reported in 2024. These included harassment, indecent assault, violence, and exposing juveniles to delinquency.

The Public Prosecution handled a total of 46,359 cases in 2024, a 22.5 Speaking at the annual conference increase compared to the previous year. The majority of cases involved misdemeanours (43,957), followed by felonies (2,281) and violations (121). The number of defendants reached 58,858, with 89.2 percent being male, 1.8 percent minors, and 46.8 percent expatriates.

Muscat Governorate recorded the highest number of cases with 20,852, followed by North Al Batinah with 7,500, and Dhofar with 4,457.

The Royal Oman Police received the largest share of cases, totaling 32,856, followed by the Public Prosecution’s e-services portal with 5,757, and the Ministry of Labour with 4,142.

Labour law crimes were the most common offenses, with 12,407 cases, followed by cheque crimes (9,699), Foreigners’ Residence Law violations (9,154), fraud (5,343), and theft and extortion (4,002).

The Public Prosecution also issued 21,414 rulings in 2024, an increase of 20.1 percent from 2023. Of these, 17,547 rulings were executed, reflecting a 13 percent rise in execution rates compared to the previous year.

The total number of cases received electronically reached 45,538, marking a 24 percent increase from 2023, and the Public Prosecution conducted 83,305 investigation reports.

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The intrusion occurred at a water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida, which is home to about 15,000 people, according to police. Last Friday, an operator at the facility noticed some suspicious activity: an unknown user had remotely gained access to a computer system that controls chemical processes at the plant.

According to reports, the hackers gained access to one of the employee’s computers via TeamViewer, a popular tool used for remote control or file transfer between computers. The unlawful intrusion incident took place on February 5, 2021.

The mysterious culprit spent three to five minutes accessing various functions on the computer, including one that controls how much sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, is added to the water.

However, the good news was no one harmed by the act although the news has raised questions on how hackers got access to highly secured public infrastructure.

The police further briefed that small amounts of sodium hydroxide are mixed with the water, however, increasing the levels can be dangerous for consumption.

“The hacker changed the sodium hydroxide from about one hundred parts per million to 11,100 parts per million,” the sheriff said.

The water facility employee alerted the company on time, and the sodium hydroxide levels were reversed before it could do any harm.

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Montgomery is the first female federal inmate to be put to death by the US government in 67 years.

She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute stay of execution was lifted by the US Supreme Court.

The case attracted attention because her lawyer argued she was mentally ill and suffered serious abuse as a child.

The 52-year-old strangled a pregnant woman before cutting out and kidnapping her baby in Missouri in 2004.

Her victim, 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, bled to death.

Police found Montgomery cradling a new-born girl she claimed to have given birth to the day before. After her story fell apart, she confessed to the killing.

She was found guilty of the crime in 2007. The next day, she was sentenced to death.

The latest execution was postponed twice-first by COVID-19, then by a judge-until, a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for it to take place in the early hours of Wednesday.

The post Lisa Montgomery: US executes only woman on Federal law appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The court had found first accused Father Thomas Kottoor and third accused Sister Sephy as guilty in the case on December 22.

The culprits were also imposed a fine of Rupees 5 lakh each under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Kottoor was imposed an additional fine of Rs 1 lakh for the offence under Section 449 of the Indian Penal Code.

While Kottoor has been found guilty for offences under Section 302(murder), 201(destruction of evidence) and 449 (criminal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code, Sephy was held guilty for offences under Section 302 and 201 IPC.

The prosecution pleaded for maximum sentence for the culprits by arguing that case belonged to ‘rarest of rarest category’. It was argued that the murder was gruesome as Kottoor and Sephy were duty bound to protect Abhaya, being her teacher and hostel warden respectively.

The defence lawyers pleaded for leniency saying that Kottoor, aged 71, was suffering from cancer and Sephy has aged parents to take care of.

Abhaya, an inmate of St.Pius X convent in Kottayam, was found dead in the well of Pious Tenth convent in Kottayam on March 27,1992. The local police and crime branch initiated a probe into the case, they dismissed the probe as suicide.

Since the case had no eyewitnesses, it was founded wholly on circumstantial and forensic evidences. What proved vital in the case was the testimony of “Adakka” Raju, a thief who was in the convent premises on the fateful night of March 27, 1992 with the intention of stealing the copper wires from the lightning rod installed at the terrace. Raju told the court that while he was sitting atop a tree to scale down the convent wall, he saw two men climbing down the staircase at the rear side of the building. He identified one of them as accused Kottoor. He could not identify the second person.

Raju’s testimony turned out to be vital in linking Kottoor to the crime. Raju also told the court that the crime branch had arrested him soon after the crime and had tortured him forcing him to own up the crime. He also said that he was offered crores of rupees to confess that he had killed Abahya during a theft attempt.

Though several key prosecution witnesses turned hostile during the trial, Raju stood firm in his testimony.

Shortly after the verdict was pronounced , the bail of the two accused was cancelled and police took them into custody. They were taken to the hospital for medical examination as well as the mandatory Covid-19 mandatory screening test.

The post Abhaya murder case: Priest, nun get life imprisonment appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

According to the police, a 22-year-old woman had accused Alwin of sexually abusing her four times last year after promising roles in movies. However the accused is reported to be absconding after the police registered complaint.

“The woman had filed a complaint that the producer had promised her a role in a movie and sexually harassed her four times between January and March 2019. We have registered a case based on her complaint” said Circle Inspector KG Aneesh.

Alwyn Antony had given several hit films like ‘Ohm Shanthi Oshaana’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Mangalyam Thanthunanena’ among others.

The producer was in the limelight last year for his controversial allegation that Rosshan Andrrews attacked him and his family at his house. A case was filed in connection with this against the director.

Meanwhile Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) recently has launched an initiative against fake casting auditions that are rampant in the entertainment industry.

The post Casting couch : Producer Alwin Antony absconds after police registered sexual harassment case against him appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

According to the police , the four were Thrissur native and approached the actor in the pretense of a marriage proposal.They told the actor that proposal is from a Tik Tok star who is a Kasaragod native.They had visited her house and later threatened to misuse her photos.The police further questioned them for more details.

Shamna told the media that she proceeded with the complaint to save others from such fraudulent activities.

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