Paola Schietekat faces 100 lashes and seven years in jail for extramarital sex
CW: Rape, sexual assault
A female World Cup official is facing a jail sentence of seven years and 100 lashes after she claimed she had been raped whilst working in Qatar.
Palola Schietekat, 28, was working as part of the World Cup organising committee where she made the complaint that she had been raped by an associate after they broke into her apartment, where they also threatened to kill her.
She explained in a written post on
Julio Astillero that her attacker was able to gain entry to her apartment as it is common for residents in apartment blocks to leave their door unlocked and rely on security present.
The 28-year-old also took photos of the scene, documenting what had happened on her phone before reporting the rape the following day.
Schietekat first reported the allegations in June 2021 to the authorities in Qatar but as per the
Daily Mail, she was instead accused of having an affair and subsequently charged for having "extramarital sex" - which is deemed illegal in the Arab nation.
After informing the police she wanted to press charges, Schietekat was then called the next day to return to the station where she was questioned for three hours in Arabic in front of the man she had accused.
The alleged attacker then proceeded to tell the officers present that he and Schietekat were in a relationship, meaning the 28-year-old was forced to undergo a virginity test before being accused of extramarital sex.
Mexican-born Schietekat was told by lawyers that should would have to marry her attacker as one way to stop her from being convicted, but instead she chose to abandon what she described was her 'dream job' and flee the country instead.
"I had never breathed with more relief than when my passport was stamped," she wrote when documenting her experience.
Currently the charges against Schietekat still stand and she is expected to be sentenced in absentia on March 6, but she has publicly condemned Qatar and said that they care more about protecting the attacker than the rape victim.
She told
El Pais: "Without a firm stance on the part of the international community, draconian, retrograde and even absurd laws will find a little hole to continue justifying themselves, in the shadow of major sporting or cultural events."
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