An 18-year-old British man faces 20 years in prison in Dubai after being accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl during a family holiday.
Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, was held in a notorious UAE prison for days after police found out about his Christmas romance from his “strict” mother.
The couple “had a wonderful time together” while on holiday in August and hoped to continue their relationship when they returned to London.
But as the girl’s furious mother told Dubai police about the relationship when they returned to the UK, Marcus now faces two decades inside a grueling Dubai prison.
‘When she left, I couldn’t wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly the police knocked on the door of our hotel,” Marcus told the British humanitarian organization Detained in Dubai.
“They said they were going to take me in for questioning but they didn’t tell me why. I couldn’t imagine why. “I was scared and my parents were terrified.”
Dubai has recently reformed its laws on sex outside of marriage for tourists, but maintains a strict Islamic legal system and has no firm rule on the age of consent.
Under local law, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age. The relationship would be legal in the UK and the girl turned 18.
Tottenham’s Marcus Fakana faces 20 years in prison for Christmas romance
Marcus had joined his parents for a short vacation on August 26 when he struck up a Christmas romance with a girl just months before his 18th birthday.
‘We had a wonderful time together. We liked each other very well, but she was reserved with her family because they were strict,” he said.
‘My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell them about hers. He had to see me without telling them it was to see a boy.
The couple tried to spend as much time together as possible while abroad and hoped to get to know each other better when they returned to London.
She left Dubai first and they agreed to meet.
But Marcus was “scared” when the police suddenly appeared at the hotel and detained him for three days at the “famous” Al Barsha police station.
“He was told that his girlfriend’s mother had reported the relationship to Dubai authorities after his return to London,” said Radha Stirling, chief executive of Arrested in Dubai and defender of human rights.
The organization offers confidential legal help to people facing civil and criminal legal problems in the United Arab Emirates.
Marcus learned that he had looked at his daughter’s phone and found her chats and images, and shared them with Dubai police from the safety of the UK.
“She is clearly a very strict mother to involve the police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where her children grew up,” Mrs Stirling warned.
“Perhaps he was not aware that he triggered the possibility of a young man who was only 18 years old spending the next 20 years in prison.”
Meanwhile, the family remain trapped in Dubai, shelling out £2,000 a month in the hope of restoring Marcus’ future.
‘My mother is a cleaner and my father works in a warehouse. “They saved up for this vacation and now they’ve used up all their savings,” Marcus explained.
‘The police demanded AED 10,000 as bail, which I am told is not normal and the costs are increasing. I’m here all alone. I pray this nightmare ends and I will be home for Christmas.
Marcus seeks help because he is threatened with the possibility of 20 years in prison in Dubai.
Marcus and his family are now asking the British Foreign Secretary for help.
“Dubai Police have the power to drop the case against Marcus and let him return home,” Ms Stirling said.
“This is not something we want to do to young people and we ask MP Lammy to convey this message to his counterparts in the UAE.”
The United Arab Emirates has recently implemented changes allowing tourists to have sex outside of marriage, as well as looser regulations on alcohol and vaping.
A British couple was imprisoned for kissing in public in 2010 and eventually deported for violating the country’s decency laws.
Despite the changes to the law, Ms Stirling warns that parents will soon “be afraid to take their older teenage children on holiday with them, where they could end up losing their lives for behavior that is completely legal in their own countries.” “.