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The man, a Syrian, had just shown his wife the door we are told, having thrown her out of the house last Thursday. The estranged wife, who in fact has ownership of the house, had arrived accompanied by police with the intention of asserting her rights when it became clear that the woman, a teacher who had been brought to the house by a colleague, was found with the man consuming alcohol. The friend who had brought her had left.
The Syrian woman pressed charges against the teacher for entering her house without permission, but has since dropped those charges. The teacher is facing criminal charges of consuming alcohol and being alone in the company of a man other than her husband or close relative.
Drinking alcohol alone in the house of an Arab man you have just met is a position many women would think twice about putting themselves in, although few would think of it as a criminal offence. But the couple were arrested on the spot and have been in custody for since last weekend awaiting a court hearing. A week in jail is a long time for a drink and a chat.
There are no substantive details in the story beyond that. If you didn't know that being alone in the company of a man other than your husband or close relative is a criminal offence in the UAE, you do now.
Did you know?
7 comments:
Yes, I did know. It's always the same in this country for this kind of thing - the authorities are happy to turn a blind eye until someone (in this case the estranged wife) makes a complaint. Then they have to act. More UAE bashing if/when the UK press get hold of this!
Oh, I think we can safely assume that's only a matter of time, Dave! :)
So, carpooling with a female colleague, a business lunch with my boss or anything involving me alone with another person of the opposite sex is grounds for jail time?
Yikes.
It's not the law that is the problem. We choose to live in this country and therefore must abide by their laws. It is the haphazard application, the extreme penalties and their unintended consequences.
Like the pregnant maid who lives in such fear that she kills her baby, or dies in her room during childbirth (her friends being locked up for being there).
Meanwhile the authorities ignore all those prostitutes hanging out in the hotels and all the celebrities who flout the rules. Or are they going to lock up that Kardashian girl for being pregnant out of marraige next time she comes?
"Drinking alcohol alone in the house of an Arab man you have just met is a position many women would think twice about putting themselves in"
I am sure you meant to say: Drinking alcohol alone in the house of A MAN you have just met is a position many women would think twice about putting themselves in
Got you ;)
'mouni, I was careful to specify Arab man as in this case it was a British woman and there is such huge scope for misunderstanding in that situation. A British woman having a drink with a man from that country would likely be able to 'read' the situation and expectations better, I think.
But I am sure there is more to be told in this particular tale...
'mouni, I was careful to specify Arab man as in this case it was a British woman and there is such huge scope for misunderstanding in that situation. A British woman having a drink with a man from that country would likely be able to 'read' the situation and expectations better, I think.
But I am sure there is more to be told in this particular tale...
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