A 25-year old British woman tourist has been raped by two fellow Britons, but she is now facing charges in Dubai for having "extra-marital sex."
She went to Dubai last October for a five-day holiday when she was attacked by two men. She readily went to the police to report the case.
But to the IT consultant's surprise, she was charged and jailed for having "extra-marital sex." In a Facebook post, she says "it is petrifying being out here alone but I have to stay strong and positive because otherwise they will win and I will not let this happen."
She needs around $30,000 for legal fees; otherwise she will be facing a long jail sentence given the strict sex laws in the United Arab Emirates where it is highly illegal to be having sex outside marriage.
While currently waiting for trial, she is staying with a British family who has volunteered to take care of her. The two attackers, however, are now believed to be back in Birmingham.
On the day of the attack, it was said that she met the two guys in the hotel where they were all staying, and they invited her to come to their room. They then raped her while filming the entire attack. On that same day the two men flew back to the UK.
Her passport and other travel documents were seized by the police, and she has to stand for trial on UAE's grounds. A friend confirmed that the victim's passport was confiscated. She also adds, airing her disappointment, "She went to the police as the victim of one of the worst ordeals imaginable but she is being treated as the criminal."
The UK Embassy in the United Arab Emirates has already been contacted and said they will take all the necessary action needed to intervene.
However, the victim's parents are worried because they feel like nothing much is being done for the case. Her mother says, "As far as I'm aware West Midlands Police aren't doing anything." And her father adds that, "We haven't been getting help anywhere."
This case is not the first of its kind when back in 2013, a Norwegian woman was raped by a colleague and then charged for having "extra-marital sex." She was then put in jail for 16 months and on through serving her sentence, she was later pardoned and allowed to go back to her home country.
