Police arrest man after mother and daughter attacked in Ġżira

Police have arrested a man after a mother and daughter were attacked in Ġżira on Monday evening.

The woman has described how a stranger ripped her hair from her head, thrust his hand into her mouth and threw a lit cigarette at her teenage daughter's face.

Monica, from Costa Rica, spoke out after hearing that this was not the first time that this man had “bothered” people in the area.

Times of Malta understands that the man has been living on the streets in the area for years and sources said he had substance abuse and mental health issues.

“Something needs to be done to give this man the help he needs and get him off the streets,” Monica said, adding: “I already knew the guy around, since he's been sleeping in the streets in the area for around three years. So, I see him every day, but I used to believe he was harmless."

Several police reports have been filed about the man bothering people over the years but, sources said, the police could not act before now as the man had not broken any laws.  

Sources also said that several attempts were made to help the man in the past, and offer him shelter, but he refused all help. Asked about Monica’s case, which involves alleged assault, a police spokesman said police investigations are ongoing. 

He later confirmed that a man has been arrested and interrogated as part of the investigation.

'My daughter was very scared'

Monica explained how she was walking home from work with her 16-year-old daughter on Monday at about 6.15pm.

Since her Ġżira workplace is close to their Sliema home, they often walked along the Strand.

“As we were walking and reached the area near the kebab shop a man jumped at my daughter as though to attack her but did not touch her. She was very shocked."

The woman said the man backed off but continued to follow the pair as they sat down at a cafe.

"I asked him to leave us alone. My daughter was very scared," she said. “He tried to touch my hair. I kept asking him to leave. Then he threw a lit cigarette at my daughter’s face.  I stood up and started yelling at him to leave us alone and told him I would call the police."

She claims it was at this stage that the man became violent.

"That was when he grabbed my hair with one hand and started pulling my head down. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed my face putting one of his fingers in my mouth and pulled downwards… He literally pulled the hair out of my scalp,” she recalled.

She said the man started crying and laughing hysterically before taking off his clothes and dancing around.

The man eventually left and Monica and her daughter – who was “very traumatised” – went to file a police report at the Sliema police station which they backed with a medical certificate – seen by Times of Malta – showing that she suffered tenderness over the back of her neck and had small scratches in her mouth and a small scratch on her right cheek.

Chased down the street

Last month another woman contacted Times of Malta about the same man.  

Sasha, a Russian woman who lives in Ġżira, described how she was walking in Ġżira - heading back to her hotel after running some errands in the area – on January 18 at about 6pm.  

She was on the phone when she noticed the man walking from one side of the road to another. After a bit she realised the man had started following her.

It was already dark, so she began to feel scared – especially since a few weeks earlier Polish national Paulina Dembska was raped and murdered in Sliema on January 2.  A 20-year-old man, Abner Aquilina, has been accused of the crime.  

Sasha ran and the man chased her, she said.  When she arrived at the Strand, where there were more people, he walked away. She went into a nearby cafe, in shock and told people there what had happened.

She learnt that people in the area knew of the man. They described him as “harmless” saying he had substance abuse problems and had lurked around the area for years. A few days later she filed a police report.

Richmond Foundation, which provides mental health support, said that while it is understandable that people could be afraid, the person should ideally be assessed through a multidisciplinary intervention.