A carer at a Fgura home for the elderly has been charged with the sexual harassment of a 17-year-old exchange student while at work.

The man - 44-year-old Indian national Kasu Haridasan - pleaded not guilty to harassing the young Spanish woman who was a minor at the time of the alleged crime.

Magistrate Elaine Rizzo heard how on April 5 the young woman went to the Paola police station and said that she was an Erasmus student who worked at Dar San Ġużepp in Fgura as part of her preparation to become a carer. 

She said that on March 28 she had gone to the bathroom to get a bucket of water.

She claimed the accused turned up behind her, hugged her, kissed her neck and then signalled to her to kiss him on the lips. She left the bathroom.

The prosecution objected to the man’s bail request, but lawyer Wilfrid Buttigieg argued that the accused had been living in Malta for four years with his wife and their two young children.

He had a job and a registered rental contract.

Keeping him in custody would have “a disastrous” impact on his family as they would end up with no income.

Apart from that, he had a clean criminal record and the alleged victim had left the island so he could not contact her and tamper with evidence.

The magistrate granted him bail against a €2,500 deposit and a personal guarantee of €6,000.

A protection order was issued in favour of the young woman.