ABU DHABI // The family maid of a 14-year-old Brazilian girl who had sexual intercourse with the driver of her school bus saw the man slip out of the teenager's bedroom while the girl was having dinner, according to prosecution documents released yesterday.
FR, from Sri Lanka, told prosecutors that on the evening of April 4 she had knocked on the girl's door to call her for dinner. The girl refused to allow the maid inside. Instead, she left the room and closed the door behind her, looking "confused".
The maid suspected the girl was hiding something, she told prosecutors. She watched the girl's room and saw the man leaving 45 minutes later. The maid then called the girl's parents and told them what she had seen.
Other details released yesterday include a confession from the girl, which she retracted but which was presented in court. She said she took the man to her room while her parents were in Dubai and gave him a beer.
"She sat him on the bed and she fetched him a bottle of beer from the fridge and she started kissing him," prosecution records state.
The teenager initially accused the 28-year-old school bus driver, MH, from Pakistan, of rape, but later withdrew the accusation. A medical examination more than a month after the incident found no evidence of rape.
The girl and MH were both found guilty of consensual sex at the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance.
The driver, who was already in custody, was sentenced to a year in prison and deportation. The girl was sentenced to six months and deportation, but remains on bail.
Both have 15 days from Tuesday, the date of the convictions, to file an appeal.
hhassan@thenational.ae
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
