A British teenager is set to spend a potential 20 years behind bars after striking up a romance with a girl from London.
Marcus Fakana, 18, traveled with his parents to Dubai for a vacation on August 26. There, he met a 17-year-old who was staying in the same hotel.
After the two had sex, they decided to continue on with their relationship, until the girl’s mother ratted them out to authorities.
Highlights
- 18-year-old Marcus faces 20 years in jail for a relationship with a 17-year-old in Dubai.
- Sex outside marriage is now legal for tourists in Dubai, but both must be 18 or older.
- Marcus was unaware of the girl's age; her strict mother reported them after returning to London.
A British teenager may be facing 20 years in jail after sleeping with an underage girl during his vacation in Dubai
Image credits: Wael Hneini/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
Dubai had recently made sex outside of marriage legal for tourists, but both participants were required to be 18 years old.
Marcus claimed he did not know the girl was a couple of months younger than he was.
The two reportedly started seeing one another more often after having a “wonderful time together.”
“We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict,” Marcus told the human rights group Detained in Dubai. “My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.”
But things took a turn when authorities showed up to take Marcus in for questioning
Image credits: Briona Baker/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
Unbeknownst to Marcus, the 17-year-old’s mother had allegedly found out about the romance while scrolling through her daughter’s phone.
“When she left, I couldn’t wait to see her again when I got home,” Marcus said. “Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door. They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why.
“I couldn’t imagine what for. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.”
The 18-year-old was held at Al Barsha Police Station for three days and was prohibited from calling or contacting his parents.
The chief executive of the human rights group showed some sympathy towards Marcus’ parents and the situation at hand
Image credits: Detained In Dubai
Radha Stirling from Detained in Dubai said the boy’s mom and dad were “worried sick” while their son waited in the station.
“He was told his girlfriend’s mother had reported the relationship to authorities in Dubai after she had arrived back in London,” she informed.
The chief executive added, “This clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up.”
Image credits: Getty Images/Unsplash
However, she noted the parent may not have known she was possibly condemning Marcus to 20 years in prison.
“This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting,” Stirling said. “Parents will be scared to take their older teenagers on vacation with them where they could end up losing their lives over behavior that’s completely legal in their own countries.”
Marcus’s parents are doing everything in their power to see their son free
Image credits: Radha Stirling
At the time of writing, Marcus is still being held in Dubai and facing the possibility of two decades in jail. But his family has called upon foreign secretary David Lammy to help bring him back to the UK.
Stirling noted, “Mr Lammy is in a perfect position to help young Marcus.
“Dubai police have the power to drop the case against Marcus and let him come home. This is not something we want to do to young people and we ask Mr. Lammy to convey this message to his counterparts in the UAE.”
According to the teenager, his parents needed to head back to the UK for work as the two earned “a humble living.”
Image credits: RadhaStirling
“They saved up for this one-off holiday and they have now used all of their savings,” Marcus said. “The police demanded 10,000 AED for bail which I’ve been told is not normal and the costs are mounting.”
He prayed the “nightmare” would be over soon and that he’d be able to spend Christmas back home with his family.
Dubai has typically held stricter laws for unmarried couples, as well as other emirates in the UAE
Image credits: Joshua Chun/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
Dubai is an Islamic country and lives by Sharia law, formerly forbidding two unmarried people from the opposite sex to live together.
Back in 2016, a young unmarried couple was jailed for a month and had plans to be deported after they were convicted of living together for three weeks and kissing, according to The National News.
Things changed in November 2020 when the UAE government granted unmarried couples the right to live together.
However, there is still some skepticism regarding an unexpected pregnancy and delivering a baby out of wedlock. The children are acknowledged legally but there are certain procedures that must be followed to confirm their legal status.
Commenters pointed fingers at the mother and the laws of Dubai for the harsh sentence
