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Female World Cup official flees Qatar to escape '100 lashes' after reporting rape
Female World Cup official Paola Schietekat, 28, from Mexico had to flee Qatar to avoid a sentence of 100 lashes and jail time after she reported being raped in the country
A female World Cup official had to flee Qatar to avoid a sentence of 100 lashes and seven years in jail after she reported being raped while working in the country.
Paola Schietekat, 28, from Mexico, was part of the World Cup organising committee when she alleged that she was raped by an associate who broke into her apartment and threatened to kill her.
She reported the June 6, 2021 attack to the Qatari authorities, who subsequently accused her of having an extramarital affair, according to local reports.
Paola was told by lawyers that one way of avoiding conviction was to marry her attacker.
But instead she chose to flee the country, leaving behind what she called her 'dream job'.
After waving her right to anonymity, Paola said: "It was three hours of interrogation in Arabic, and at a certain point they demanded a virginity test."
"For some reason, I had become the accused."
She added: "I had never breathed with more relief than when my passport was stamped.
"In Mexico, the adrenaline stopped and a slower process began, although just as complex and painful."
The charges against the World Cup worker are reportedly still valid, and she is expected to be sentenced in absentia on March 6.
If convicted, she could be sentenced to 100 lashes and seven years behind bars.
Paola has since spoken out about the ordeal to Mexican outlet El Pais.
She said: "The heart of the matter isn't what we can or cannot do on the Qatari laws, as Qatar is a sovereign state.
"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," she added.
Qatar has faced significant criticism over its staging of the World Cup, with reports of thousands of migrant workers living in squalid labour camps and dying in the country's extreme heat as they attempt to build the tournament's stadiums.
Daily Star Sunday
Female World Cup official Paola Schietekat, 28, from Mexico had to flee Qatar to avoid a sentence of 100 lashes and jail time after she reported being raped in the country
A female World Cup official had to flee Qatar to avoid a sentence of 100 lashes and seven years in jail after she reported being raped while working in the country.
Paola Schietekat, 28, from Mexico, was part of the World Cup organising committee when she alleged that she was raped by an associate who broke into her apartment and threatened to kill her.
She reported the June 6, 2021 attack to the Qatari authorities, who subsequently accused her of having an extramarital affair, according to local reports.
Paola was told by lawyers that one way of avoiding conviction was to marry her attacker.
But instead she chose to flee the country, leaving behind what she called her 'dream job'.
After waving her right to anonymity, Paola said: "It was three hours of interrogation in Arabic, and at a certain point they demanded a virginity test."
"For some reason, I had become the accused."
She added: "I had never breathed with more relief than when my passport was stamped.
"In Mexico, the adrenaline stopped and a slower process began, although just as complex and painful."
The charges against the World Cup worker are reportedly still valid, and she is expected to be sentenced in absentia on March 6.
If convicted, she could be sentenced to 100 lashes and seven years behind bars.
Paola has since spoken out about the ordeal to Mexican outlet El Pais.
She said: "The heart of the matter isn't what we can or cannot do on the Qatari laws, as Qatar is a sovereign state.
"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," she added.
Qatar has faced significant criticism over its staging of the World Cup, with reports of thousands of migrant workers living in squalid labour camps and dying in the country's extreme heat as they attempt to build the tournament's stadiums.
Daily Star Sunday