Dubai: A British woman, who was caught in bed with an Emirati man after police raided their hotel room, will be deported for having consensual sex with the man to whom she got married later.
The British woman arrived in Dubai for a visit and she accompanied her Emirati friend to the luxury hotel in Bur Dubai in 2016.
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Shortly after showing his identification to the hotel staff, the Emirati had a heated argument with the security guard and refused to present the woman’s identification papers when asked to do so before going up to the room. The guard called the police.
Following several attempts to make the couple open the hotel room door, police obtained the prosecutors’ permission to raid the room and when they opened the door, the couple were found nude in bed together.
The couple was taken into custody and taken to the nearest police station.
When interrogated by the police, the Emirati and the Briton admitted that they had consumed liquor but denied indulging in sex.
Prosecutors charged the Briton and the Emirati with having sex without being married. They were also charged with consuming liquor.
The Dubai Misdemeanours Court sentenced the couple to one year in jail each over the sex charge and fined them Dh3,000 each for drinking.
The Briton was ordered to be deported following the completion of her imprisonment.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty and strongly denied having consensual sex.
The forensic examination report confirmed that the DNA and semen traces that were found on the Briton belonged to the Emirati.
The duo appealed their judgement and sought to have a lenient punishment before the Appeal Court.
When they showed up in the appellate court, the couple presented a civil marriage contract.
Having not been able to marry in the UAE, the defendants were believed to have travelled to another country where they got married before a civic authority.
Once they returned, they handed the appellate court a copy of their civil marriage in the hope of getting acquittal or a lenient sentence.
The Appeal Court overturned the primary ruling and reduced the one-year imprisonment to a three-month suspended jail term on grounds of leniency.
However, the appellate court upheld the deportation order against the British woman. The Dh3,000 fine was also upheld.
The defendants appealed the verdict at the Cassation Court, before which they renewed their not guilty pleas and maintained that they did not have sex.
The Cassation Court dismissed their appeals and upheld the three-month suspended jail term.
Dubai’s highest court also upheld the deportation order against the British defendant, who will have to surrender herself soon to be deported.
In their arguments, the defendants repeatedly contended that they were just friends and were acquainted in college where they first met during their studies. They maintained that they never had sex because they were “just friends”.
