Officer investigating serial rapist in sexual harassment inquiry
AS WOMEN across the island brace themselves for more nights of fear, the image of the island’s police took another battering yesterday with allegations that one of their own had taken advantage of a woman he offered a ride home to.
An investigation was launched against a police officer after a claim of sexual harassment was brought against him. The officer in question is on the team investigating the series of assaults on women over the last two months. The man was suspended yesterday pending the investigation.
The latest incident involves a 48-year-old Bulgarian woman who told police officers that an on-duty sergeant of the Nicosia Crime Division Unit had forced her to give him oral sex in his patrol car.
According to the woman’s testimony, the sergeant, who was wearing civilian clothing, had walked into the pub where she was working in the early hours of Sunday morning and offered to give her lift back home. But as soon as they got to his patrol car, the man got violent and forced her to give him oral sex.
The woman initially complied with his demands but later began screaming and two colleagues of hers from the pub came running to the car park where the sergeant’s vehicle was parked. The two women were called to Nicosia CID headquarters were they gave statements as to what they had witnessed.
Just last Thursday, another special constable of the Nicosia Police Headquarters was remanded in custody on prostitution-related charges after Nicosia CID had raided an apartment in Nicosia, where they found the constable engaging in intercourse with another man and a woman.
A spokesperson of the Police Headquarters in Nicosia yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the sergeant in question had been placed on suspension and the Nicosia CID was still investigating the woman’s complaint. No charges had yet been brought up against the officer.
Meanwhile in an effort to defend the image of the police, Justice Minister Doros Theodorou urged the public not to lose faith in local law enforcement officers adding that the fact that the police were investigating such matters was a clear indication that such offences within the law would not be tolerated.
“The fact that police does not hesitate to uncover, investigate, charge and punish such incidents involving officers of the law is a sign that the public should not lose faith in the police.”
Speaking after a meeting with House President and AKEL leader Demetris Christofias, Theodorou then urged parliament to approve a bill in which a separate disciplinary committee be established to investigate misconduct within the police force.
He added that he didn’t wish to see police officers become a target because of a couple of isolated incidents, stressing that an individual must be proven guilty within a court of law before any assumptions are made.
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