Prosecution arguments begin in alleged rape of minor

THE prosecution arguments of a case concerning the alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl by a 60-year-old man took six hours on Friday at Paphos criminal court.

Held behind closed doors, the case began at 9.30am and finished at 3.30pm where the young girl was subject to the cross examination by the suspect’s lawyer, Costas Shialis.

Prosecuting lawyer Xenia Xenophontos presented the case concerning a British man, a permanent resident in Cyprus who, according to the police report, sexually harassed the girl – whose family he knew – between June and August last year.

A relative she admitted the incident to took her to a police station where she filed the report. The suspect was arrested on September 1.

Presiding judge Angelos David set a continuance in the trail for January 21 when the prosecution is expected to present a witness.

The suspect will remain in the central prisons until then.

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.