Three charged with raping boy of 13

THREE young men were yesterday charged with repeatedly raping a 13-year-old boy at a village in the Nicosia district over the past two months.

The Nicosia District Court released the suspects – two National Guardsmen and a student – on £2,000 bail each to reappear before the Assizes court to answer the charges on December 17.

Yesterday’s court procedure took place behind closed doors.

The three youths, arrested on November 18, were charged with having unlawful sex with a minor under threat of violence. The student was also charged with unlawful possession of a knife.

Police say the suspects, from a Nicosia district village, sexually assaulted a 13-year-old fellow villager on four separate occasions. The alleged rapists threatened their victim with a knife during one of the attacks, police said.

Police were called in after someone alerted the boy’s relatives that the three youths had again tried to rape the 13-year-old, police said.

There were angry scenes outside the court yesterday as relatives of the alleged victim confronted relatives of the alleged rapists. There were similar scenes when the suspects were remended by the court last week.

The two National Guardsmen were returned to their units after yesterday’s court procedure.

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