After engaging in sexual relations with a 17-year-old London-born girl, Marcus Fakana, 18, is currently facing jail time in the United Arab Emirates. He met her during a vacation in Dubai.
Though she has since turned 18, Fakana told the Detained in Dubai group, “We really liked each other, but she was secretive with her family because they were strict. 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.”
The two had anticipated to resume their romance in the UK after the girl went back home. However, Fakana claimed that police arrived at his family’s hotel in Dubai, where he was arrested without being given a reason.
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He was jailed for three days, according to Sky News, and unable to contact his parents.
Fakana was arrested after the girl’s mother discovered his conversations and photos with her daughter back in the UK and alerted Dubai police.
In the United Kingdom, their relationship would be legal.
According to Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai, “Dubai has only recently legalised out-of-wedlock sex for tourists but still hosts a strict Islamic legal system.” Tourists are allowed to have extramarital sex as long as both partners are at least 18.
The country’s severe restrictions on extramarital sex, according to advocates, could, however, land the kid in prison for up to 20 years.
Stirling informed the BBC that the teen’s parents, who work in a warehouse and a cleaner, “don’t know what to do” and have been forced to return to London without their child in order to return to their jobs.
She went on: “It’s a unique case in that it’s the first one we’ve brought to the media where it’s a British citizen and where the age difference is so small.”
“We are not talking about any abuse or taking advantage of anyone. This is clearly just a case of two older teenagers, both of them now the same age, who have been caught up because a mother reported the behaviour.”
Stirling stated, “The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time. Since his arrest, she has turned 18. This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.”
The CEO noted how unfair netizens felt the situation was after they heard it. “That would ruin their son’s life, the whole family’s lives. Is that worth it?”
Though he is no longer detained in a police cell, Fakana cannot leave the nation, and his family must pay £2,000 ($2,500) for Airbnb lodging until his case is settled.
Fakana’s parents have Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who is also their local MP, to step in.
The teen told Detained in Dubai: “[My family] saved up for this one-off holiday and have now used all of their savings.”
His trial is set for December 9.
