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The victim said that after the first sip of her drink, she
realised that she had been drugged.
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A Doha court today convicted a Dutch woman of adultery and
handed her a one-year suspended sentence after she reported being raped while
on holiday in Qatar.
The 22-year-old woman, known only as Laura and who was not
in court, was also fined 3,000 Qatari riyals (US$800/€710/RM3,380) and will be
deported once she pays the fine, court officials said.
The male defendant, also not in court, was given a sentence
of 100 lashes for adultery and 40 lashes for consuming alcohol.
He will not serve any time in jail. The Dutch ambassador to
Qatar Yvette Burghgraef-van Eechoud, who was present in court, told reporters
the embassy would help Laura leave Qatar.
“We will do everything to get her out of the country as soon
as possible to where she wants to go,” said Eechoud.
The envoy added that she expected Laura to leave Qatar
within the next few days.
Laura was arrested on March 14 and has since been held in custody.
Her lawyer previously said that the incident happened after
she had visited a Doha hotel.
“She went dancing but when she returned to the table after
the first sip of her drink, she realised that” she had been drugged, Brian
Lokollo has said.
“She really didn’t feel very well,” he added.
The young woman remembers nothing more until the following
morning when she woke up in a totally unfamiliar apartment “and realised to her
great horror, that she had been raped,” he said.
The male defendant had insisted that their night together
had been consensual and that the woman had even asked for money.
— AFP
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