A married Emirati woman has been jailed for six months for having consensual sex with a Saudi tourist who died of a heart attack while the duo was in a hotel room together.
The pair met in July at the hotel's nightclub and exchanged numbers at the time. According to Gulf News, they communicated for a few days before the man asked to see the woman prior to his departure from the country.
Subsequently, the Emirati woman booked a room in the same hotel and visited the man's room at 4 am where the two engaged in consensual intercourse.
While the woman was in the bathroom, she heard a distinct sound. As she rushed out to see what had happened, she found the man on the floor, suffering from a cardiac arrest.
She immediately informed the receptionist at the hotel about the man’s medical condition. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital.
The Emirati woman was then arrested for having consensual sex with the man, Gulf News reported.
The Dubai Misdemeanours Court had initially sentenced the woman to one year in prison, which she appealed. Subsequently, the Appeal Court reduced the punishment to six months in prison.
The woman, appealed the decision once again, claiming that she was raped.
The Cassation Court upheld the woman's six-month imprisonment, following a forensic report which proved the defendant did, in fact, have consensual sex with the man.
"The traces of DNA that were lifted up from her body matched with those of the deceased and there were no signs of violence on her body," the report found, according to Gulf News.
Sex outside of marriage is not allowed in the UAE
Unmarried couples in the UAE may risk legal trouble if found to be engaging in sexual intercourse. In some cases, simply meeting in private can land people in jail.
This isn't the first time a couple faces illicit sex charges in the UAE. In recent years, several similar cases have been reported.
The case of a British woman - who faced jail time and deportation sentence for having consensual sex with an Emirati man - is just one example.
Earlier last year, a Japanese couple was detained and interrogated after they were caught having sex on a beach in Dubai. A court later handed the duo a one-month suspended imprisonment sentence and an immediate deportation order.