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22-Year-Old Man Accused Of Raping 15-Year-Old English Student Near St Julian’s

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A 22-year-old man has been accused of raping a 15-year-old girl he met in a bar in Paceville over the weekend.

The man, Humair Yaqoob, who is from Pakistan and lives in Birkirkara, has been accused of corrupting the 15-year-old against her will, and has been remanded in custody.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The incident happened last Saturday evening, after the man met the teen at a bar in Paceville. Soon after, they decided to go to a more “quiet place” where they began kissing, the court heard. 

As they were kissing, things became more intimate, until the girl said she was feeling pain and asked him to stop. However, he allegedly refused and continued to penetrate her, the teen told police.

She is in Malta to study English temporarily.

After the act, they both walked back together to Paceville, before separating.

The teen told her friends what had just happened, and they went to file a police report while other friends attempted to find the man in Paceville, which they were able to, until police arrived to arrest him.

Yaqoob told police the same story as the teen, only saying that when she had asked him to stop, he had stopped. He also told police that the teen had told him she was 16-years-old when they walked back to Paceville together after the act.

Defence lawyer David Bonello noted that for someone to be allowed to enter a bar, they needed to be of a certain age. He went on to say that his client, who is in Malta on an Italian work visa but had not found a job yet, had no plans to flee and wanted to prove his innocence.

However, prosecutors objected to this, and Magistrate Victor Axiaq refused to release him from custody as he believed there was a real risk he would flee.

What do you make of this incident?

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Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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