The 24-year-old was
convicted and sentenced on charges of having unlawful sex, making a
false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol.
Her story is dominating
the headlines in Norway, and has raised serious questions over the way
women who allege sexual assault are treated in the United Arab Emirates.
Dalelv, who had been
working at an interior design firm in Qatar since September 2011, told
CNN how a work trip to Dubai in March with three colleagues
turned into a nightmare.
This family handout photo taken in Abu Dhabi in May 2013 shows Norwegian businesswoman Marte Deborah Dalelv, 24.
She said she had been out
at a bar with her colleagues and friends, and asked a male colleague to
walk her to her room when they returned at 3 a.m. to the hotel. She'd
asked him to escort her because the hotel was large and confusing, and
she didn't want to be wandering on her own, knowing she'd been drinking,
she said.
When they reached a room,
she realized it wasn't hers -- but the man then pulled her inside
despite her vocal objections, according to Dalelv.
"He dragged me by my
purse in, so I thought, 'OK, I just need to calm the situation down. I
will finish my bottle of water, I will sit here and then I will excuse
myself and say I feel fine,'" she said.
That was pretty much the
last thing she said she remembers before the alleged sexual assault. "I
woke up with my clothes off, sleeping on my belly, and he was raping me.
I tried to get off, I tried to get him off, but he pushed me back
down."
After someone knocked --
the hotel wake-up call -- she managed to get dressed and make it
downstairs to the hotel reception, Dalelv said. "I called the police.
That is what you do. We are trained on that from when we are very
young," she said.
Some 10 or 12 male
police officers arrived, but no female police officers were present, she
said. Statements were taken from both Dalelv and the alleged rapist.
She was then taken to Bur Dubai police station, she said.
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