Rape case dropped after woman says she wants to leave Malta
Man who was accused of raping his girlfriend while drunk walks free
A man accused of rape has walked away a free man after his accuser said she wanted to drop the case and return to India.
Lukman Kizhakke Puthan Purayil was arraigned under arrest last November, one day before he was bound to leave Malta. He was charged with having raped his girlfriend, denied the charges and was granted bail after a few days.
Inspector Italo Mizzi told the court that the investigation began on November 16 when a young Indian woman showed up at the Mosta police station and told officers she had been raped by her Indian boyfriend in early October.
In a handwritten letter she gave officers, the woman explained that she was in Malta as a student and had gotten drunk for the first time in her life on the night between October 1 and 2. She passed out and woke up in her boyfriend’s apartment, with blood trickling down her thigh.
The woman said she was a virgin and had no intention of losing her virginity.
The inspector told the court that police asked the woman why she had waited so long to file a police report. He said she told them that the man who abused her was now refusing to marry her and was planning to fly back to India to get married to another woman.
Inspector Mizzi then contacted the Vice Squad and proceeded to arrest the accused.
When the case resumed for hearing further witnesses, lawyer Herman Mula informed Magistrate MarseAnne Farrugia that the victim wanted to drop the case.
The woman testified that she voluntarily wanted to stop proceedings. Defence lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri then asked the court to accede to the victim’s request and declare the criminal action extinct.
Magistrate Farrugia accepted the victim’s request and ordered the proceedings to stop.
Inspectors Wayne Buhagiar and Italo Mizzi prosecuted, together with Attorney General lawyer Miriayah Borg.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Fleur Abela appeared for the accused.