A man has been arrested in connection with a vicious attack on a young woman as she was sunbathing in Valletta at the weekend. 

The 36-year-old suspect from Siġġiewi was identified after police scoured through CCTV footage in the area. He is expected to be charged in court on Friday, police said. 

He matched the description provided by victim Anna Karsbjer, who told Times of Malta how she was kicked in the face, beaten and left with injuries including a fractured nose after the incident off Triq il-Lanċa on Friday afternoon.  She said she feared she would be raped and murdered.

The Swedish woman was relieved to hear of the arrest and hopes that her calls for swift justice will soon be answered.

"I am glad someone has been arrested, and I am expecting to hear from the police to see how this case will proceed," she said.

She is currently receiving trauma treatment for both her physical as well as her mental and emotional injuries.

It is understood the suspect is already known to the police. 

The victim said she was speaking to her father on her mobile phone as she was approached by a man who had a net in his hand and mumbled something about fishing. 

Giving an account of her ordeal to Times of Malta, the woman said she asked the man to maintain his distance because of the pandemic.

"Suddenly, I feel this man’s feet on my face, I thought he had tripped on the rocks but then he started beating me up really badly," she said.

Karsbjer described the assailant as a skinny man in his mid-30s with dark eyes. He had a glazed look, was wearing a striped tank top, was clean-shaven, had a long nose, and teeth “like a goat’s”.