LONDON: More than 200 women are now in settlement talks with Harrods over alleged abuse by its former owner Mohamed Al Fayed, the upmarket London department store said Thursday.
The Egyptian billionaire died last year aged 94. But new allegations have emerged after the BBC last month aired an expose claiming he had raped and sexually abused women during his ownership of Harrods.
“Since the airing of the documentary, so far there are 200+ individuals who are now in the Harrods process to settle claims directly with the business,” the store said in a statement.
Separately, the BBC said Thursday that another 65 women had told them they were abused by Fayed, while lawyers for the Justice for Harrods Survivors group representing alleged victims said they now have more than 70 clients.
Harrods is advising new complainants to obtain advice through the Harrods Survivors Group legal team or another legal team.
The new allegations sent to the BBC stretch back to 1977, include sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape: 37 of the 65 new claimants had worked at the UK’s most famous shop, the broadcaster added.
Justice for Harrods Survivors said women were now “feeling safe to come forward” and that the number of accusers was “increasing on a daily basis.”
The group “now retains 71 clients and is processing a further 220 inquiries” having been contacted by people from all around the world, it added.
London’s Metropolitan Police said it was also investigating a number of new allegations.
In 2008, Fayed was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and prosecutors reviewed evidence in 2009. In 2015 he was investigated over claims of rape two years earlier.
In both instances, the Crown Prosecution Service said there was no “realistic prospect of conviction” and did not bring charges against the Harrods chairman.
Harrods’ managing director, Michael Ward, has admitted his former boss presided over a “toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct.”
But he said he had not been “aware of his criminality and abuse” and expressed his “personal horror at the revelations.”
Fayed’s accusers say the assaults took place in his apartments in London and his properties in Paris, including the Ritz hotel. The businessman also owned Fulham Football Club.
Allegations include a repeated pattern of women who underwent a selection process for positions close to Fayed, and an “invasive” gynaecological examination, the results of which were shared with Fayed.
The women said when they tried to complain about their abuse they were threatened by senior security staff, demoted and subject to false allegations until they had “no choice” but to leave Harrods.
Fayed sold Harrods to the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for a reported £1.5 billion ($2.2 billion).
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Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
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Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- New allegations have emerged after the BBC last month aired an expose claiming he had raped and sexually abused women during his ownership of Harrods
Pakistanis fleeing Iran describe strikes shaking ground under their feet
QUETTA: Pakistanis fleeing Iran described explosions and missile strikes across Tehran shaking the ground under their feet and engulfing buildings in fire and smoke in a city emptied of many of its residents. The conflict has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday and NATO air defenses destroying an Iranian missile fired toward Turkiye.
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
TEHRAN LOOKED DESERTED
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said. Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Tehran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in the Iranian capital.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
’DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE’ Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Shiite population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “’Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan, all of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.” A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Tehran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office. “At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said. “The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.”
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
TEHRAN LOOKED DESERTED
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said. Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Tehran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in the Iranian capital.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
’DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE’ Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Shiite population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “’Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan, all of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.” A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Tehran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office. “At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said. “The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.”
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