"My parents knew about our relationship, but she couldn’t tell hers."
A British teenager is facing up to 20 years in a Dubai prison for having sex with a 17-year-old girl after striking up a holiday romance.
Marcus Fakana, aged 18, of London, was on a family holiday in the United Arab Emirates in September 2024 when he met the girl, also from London, who was staying at the same hotel.
The pair began a secretive relationship and had sex.
The couple later made plans to continue the “blossoming” of their romance once they’d both returned back to Britain.
By the time the girl returned to the UK, her mother is said to have alerted Dubai authorities of the relationship after perusing text messages and photos of the pair on her daughter’s phone.
Mr Fakana was subsequently arrested at his hotel.
According to Radha Stirling, of campaign group Detained in Dubai, the girl is British Indian, and said:
“We are supporting. A British man in the UAE and are in contact with his family.”
Mr Fakana’s parents had saved up to afford what was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime family holiday to Dubai.
Now due to the contested legality of their son’s relationship, the family are living their worst nightmare.
Following his arrest, Mr Fakana was detained for three days at Al Barsha Police Station and was unable to contact his family.
Describing the ordeal, Mr Fakana said: “We had a wonderful time together. 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.
“Police knocked on our hotel door. They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why. I couldn’t imagine what for. I was frightened, and my parents were frightened.”
Ms Stirling is working to have the charges dropped. She described the case as “unique, as the age difference is so small and both individuals are now the same age”.
She also emphasised that there was no abuse nor exploitation involved; rather this was “just a case of two older teenagers caught up because a mother reported the behaviour”.
We have written to @DavidLammy, MP to request assistance for Marcus Fakana, 18 year old detained in Dubai, facing 20 years in prison for sleeping with an Indian-British girl a few months younger than him. She’s 18 now, literally the same age! He’s alone in an Airbnb now.
— Radha Stirling (@RadhaStirling) November 21, 2024
Ms Stirling criticised the teenager’s mother for reporting the relationship without understanding the severe legal repercussions in Dubai.
She said: “Perhaps she didn’t realise the triggered the possibility of an 18-year-old spending the next 20 years in prison.
“This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.”
Commenting on the long-term implications for other families, she added:
“Parents will be scared to take their older children on vacation when they could end up losing their lives over behaviour that’s completely legal in their own countries.”
Ms Stirling and the Fakana family have called for political intervention, reaching out to Tottenham MP David Lammy for support, stating that he is “in a perfect position to assist”.
According to the FCDO: “Consensual sexual relationships between a male and female outside marriage are generally legal as long as both are over the age of 18 years.
“This includes extra-marital sexual relationships.
“If a person aged 18 or over has a sexual relationship with a person under 18 years old, they will be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor.”
On social media, many suggested that Mr Fakana’s ethnicity may have influenced the mother’s actions.
Mr Fakana’s parents, devastated by the situation, have exhausted their resources trying to support their son.
Mr Fakana is no longer being held in a police cell but is unable to leave the country, with his family facing bills of £2,000 for Airbnb accommodation until his case is resolved.
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