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London teen jailed for one year in Dubai after 'holiday romance' with 17-year-old girl (www.mylondon.news)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Marcus, from Tottenham, North London, had been enjoying a holiday with his parents when he met a fellow Brit at the same hotel. A holiday fling sparked and the pair spent time together until the girl, also from London, flew back to Britain.

In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor. The relationship would be legal in the UK.

Marcus and his parents were set to fly back shortly after - but their plans were thrown into chaos when police knocked on their hotel room door. The "terrified" teenager was then reportedly hauled in for questioning without any explanation and held at the Al Barsha Police Station, DID said. He spent three days there, during which time he was not allowed to make a phone call or speak with his parents, it is claimed.

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[–] [email protected] 81 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Either

They're always watching. I'm in tech and was taught in my security training - when traveling to countries with extremely strong surveillance, assume you are bugged. Family could be high valued and they wanted something from the parents. Probably a bit too tinfoil hat.
Vengeance girl's parents could be assholes/racist. As a dude, Ive had my share of "mommy & daddy doesn't like me for taking their precious flower". Multiplier in effect if they have a problem that I'm a PoC.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

If you check the article it says it's the 2nd case, the girl's parents notified the Dubai authorities

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 week ago

You already know that Mommy phoned it in but after reading several articles I'm going to guess she did it because her family is Muslim. According to another article his family knew about it but didn't care however she was hiding it from her family because they were "quite strict".

I won't discount racist assholes of course but you'd have to be SERIOUSLY over the top to know about this law in Dubai, let alone be willing to make an international phone call to the Dubai police about it. This smacks of religiously motivated behavior.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It was the mother of the girl. She got back to the UK found out about the boy and contacted the Dubai authorities. Apparently the girl was days off her 18th birthday too. It was in the news report when he was originally arrested.

Wrecked a young man’s life for some bullshit reason.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Wow, 2 years older in mere days. Must be a leap year.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Sorry typo. Fixed

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

You've left out the good old snitch, my understanding is they're pretty darn strict with anything that involves women over there, so maybe someone from the hotel saw something and reported it.