Tourist raped by a stranger arrested for 'sex outside of wedlock'.

A Dutch woman has been convicted of adultery in Qatar after telling local police she was drugged and raped by a stranger after a party in the state’s capital, Doha.

The 22-year-old, identified only as Laura, was on Monday handed a one-year suspended sentence and three months probation for “illicit consensual fornication” and fined 3,000 Qatari Riyals for “being drunk in a public place”. She is due to be deported home to The Netherlands in the coming days.

Laura’s release spells an end to what has been a highly controversial case, one that has focused western attention on the conservative gulf state’s treatment of sexual assault victims and application of Sharia Law.

Laura’s terrifying ordeal began in March when she awoke in an unfamiliar apartment after a party at the Crystal Lounge nightclub at the W Doha Hotel.

Faced with the horrific realisation that she had been drugged and raped, she reported the incident to Qatari police. Yet rather than being met with sympathy and support, her accusations were treated as an admission of adultery and she was arrested and charged on March 17.

She’s been behind bars ever since.

The woman claims she was drugged and raped at a party at the W Doha Hotel. Images via Facebook.

In the wake of Monday's sentencing, Laura's mother has been quoted in Dutch media expressing her relief that her daughter's "nightmare" is now finally over.

"I'm shaking in my legs. I can't believe it," she told news programme EenVandaag, according to Al Jazeera. "She has been sentenced. I don't know for what, but I don't care. This is the best I could have wished for."

According to an anonymous court official, she's right - her daughter's sentence, he told Al Jazeera, is about as lenient as it gets in Qatari court.

"Had she been a Muslim woman, she would have received at least five years in jail. No one can get out of such charges here in Qatar," he said.

Laura's alleged attacker, a Syrian named Omar Abdullah al-Hasan, admitted to having sex with the woman, but maintained it was a consensual encounter.

Hasan, too, has been convicted of adultery and was sentenced to 100 lashes for illicit sex acts and another 40 lashes for public drunkenness. He will also be deported.

According to CNN, no mention of the woman's rape allegations was made at any point during court proceedings.

Addressing reporters after Monday's court hearing, the Dutch ambassador to Qatar, Yvette Burghgraef-van Eechoud, said the embassy had been in close contact with Laura and her family throughout the ordeal.

"We will do everything we can to get her out of the country as soon as possible," she said, according to CNN.

The case evokes memories of the 2013 conviction of a Norwegian woman in neighbouring United Arab Emirates, after she she reported being sexually assaulted by her male boss. Marte Deborah Dalelv was imprisoned for 16 months for "indecent behaviour", perjury and alcohol consumption.

She was later pardoned for the 'crime'.