A Dutch woman arrested in Qatar on suspicion of adultery after reporting she had been raped is to appear in court on Monday.

The 22-year-old says she was drugged in a hotel in Doha, and realised she had been raped when she woke up in an unfamiliar apartment.

“She was arrested in March on suspicion of adultery, which means having sex outside marriage,” her lawyer, Brian Lokollo, told Dutch radio NOS-Radio 1.

The alleged rapist is also being held, but says the sex was consensual. The Dutch foreign ministry said the woman had been arrested but had yet to be charged.

It said in a statement: “We have provided assistance to her since the first day of detention. For the sake of the defendant’s case we will not make further comments at this point.”

The case came to light after the woman’s mother spoke to Dutch media. It is understood that her daughter had not wanted the case to be made public.

The 22-year-old, who was on holiday, had gone dancing at a hotel where alcohol was allowed. “But when she returned to the table after the first sip of her drink … she felt very unwell”. She believed she had been drugged, Lokollo said.

Her next memory was waking up in an unfamiliar apartment where she “realised to her great horror that she had been raped”, he added.

The man was also arrested, but denies raping her and alleges that she had even asked for money.



“She completely denies these accusations,” Lokollo said.

It is an offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in public in Qatar, although alcohol is allowed at certain hotels and non-Muslim immigrants can obtain a permit for purchasing alcohol.



Since the case has come to light, hundreds of people on Twitter have called for the woman’s release.

In 2013, a 24-year-old Norwegian woman who brought a rape complaint against her boss was jailed for 16 months in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates for so-called indecent behaviour, perjury and alcohol consumption. She was later pardoned and allowed to return to Norway.