POLICE have arrested a 31-year-old Filipino woman on suspicion of the attempted murder of her Jordanian boyfriend.
Investigators have also arrested a 29-year-old friend of the suspect, also from the Philippines, who is believed to have helped her hide from arresting officers.
Both women are also under investigation for illegal residence on the island.
CID Investigator Neophytos Shailos yesterday told a Nicosia Court that 24-year-old Omar Jaber Hasan Hasan was taken by a friend to Nicosia General Hospital on Thursday night after being stabbed in the stomach.
He refused to tell police how he sustained his injuries.
According to doctors, Hasan had a deep, three-inch gash in his stomach believed to have been caused by a sharp object. Doctors also discovered scratch marks on other parts of his body, believed to have been made by fingernails.
“We immediately suspected foul play and we went to the apartment where he was staying,” said the investigator.
When officers arrived at the apartment, they found the friend of the suspect washing blood off the floor.
“At the apartment, we discovered two Filipino women staying in separate rooms. We spoke to one of the women, who said she had heard shouting from the other room where the victim and the first suspect stayed,” he added.
Police then went into the 29-year-old’s room, where they found the victim’s girlfriend hiding behind a baby’s cot.
Both women were placed under arrest.
“During questioning,” he continued “the first suspect admitted to stabbing the victim after a quarrel, but claimed that she acted in self-defence. She also claimed to have asked the second suspect to hide her in her bedroom.”
The woman then showed police the knife she had used on Hasan.
She later told officers that she had worked in Cyprus in the past as a housemaid, before returning to the Philippines and coming back to Cyprus under a false name and passport.
Police are now investigating cases of forgery, illegal entry and illegal residence in Cyprus against the woman.
Police officers were yesterday set to take a statement from Hasan, who is said to be in a stable condition in hospital.
Shailos added that the investigation was at an early stage and that around 25 statements were expected to be taken from friends of the victim and the suspects.
Judge Lemonia Kaoutzani remanded the two women in police custody for eight days.
