A MAN who repeatedly sexually abused his underage niece was yesterday jailed for six years by the Nicosia Criminal Court.
The 45-year-old was found guilty of the 18 charges, nine related to sexual offences against a minor and the remaining nine relating to indecent assault offences under the Violence in the Family Act.
On July 2, the defendant had been found guilty by Judges Yiasemis Yiasemi, Eleni Efrem and Leda Demetriadou after a lengthy trial which saw the victim forced to testify against her tormenter.
The trial was conducted behind closed doors because of the gravity of the offences and the age of the victim, who is said to be in her early teens.
An announcement by the court yesterday stated, “The defendant, who is the uncle of the plaintiff and married to the sister of the plaintiff’s mother, at various times between 2001 and 2004, committed various acts against the plaintiff such as kissing her face, neck, breast as well as touching and stroking her genital areas and forcing her to give him oral sex.
“During the attacks, the plaintiff had tried to resist and had at various times tried to escape from him.”
The court went to describe the offences as “abhorrent” and “a scourge on the principles of Cypriot society”, adding that they were “even more appalling because the victim was a minor and a family member of the defendant”.
According to police, the girl had finally told her secret to a classmate and to her boyfriend, who persuaded her to tell her mother and her aunt.
The police were later informed, resulting in the arrest of the man, who denied any wrongdoing.
The girl’s parents had been divorced and she had gone to stay with her uncle.
“With regards to the facts of the case, it appears that the defendant, without thinking of the consequences, took advantage of the plaintiff, who was at the time living with him and, instead of being a father figure for her and looking after the child who had her parents separate, decided to satisfy his own sexual deviancy and perverse instincts,” the judges said.
According to the psychiatric evaluation on the victim, to this day she still suffers from an eating disorder and depression.
Yesterday, relatives of the man gathered outside the courtroom and burst into tears upon hearing that the 45-year-old had been jailed for six years.
Friends and relatives took turns to kiss and hug the defendant outside the courtroom, with one member telling him, “Don’t worry, we are standing by you…we love you.”
