Norwegian woman raped in Dubai admits to 'stupidity' in withdrawing assault claim

The Norwegian woman who was raped in Dubai by a colleague while on a business trip has returned home and reportedly told media that she had acted 'stupidly' by withdrawing her initial rape report which exposed her to being convicted for consensual extramarital sex.

According to News.co.au, Marte Deborah Dalelv was sentenced to 16-month imprisonment for having 'sex outside marriage', perjury and consuming alcohol without a licence, after she had lodged a complaint against her boss, saying he had raped her to the Dubai authorities.

However, Dalelv's ordeal ended when Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum pardoned her on all counts and allowed her to return to her country.

Dalelv said that she had been tricked into withdrawing her initial report which instead made her the convict in the rape case.

She said that her employer had persuaded her to retract her initial rape report since it's extremely hard to get anyone sentenced for rape in Dubai, providing a basis under local law to accuse her of perjury and extramarital sex.

The report said that Dalelv's case drew lot of international attention to the laws of Dubai in particular and the weak legal position of women in some parts of the world.