A man who pleaded not guilty to raping his estranged wife on Sunday was denied bail upon his arraignment on Tuesday. 

The 35-year-old construction worker from Mġarr was arrested following a report to the Domestic Violence Unit by the woman claiming she was raped when she called at the family home to collect some personal belongings, as agreed upon earlier on with the accused.

The couple are currently going through separation proceedings. 

The man was arrested and charged with raping his wife, forcing her into a non-consensual act of a sexual nature, holding her against her will as well as slightly injuring her.

Certain injuries were visible when the woman gave her version to the police, the court was told. 

A request for bail was strongly objected to by the prosecution not only in view of the serious nature of the offences but also because civilian witnesses are still to testify.

Proceedings are still at a premature stage and the accused’s criminal record appears to point to a pattern of behaviour by the accused, the prosecution argued.

Defence lawyer Lennox Vella strongly rebutted those arguments, pointing out that the accused had had a court case back in 2011 which had nothing to do with the current proceedings. 

Moreover, the only civilian witness was the alleged victim herself and, if granted bail, the accused and his estranged wife would be residing at different localities. 

However, after hearing submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Noel Bartolo, turned down the request in view of the fear of tampering with evidence. 

The court upheld a request for a ban on publication of the accused’s name so as to safeguard the identity of his minor offspring.

AG lawyer Angele Vella assisted prosecuting inspector Eman Hayman.