Married man gets bail in Tinder date rape case
Woman claimed man forced himself onto her after they went to a hotel room together
A married man accused of raping a woman he took to a hotel room after meeting on Tinder has been granted bail.
The accused, 36-year-old Onur Arslan, was charged after police were contacted by Mater Dei Hospital, informing them that a woman there wished to file a rape report.
Police met her at the state hospital and took down her version of events.
She told officers that she met the accused on Tinder, a dating app, and the two agreed to meet. They went out to dinner and then headed to a hotel room that the man had booked.
She said that she sat on the hotel room bed and watched TV. The man went to the bathroom, took a shower and emerged with a towel wrapped around his waist.
He then forced himself onto her, the woman told police, ignoring her repeated insistence that she did not want to have sex with him.
Police pressed charges against the man and arraigned him earlier this month. A court denied him bail at that hearing.
Under cross-examination in a subsequent sitting, Police Inspector Cheyenne Mangion confirmed that in chat messages the two had discussed having sex and their respective sexual preferences. The man had made it clear that he wanted a ‘friend with benefits’, the inspector confirmed.
The inspector also confirmed that woman had not objected to going to the hotel room and had also taken off some of her own clothing.
Police Inspector Ryan Vella told the court that the accused had cooperated throughout and insisted that the sex was consensual throughout.
A friend of the woman told the court how the woman had contacted her, telling her she was in pain after having been raped. The friend said she insisted on taking her to hospital to have her checked. The woman did not tell her that she and the man had met on Tinder, she testified.
The accused’s wife also testified, confirming that she and her husband own a house in Malta and steady jobs.
The accused granted bail against a €2,000 deposit and €30,000 personal guarantee after prosecutors confirmed that the alleged victim had already testified in the case inquiry.
He was ordered to sign a bail book at a police station every day and stay indoors between 8.15pm and 5.45am.
The court was presided by Magistrate Gabriella Vella. The accused was represented by lawyers Franco Debono and Adreana Zammit.