Wissam Al Mana, the Qatari billionaire who married Janet Jackson earlier this year, is being accused of firing a female employee for reporting rape. Marte Deborah Dalelv says she was axed by his interior design company, Al Mana Interiors, after reporting being raped on a business trip to Dubai. Wissam Al Mana ‘s company denied this allegation in a statement: “Only when Ms. Dalelv declined to have positive, constructive discussions about her status, and ceased communication with her employer, was the company forced to end our relationship with her.” “The decision had nothing to do with the rape allegation, and unfortunately neither Ms. Dalelv nor her attorneys have chosen to contact the company to discuss her employment status.” However, an alleged copy of the letter Dalelv received informing her of her termination by the company says she was fired for her own improper conduct. And then there’s this fact: Dalelv has been sentenced to 16 months in prison in Dubai on charges of unlawful sex, making a false statement and illegal consumption of alcohol. According to Al Mana’s former employee, a male colleague “dragged” her by her purse into his hotel room after offering to escort her back to hers. She woke up some time later being raped with her clothes off, she says. Later, when she could escape, Dalelv called the cops, who asked her: “Are you sure you called the police because you just didn’t like it?” Dalelv claims she was given a medical exam, but then was put in jail for four days with no explanation as to why before eventually being released. She was charged with sex outside marriage and public consumption of alcohol, both of which are against the law in the United Arab Emirates (seriously). Dalelv is not married, but sex outside marriage is still illegal. She says that subsequently, her manager from Al Mana’s company told her to say the sex was voluntary and then the whole issue would go away. Dalelv took the advice at one of the hearings, saying the sex was voluntary … and then she says she was charged with making a false statement. “That was my biggest regret,” she tells CNN of that move. “It wasn’t voluntary. I just thought it would all go away.” A rep for Al Mana Interiors tells CNN that she was not advised by her manager to say that the sex was consensual but rather by a police officer. Dalelv says that a month after the rape, while she has been forced to stay in Dubai at the Norwegian embassy, she was fired from Al Mana Interiors. She is now appealing her 16 month sentence. The perpetrator, a married Sudanese man, was charged with public intoxication and having sex outside of marriage and was sentenced to 13 months.
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Wissam Al Mana, Janet Jackson Husband, Accused of Firing Employee For Rape Complaint