Marcus Fakana gets prison sentence in Dubai.

[Ohnonotmeagain]

This is the 18 year old lad who had a holiday romance with a 17 year old girl in Dubai. She was just short of 18.

her parents found out and reported him to the Dubai authorities before he returned home.

his poor parents aren’t well off and had to return home to work leaving him there.

he’s now been sentenced to 1 year in prison.

aibu to think this poor boy should never have been brought before court.

I think you can find mother and daughter quite easily on tik tok...they're not hiding

It's irrelevant what someone here thinks. Whether people agree with it or disagree. It IS the law. The vast majority here disagreeing with it doesn't change the fact, that that's the law over there. Ignorance is not a defence, he broke the law. You don't have to like their way of living/laws, but you have zero rights to dictate how they do live. You basically have two choices: 1) don't go there at all, 2) familiarize yourself with local laws if you do.

That he's young, black, it wasn't a rape, romance, they liked each other and (best of all) 'it's not like that in the UK' - all this yappery is irrelevant. It's 'like that' in Dubai. So put up and shut up or don't go there.

I've travelled all over South America at his age. You bet your ass I familiarized myself with specifics of their life and laws. I had brains enough to get that the fact that I'm young won't save me when I'm banged up in a Mexican prison or in some Venezuelan cellar.

And if his family haven't heard of savage medieval laws of UAE - they must truly live under a rock. It's in the news constantly.

Prostituted women anywhere are rarely there because they chose to sell the holes in their bodies to any man who will pay.
And why would anything be different if the sexes were reversed?

I can't see why. Neither a seventeen year old nor an eighteen year old is a child. Sorry, but they are not.

@TiramisuThief is right about the lack of empathy here. Everyone who says either participant in this was a child is wrong. 17 and 18 year olds are NOT children. Stupid, immature and ignorant, yes, but children? No.
And before anyone tells me that legally they are 'children', Juno Dawson has a certificate that states he is legally a woman - is he?

I don't disagree with you on your last point - I have no idea why anyone in the UK goes to countries with such horrific laws. I would never go there.

But it's not this boy's fault - Dubai should not put women in prison for being raped or kissed on the cheek, and they shouldn't jail this boy for a holiday romance either.

Goodness, what a way with words you have!

The ruler of Dubai was disinvited from the Royal enclosure at Ascot by QE2. Perhaps he now has some leverage to get back in?

Not sure what that means. Prostituted women (and men) sell the holes in their bodies or service other people's holes in the case of prostituted men. What did you think prostitution was, the Lady of the Carmelias? (Well, actually it is her - and she was as much prostituted as any women prostituted in Dubai.)
Sorry if truth offends.
And language should always be clear.

Nearly every adult knows what prostitution entails, absolutely no need for crude explanations.

So I have learned the background of the mother and daughter. They are British Indian. This has 100% been reported due to racism. Vindictive woman. My dad’s side of the family shares exactly the same background. A lot of British-Indians are a lot more open minded than many would suspect - they allow their kids to date, drink etc. But it has to be done in a certain way. Ie at uni, not under the parents’ nose. And definitely no black boyfriends. White maybe but black is a no go.

I’m half Indian and always been embraced by my Indian side but there are some right weirdos who are very narrow minded.

It sounds like the only law broken was by the young man breaking Dubai law. The reporting of a crime is not an offence. However I support anyone n the UK who hopes we can change the laws in Dubai as they are very unfair indeed and different from ours. That does not mean I think our laws are perfect however.

Wow, some sweeping generalisations made about Indian people here....made by so called anti racist people

Yes, there is. Someone on here said it was the people trafficking in Dubai that upset her, rather than the prostitutes themselves, because they were forced. But economic need is as much a state of being forced as any other. I don't think many MNters would recommend a career as a prostitute. It is what it is - not saying what it is gives a veneer of acceptability. Prostitution is misogynistic, it is about selling bits of your body for someone else to use. It demeans all women and treats women as things, as does the pornography industry. Call it what it is.
Don't gloss over it.

When I found out that it was the mother who had reported the boy, I instantly thought that she must be Asian or South Asian. It’s interesting because as Black people, you know that there’s people that are racist. However, in my experience, a lot of that racism and dislike comes from Asian people.

The whole situation is just really fucked up

This is the main problem. A young girl sneaking around to be with your son in DUBAI of all places?

where is the discernment from his parents.

I don't know who that is, but if it's a GRC recognised in whatever country JD lives in, then legally, yes!

You can't just redefine words. "Legally" means just, and only that. It doesn't mean morally, physically or "in my opinion."

There are laws I disagree with but that doesn't mean I (or anyone else) can just pretend they don't exist!

All anyone can do is decide whether to follow them or not, and campaign to change them if they feel that strongly. But sticking your fingers in your ears and going "lalala, NOT a woman/NOT a child/NOT driving too fast" or whatever doesn't solve anything.

What about hers? Where did they think she was off to without them?

did the mum know about it before they left and wait until they were back in the uk to report it? As even if the girl was not guilty of a crime I’m sure there would have been interviews, possibly medical examinations, delays to their return home etc.

apparently it is illegal to have unmarried sex in Dubai, although it’s not usually prosecuted unless one partner is under 14, unless I’ve misgoogled.

so I suspect they’ve waited to ensure only he falls foul of Dubai law.

No he wasn't the age of consent in dubai is 18. He was 18 she was the "victim" as she was 17

apparently it is illegal to have unmarried sex in Dubai, although it’s not usually prosecuted unless one partner is under 14, unless I’ve misgoogled.

There are a lot of websites that say that (including Wikipedia), but sex outside marriage was decriminalised in January 2022.

No he couldn't

Is there any truth in reports the mother found the morning after pill in her daughters bag.

I hadn't realised the girl's British as well! Dubai still isn't wrong for enforcing its own laws but, bloody hell, it was two British kids doing what would've been perfectly legal at home.

It is very, very like the other things tourists do that are legal at home but illegal in the host country - drinking alcohol's the obvious example. It probably felt totally normal to them, although the girl's parents are obviously strict, as she was trying to keep it secret.

I feel really sorry for them both, especially the boy who's got to spend a year in prison in a very foreign culture where he doesn't speak the language 😢

The USA does not have a universal age of consent. It varies by state. There are 4 states where the age of consent is 18 regardless of the age difference. I am not saying he would be prosecuted in those states as I don't know enough about how the authorities approach this, but the law in these states would allow him to be prosecuted in this situation.

I don't know, but like the naming of the mum and daughter I believe this came from Twitter - and Twitter really isn't a reputable source of information, which is worth remembering in case it starts driving reprisals