Man held over rape, five more wanted

A 21-YEAR-old Pontian Greek is being held in police custody and five others are wanted for questioning in connection with the alleged rape of a 20-year-old Russian woman in Paphos on Saturday night.

The woman was rushed to the Paphos general hospital on Saturday by police officers after she showed up at the police station injured from what she claimed was a gang-rape.

The woman claimed she had gone out with her escort to a nightclub in Kato Paphos, where they met six Greek Pontian men. She said the men forced her escort to leave and then dragged her to their car and drove her to an apartment, where five of them raped her in succession.

After the alleged attack, the woman managed to get to a police station and report the incident. Police officers then rushed her to hospital where she was yesterday still being treated for her injuries.

State Pathologist Sofocles Sofocleous, who examined the woman, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday there were indications that she had been raped, but refused to comment any further, saying he had handed his report to detectives.

Police said she gave a detailed description of the suspects and the apartment where she was raped, and six men where arrested by Sunday evening. However, police said only one of the men arrested was detained.

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.