London, Jan 8 (ANI): A Brit woman, who went to the police after being raped by a waiter in a Dubai hotel, found herself arrested instead for having illegal sex with her fiance.
The 23-year-old Londoner was attacked by the waiter in a hotel toilet after she had a couple of drinks to celebrate her engagement to her boyfriend.
But when she told cops in the strict Islamic state that she had been drinking and that she was sharing a hotel room with her fiance, they arrested her for "illegal drinking" outside licensed premises and having sex outside marriage.
She and her 44-year-old fiance, also from London, were charged with the same offences, and they were thrown into jail with the officers in charge totally ignoring the rape case.
The two, who could be jailed for up to six years if found guilty of the illicit sex charge, are now on bail and awaiting trial with their passports confiscated.
British embassy officials in the desert emirate have stepped in to help them.
"There have been some truly appalling injustices in Dubai but this one tops the lot," the Sun quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
"A desperate, distressed rape victim went with her boyfriend to report the attack to police. And both wound up behind bars.
"The police and authorities in Dubai have shamed themselves by yet again displaying a breathtaking lack of compassion and humanity," the source said.
The British woman, who is a Muslim of Pakistani descent, admits she had too much to drink as they celebrated at Dubai Marina's luxurious Address Hotel and that she passed out in the ladies' loo.
The waiter is said to have followed her into the toilets and raped her while she was semi-conscious.
Her fiance was initially unaware of the attack and helped her to their room, where they slept until the next day, but the horror of the rape came back to her when she woke.
They both went to Jebel Ali police station to report it, but unsympathetic cops immediately quizzed them about breaking the emirate's severe decency rules, which contain elements of Sharia law.
Medics were said to have shunned rape case procedures, but made sure they obtained a blood sample from the woman to prove she had been drinking.
After being locked up, she told a cellmate she was terrified the rapist had made her pregnant or given her a sexually transmitted disease.
She was given access to proper medical checks and a morning-after pill only after an appeal from British embassy staff.
She and her fiance spent several days behind bars before being freed.
"She's a British girl but a Muslim, so I think they were tougher on her because of that," the cellmate, who was held for alleged cheque fraud, said.
"She was trying to report the rape but soon realised the policemen were more interested in how often she has sex with her boyfriend.
"They even asked if she did just normal sex or anything else in bed," the cellmate added.
Her attacker, who is understood to be Syrian, is believed to have denied rape, and when he claimed the Briton consented he was charged with "illegal sex".
"The matter is being investigated by the authorities," a spokesman for the Address Hotel said. (ANI)
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