A 30-year-old man has been remanded in custody over charges related to non-consensual penetrative sexual intercourse.

The man, who is from Germany, was brought to court this morning under arrest and charged with raping the female victim. The court has ordered that both parties’ names not be released.

The incident goes back to the evening between the 9th and 10th of October, where the man is alleged to have penetrated the female victim without her consent. The incident allegedly happened in his apartment in Sliema.

In front of Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace, the man denied the charges, with his counsel asking for him to be released from arrest as the allegations against him were just allegations and he may still be innocent.

However, prosecutors objected to this over the gravity of the charge as well as due to the fact that the man had no strong ties to Malta. The victim still has not testified yet as well, they pointed out.

Magistrate Micallef Stafrace denied their bail for request, but requested that his case be heard as soon as possible so that the man is not held under arrest for too long.