Man held after teen stepdaughter alleges rape

By Charlie Charalambous

A British man who allegedly raped his 16-year-old stepdaughter and forced her into prostitution was yesterday remanded in police custody for eight days.

The natural mother of the British teenager was also remanded, for two days, by a Limassol district court on suspicion of physically abusing her daughter and causing grievous bodily harm.

Police said the couple were arrested after the young girl filed a complaint against them.

She accused the stepfather, 52, of raping her and forcing her into prostitution over a three-year period from 1996. The family moved from England in 1997 to set up home in Limassol.

A police source confirmed yesterday that an investigation involving rape and forced prostitution of a minor in Cyprus and the UK was under way.

The British couple appeared in court after the girl turned up at Limassol general hospital on Monday night claiming she had just suffered another beating.

The 48-year-old mother knew about the sexual abuse and beat the teenager when she protested against her treatment, according to the victim’s allegation.

Names have been withheld by police for legal reasons.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.