Authorities rescue three missing individuals in Qarn al Alam
The operation was led by the Oil and Gas Installations Police Command, with support from the Royal Air Force of Oman, Police Aviation, private sector companies operating in concession areas, and concerned citizens.
In a statement, ROP said the missing individuals, one Omani citizen and two Indian nationals, were found in stable condition.
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15 hours ago
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Indian police exhume human remains in mass-burial investigation
BENGALURU: Indian police have exhumed human remains in a temple town in the country's south, officials said, as part of an investigation into allegations that hundreds of murder and rape victims were secretly buried there from around the mid-1990s. The probe centres on Dharmasthala, home to an 800-year-old temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva in the state of Karnataka and is drawing headlines in media nationwide. A former cleaner at the temple told police last month that he had been forced by superiors to dispose of hundreds of bodies over two decades, many of them women and girls showing signs of sexual assault. His allegations were made in a police complaint dated July 4 and seen by Reuters. The man, whose identity authorities have withheld for safety reasons, fled Dharmasthala in 2014 but said he was compelled to speak out now because of lingering guilt. "If the skeletons now exhumed receive respectful funeral rites, those tormented souls will find peace and my sense of guilt could also decrease," he wrote in the complaint. The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the temple said it welcomed a thorough investigation and hoped police would "bring out true facts to light". In the complaint, the former cleaner accused temple officials of forcing him to dispose of the bodies and told police he would name the officials if they protected him and his family. Karnataka's interior minister told the state assembly on Monday that the protection was now in place. The former cleaner said he had secretly exhumed a skeleton from one of the burial sites to prove his claims. A special investigation team formed by the Karnataka government has so far recovered human remains from two of 16 suspected burial sites, according to two senior police officials familiar with the probe. They declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Karnataka's interior minister, Gangadharaiah Parameshwara, said the police have collected bone fragments, soil samples, and other material for testing from two sites thanks to the information from the former cleaner. "The analysis is ongoing. Only once that is complete can we say the investigation has truly begun," Parameshwara said. "My request is to not make this a religious matter." Sachin Deshpande, a lawyer for the complainant, told Reuters "they have found human remains where our client pointed and we are sure that the truth will come out". He declined to make his client available for an interview. The revelations have revived interest in older unsolved cases, including Padmalatha, a college student whose family alleged she was raped and murdered in Dharmasthala in 1986. Padmalatha, like many in India, went by one name. Her sister, Indravathi, said the family buried Padmalatha's body rather than cremating it according to Hindu custom, hoping that would help with any investigations later. "We hope that we will get justice one day for her abduction, rape and murder," said Indravathi, who uses only one name.
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What are main issues of expats in Oman handled by OHRC?
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On April 24, 2024, the Monitoring and Complaints Department settled two complaints it received from two female workers. (One of them refused to renew her employment contract with her employer, and the other was denied her monthly wages. This enabled the two workers to obtain their monthly wage rights, retrieve their passports, and provide them with tickets to return to their home country. In another context, in May 2024, OHRC received two complaints regarding workers. One related to her request to receive her monthly wages and return to her home country, and the other requested to transfer her work residency to a new employer due to the previous employer's failure to pay her monthly wages. Following this, and after investigation and research, it became clear that the two workers had not received their monthly wages. The employer was summoned regarding the request to transfer the worker to another employer, and the matter was settled by paying the monthly wages and transferring the worker to a new employer. The other worker was enabled to return to her home country after receiving all the necessary documents and monthly wages. On June 11, 2024, OHRC received a complaint from a domestic worker from the sub-continent who was placed in a shelter affiliated with the Ministry of Labor based on a notice of abstention from the employer, despite the latter handing the worker over to the domestic worker recruitment office. This occurred due to a financial dispute between the employer and the domestic worker recruitment office. OHRC contacted the Ministry of Labor, and the worker was released. The worker was also informed of the procedures for filing a compensation claim for damages resulting from the harmful act committed against her. On July 17, 2024, OHRC received a complaint from an Indian worker stating that he worked for a company and that his employment contract was still valid. He wished to transfer his services from his current workplace to another branch of the company, but the employer rejected his request and suspended him. The Monitoring and Complaints Department immediately contacted the company's management, and the worker was reinstated and began working at the branch to which he wished to transfer. The committee received a complaint from an Indian worker, stating that he worked as a travel agent for a company. However, after two months of work with the company, he was subjected to mistreatment by his employer, who denied him his monthly salary and threatened to deport him to his country. He requested assistance in receiving his monthly salary and enabling him to transfer his residency to another employer. 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Observer
10-08-2025
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FSA appeals against verdict in Sweets of Oman case
MUSCAT: The Financial Services Authority (FSA), regulator of Oman's capital market and insurance sector, has appealed against a Primary Court ruling in Muscat that acquitted three board members of publicly listed Sweets of Oman, while imposing a substantial financial penalty on one board member and several executive management staff in an embezzlement case. The appeal, filed on July 29, 2025, is in response to the ruling of the Primary Court issued on June 30, 2025, in the suit brought against members of the Board of Directors of Sweets of Oman SAOG for their term of office from 2017 to 2019, along with a number of the company's executive employees. The case concerned a criminal matter related to serious violations that caused financial harm to the company and its shareholders, committed by one board member in collaboration with several executive management employees. The Primary Court, in its verdict, ordered certain members of the board and executive management to return an amount of RO 5 million in favor of the company and its shareholders, in addition to bearing court fees and expenses. It, however, acquitted three board members of liability, citing the lack of a causal link between them and the proven damages, as determined in the court's reasoning. This acquittal has now been contested by the Authority through its recent appeal filed recently. The court's ruling followed reports confirming that the company's losses and damages resulted from gross negligence in fulfilling the Board's legal and oversight duties, with major shortcomings in five key areas: failure to oversee bank loans, including obtaining loans without assessing their feasibility or impact and recording them at non-genuine values in the financial statements; approval of financial statements without internal audit review and confirmation of fictitious inventory at a branch; addition of financial assets without legal approval, a board resolution, or clear funding sources; failure to apply policies for writing off doubtful debts under International Accounting Standards; and suspicions of collusion by certain executive employees in inflating revenues and understating liabilities, coupled with the Audit Committee's failure to fulfil its duties in line with corporate governance principles for public joint-stock financial companies. The Authority emphasized that these practices resulted in the presentation of inaccurate and misleading financial data, harming the company's financial position and the interests of its shareholders. This ruling reflects the Omani judiciary's affirmation of the principle of personal liability for members of boards of directors of public joint-stock companies, which does not end with the expiry of their term of office but extends for five years from the date of the act or omission, under Article (18) of the Commercial Companies Law. FSA stressed the necessity for board members to carry out their legal and oversight responsibilities with competence and awareness, ensuring proper guidance of executive management without excessive interference in daily operations or neglect in follow-up and monitoring, thereby safeguarding financial procedures and protecting shareholders' rights. This approach is reinforced by Article (206) of the Commercial Companies Law, which states: 'The members of the Board of Directors shall be jointly liable towards the company, shareholders, and third parties for damages resulting from their joint actions in violation of the law, actions exceeding their powers, or any fraud, forgery, or error they commit during the performance of their duties, as well as for failing to act with the care of a prudent person under given circumstances.' It is noteworthy that the ruling was issued after the court merged two lawsuits filed against the company's board members and certain executive employees. The Financial Services Authority filed the first lawsuit in December 2022, followed by a second lawsuit filed by several major shareholders in July 2023. The Authority reaffirms its full commitment to promoting the principles of governance, transparency, and accountability, and to exercising its regulatory role in monitoring compliance by companies under its supervision and their boards of directors with applicable laws and regulations, based on the powers granted to it under the Commercial Companies Law No. (18/2019), including Article (207). It also calls on all parties to strictly comply with the applicable laws and regulations, and to refrain from any practices that could undermine the integrity and efficiency of markets or harm the rights of shareholders and investors. Caption:
