A 19-YEAR-OLD nursing student was almost reduced to tears yesterday when she was pressed to be more explicit during cross-examination regarding the details of an indecent act she allegedly witnessed.
What had initially appeared like an open and shut case against a 43-year-old Larnaca man accused of masturbating, as he watched the teen in her Nicosia dormitory room from an olive grove, soon became rather more complicated.
The young woman appeared shaken when the suspect’s defence lawyer pressed her to be more specific regarding where his client had been standing when the alleged offense took place and what exactly he had been doing.
“I saw some movement. What exactly I can’t say with certainty,” she said.
The defence lawyer continued to press the witness about what she had seen on the morning of October 29, 2007 and wanted to know if she had actually seen the suspect’s hands on his genitals. He also quizzed her on the colour of the man’s underpants and why she said they were white, when they had in fact been dark blue.
The 19-year-old, who looked no more than a child in her black pinafore with her hair scraped back, braces on her teeth and shocking pink hand and toenails, glanced over at her father who was in the courtroom with her and said: “I said his trousers were open. He was doing something.”
The teen, who was 17 when the incident occurred and had only just moved to Nicosia from Kornos in the Larnaca district to attend the University of Cyprus’ nursing school, appeared to get agitated regarding the details of the man’s underpants.
“I was confused. I wasn’t really concentrating on what colour his underpants were,” she told the court.
During her testimony the suspect, who is a short, squat 43-year-old father of four with thinning hair, stared straight ahead.
The teenager said she had seen the suspect nearly every day since moving into the student accommodation only a month before.
“It was either every day or every other day,” she said.
The defence responded by accusing her of lying. He later backed this up by claiming his client had at most been in the area three or four times in the past.
“Why would I make this up? I had lessons to attend. I was 17 years old and far away from my parents. I called the police. I was stressed and anxious. I got into a police car and gave a statement. For goodness sake,” she erupted.
The student said she had noticed his mauve and grey double cabin vehicle parked on the pavement outside her halls of residence, in the building’s parking lot and near the olive grove which lies adjacent to the Laranca Avenue premises. Sometimes she spotted his car in the early morning before going to class and sometimes in the afternoon or late evening, she added.
“He could be there for two or three hours,” she said.
The teen said his persistent presence had perturbed her and she mentioned it to her parents.
“They advised me that the next time I see this man I should call the police and I did,” she said.
The young woman said she spotted the man touching himself from under an olive tree in the olive grove as he looked up at her bedroom. His combat trousers were open and his shirt was off. In his defence the suspect claims he had gone to the olive grove to stretch his legs and relieve himself before going to work at a construction site. The detour through Aglandjia was to avoid rush hour traffic, the investigating officer told the court.
The man was arrested and identified by the teenager soon after she reported his presence to police.
“He said he had four daughters and his wife would kick him out and that this would destroy his family,” the officer said.
The suspect later denied he had performed an indecent act.
The trial will continue on June 26.
