Dubai: A British woman, who lodged a false rape complaint on New Year’s Eve, and her husband have been fined Dh1,000 each for the illegal consumption of liquor.
On Wednesday, the Dubai Misdemeanors Court found the 44-year-old British husband, S.C., and his 23-year-old wife, S.P., guilty of consuming liquor without obtaining proper permission from the authorities.
When the judge summoned the suspects to courtroom five to level their charges, the British couple failed to appear. The judge then fined the couple Dh1,000 each in absentia.
Media reports have said that the Britons left the UAE.
A prosecution official at the Criminal Rulings Execution Section of Dubai Public Prosecution told Gulf News: "The couple was sentenced in absentia. According to the Criminal Procedures Law, a local arrest warrant will be issued within a few days if they fail to execute the ruling and pay the fine...”
Dubai Attorney General Essam Eisa Al Humaidan earlier criticised a section of the British media that covered the case, saying: “A faction of the British media published fictitious and fabricated reports about the rape incident. The rape charge against an Indian waiter had been dropped as prosecutors’ interrogations revealed that the waiter was accused falsely, and S.P. waived her rape complaint.”
Al Humaidan said they dismissed the charge of out-of-wedlock sex between S.P. and S.C. after they presented documents on January 20, verifying that they married on November 17, 2009, a month and a half before the alleged rape incident.
Wednesday’s verdict is still subject to appeal within 15 days.
Records said S.P. reported to police that she came to visit her husband. She stayed with him at a hotel where they repeatedly slept together. On January 1, S.P. reported to Jebel Ali Police Station that she was allegedly raped while she was under the influence of liquor the night before.
When questioned by prosecutors, S.C. said they were heavily drunk and that her complaint was “out of place because she was not aware of her actions and behaviour".
