this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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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] 56 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm curious how the authorities were even aware of this occurring. The article says they were on holiday, so it's not like there was much time. How did anyone notice their ages? Was it just fishing for a charge because of unrelated reasons?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Did you read the article?

The girls mother reported him to the Dubai police.

Hopefully her identity is revealed to the public and she faces some consequences for her actions. Maybe it's already been leaked or released elsewhere, but it wasn't in that article.

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

I don't believe that detail was in the article when I read it, but I'm unable to find any copies from before the update. I can tell you the article now is very different from the original.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago

After returning to the UK and seeing pictures and chats, the girl’s mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Mr Fakana at his hotel, it is alleged.

[–] [email protected] 78 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Either

  1. 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.

  2. 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] 1 points 10 hours ago

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

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 day ago* (last edited 13 hours 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] 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago

Sorry typo. Fixed

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day 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.

[–] TexasDrunk 10 points 1 day ago

I think either of those are super plausible. There will be people where they stayed who are happy to snitch, no bugs required. On top of that, the UAE has one of the highest concentration of surveillance cameras in the world. Like 30,000 in Dubai. Throw in some facial recognition cross referenced with the list of folks on vacation or on business in the city and it's real easy to find out who is spending time together, what their ages are, and what their kids will look like.

The second one happens all the time. Happened to me when I turned 18 before my then girlfriend. Her mom threatened me with jail and all kinds of shit even though it was perfectly legal and we were only a couple of months apart. She just didn't like me or the fact that I was dating her daughter. Would have probably been worse if I had been a PoC.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Probably saw them socializing and then followed him on security cameras. Possibly seeing him go in her hotel room or vice versa. Then they haul him in and he admits what went on

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

But why were they watching in the first place? How did they know their ages?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

Authoritarian countries like Dubai watch visitors.

[–] TexasDrunk 3 points 1 day ago

It would be pretty easy (with big error bars but since when did authoritarians give a shit about that?) to set up some alerts based on facial recognition when someone under 18 (they have their passport information) is hanging out with someone over 18 who did not arrive in the same party.