A Norwegian woman who alleges she was raped in a Dubai hotel has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for extramarital sex, drinking alcohol without a license and perjury.
Marte Deborah Dalelv, a 24-year-old interior designer who had been based in Qatar for two years, claims she was sexually assaulted by a male colleague during a business trip in March to the cosmopolitan, but still heavily Islam-influenced, city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Dalelv told CBS News that the colleague had tried to force her into his room after she refused him. She said she wanted to defuse the situation, however, so she calmly entered his room and had some bottled water. She claims she doesn't remember what happened after that, but when she woke up the following morning, she was without her clothes and the colleague was raping her.
She fled to the lobby to report the crime and hotel staff questioned whether she wanted the police involved. She said she did, then she was taken for a medical examination, and her blood was tested for alcohol. She was then charged with extramarital sex, drinking without permission and perjury.
Dalelv made a phone call to her step-father in Norway and he called the Norwegian Embassy. She was detained for four days, and was eventually released and allowed to stay in the Norwegian Seaman's Center in Dubai.
Dalelv's alleged attacker received a sentence of 13 months. Laws in the UAE require either a confession on the part of the attacker, or the testimony of four adult males to qualify charges of rape. Dalelv is preparing for an appeal in September.
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