UAE jails Brazilian girl, 14, for 'consensual sex': reports
AFP
DUBAI- A 14-year-old Brazilian girl was sentenced to jail in Abu Dhabi, then deportation, for having had "consensual sex" with a Pakistani school bus driver, local newspapers said Wednesday.
The girl was sentenced to six months after prosecutors charged that she had "consensual sex" and had arranged the meeting with the Pakistani man, citing what they described as "erotic" text messages, the reports said.
"A 14-year-old girl who initially claimed she was raped ... was yesterday (Tuesday) sentenced to six months in prison followed by deportation," Gulf News reported.
The girl reportedly retracted the rape accusation during a court hearing in late July, The National newspaper said.
Gulf News also reported that the man, who it said was a 25-year-old school bus driver from Pakistan, was sentenced to a year in prison and will also be deported. The National said the man was 28.
The girl's lawyers had requested the Pakistani man be accused of statutory rape, according to The National. In many countries, the girl would have been too young by two to four years to legally consent to sex.
But in the UAE, The National said, sex-related offences are tried according to Sharia, or Islamic law, under which defendants who have reached puberty are tried as adults.
Extra-marital sex is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.
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The girl reportedly retracted the rape accusation during a court hearing in late July, The National newspaper said.
Gulf News also reported that the man, who it said was a 25-year-old school bus driver from Pakistan, was sentenced to a year in prison and will also be deported. The National said the man was 28.
The girl's lawyers had requested the Pakistani man be accused of statutory rape, according to The National. In many countries, the girl would have been too young by two to four years to legally consent to sex.
But in the UAE, The National said, sex-related offences are tried according to Sharia, or Islamic law, under which defendants who have reached puberty are tried as adults.
Extra-marital sex is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.
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