Three young men remanded in custody over suspected gang rape of 18-year-old woman in Malaga
The judge's provisional ruling notes that two of the defendants have police records for sexual assault dating from when they were still underage
Three young men between the ages of 18 and 19 have been provisionally remanded in custody over reportedly gang-raping an 18-year-old girl in an area of wasteland outside a club in Malaga city. According to the judge's provisional ruling, two of the defendants have police records for sexual assault dating from when they were still underage. In one case, the suspect was so young that he could not be held criminally responsible.
The incident reportedly happened in the early hours of 30 October. The victim had gone to the city with her sister to celebrate the birthday of a friend. They were at the Rossé VIP Club in the San Rafael industrial area, where she met one of the young men.
According to her account, they went outside the establishment and started kissing (consensually) in the area used as a car park. It was around 4am. That was when the other two suspects appeared out of nowhere.
The woman told the police that the three men had taken turns touching her in all sorts of ways and gang-raped her in the span of half an hour. They were holding her arms to stop her from putting up resistance.
After reporting the incident with her sister, the young woman underwent medical examination at the hospital, where injuries consistent with her account were found.
The National Police opened an investigation to identify the perpetrators. Three weeks later, they arrested the three men now in custody.
Court hearing
The three suspects were brought before the court of violence against women in Malaga, where they denied the facts, at all times referring to the relations as consensual. Their lawyers requested their release.
The private and the public prosecution requested their imprisonment, given the credibility of the young woman's account and its consistency with the medical examination. The magistrate also considered the victim's account to be "convincing".
In addition, the provisional ruling includes previous records of sexual assault reportedly committed by two of the defendants when they were still underage. According to police records, one of them was investigated for such an offence when he was 13. He was neither arrested nor charged because he had not yet reached the age of criminal responsibility. His brother was also reported for the same incident. The victim was the girlfriend of one of them.
According to various sources, the other suspect with a record was also investigated in the past, alongside two friends of his, over a suspected group assault.
SUR contacted lawyer Claudio Buenestado, who is representing one of the defendants. He declined to comment on the investigation currently under way, although he did clarify that the records referred to are police, not judicial, meaning the previous cases may have been closed or even resulted in acquittals.
