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London teen jailed for one year in Dubai after 'holiday romance' with 17-year-old girl (www.mylondon.news)

submitted 2 weeks ago by ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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Marcus, from Tottenham, North London, had been enjoying a holiday with his parents when he met a fellow Brit at the same hotel. A holiday fling sparked and the pair spent time together until the girl, also from London, flew back to Britain.

In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor. The relationship would be legal in the UK.

Marcus and his parents were set to fly back shortly after - but their plans were thrown into chaos when police knocked on their hotel room door. The "terrified" teenager was then reportedly hauled in for questioning without any explanation and held at the Al Barsha Police Station, DID said. He spent three days there, during which time he was not allowed to make a phone call or speak with his parents, it is claimed.

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[–] mayhair@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

A bit of an unwarranted answer, but many richer Pakistanis go there to buy stuff that isn't easily available back home. Hence, they become cash cows for the ginormous malls over there (seriously. If you think American malls are big, you haven't been to Dubai). It's basically the closest foreign city we have direct flights to, due to our sanctions and all with India. For example, I got my Nintendo 3DS, and later the phone that I'm currently using (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra), from malls in Dubai.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

How much are plane tickets? Flying somewhere to buy things is weird to my brain.

[–] mayhair@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

They were undoubtedly cheaper before, but with a low-budget airline like airblue, at least, a round-trip ticket between Lahore and Dubai, for a single adult, economy class, can cost 85,216 PKR or 306.23 USD.

Choosing a more expensive airline like Emirates bumps it up to 138,028 PKR or 496.01 USD.

(Source: Google Flights)

To be fair, my father at least would often buy stuff while he had another reason to be there (i.e. for business).

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

Well if you're an American, it might start making more sense to you in a few months when we have fucking 100% tariffs on imported shit (or whatever the fuck he's going to do).