Young woman set on fire by boyfriend in Canary Islands investigated by police as gender-based violence case

A 17-year-old young woman has allegedly been the victim of a brutal attack allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend in the La Isleta district, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The alleged aggressor, Abarrafia Hader, allegedly set her on fire by throwing a burning, fuel-soaked roll of paper at her. The incident happened at 4am on Wednesday in Calle Angostura.

According to initial information from official sources, the victim, under the guardianship of the Canary Islands government, was residing in a centre for minors, although she regularly left the centre to be with the alleged aggressor, aged 20 and of Moroccan origin.

In fact, the director general of child protection of the autonomous community, Sandra Rodríguez, confirmed that the young persons' home where she lived had reported her disappearance days ago and "just yesterday" had again made a search request.

The victim was rushed by medical services to the Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín in a critical condition with serious burns over 95 per cent of her body. She is currently in the intensive care unit of this hospital and the intention is to transfer her to the burns unit in Seville on the Spanish mainland, depending on how she responds in the next few hours.

The alleged aggressor is also in hospital, under police guard, after being affected by smoke inhalation. The man arrived in the Canary Islands a month and a half ago after being rescued from a dinghy by a maritime rescue vessel.

As confirmed by CANARIAS7 newspaper, the man was transferred to the centre set up in the military installations of Canarias 50, in La Isleta, as is usually the case with adult migrants arriving without visas or documentation allowing them to stay in Spain. He entered and left this centre regularly.

The aforementioned centre is located a short distance from the place where the aggression took place. The National Police and firefighters were alerted, and on arrival, the police officers found the minor in Calle Roque Nublo, as well as the alleged aggressor. Both were attended to by medical personnel and the suspect was arrested. The woman, whose name has not been released, is fighting for her life.

Until Wednesday afternoon, the government of the Canary Islands had no formal proof that the young man arrested for the assault was the minor's partner, but they have gathered information that suggests that this was the case, although they are still being cautious. In fact, the Canary Islands institute for equality, which has been monitoring this case, had not been able to corroborate this at the time of going to press. Rodríguez explained that in Canarian legislation, whether or not they were a couple, these acts are considered gender-based violence, with the aggravating circumstance that the victim is especially vulnerable.

At the beginning of June, a rescue boat took the occupants of a dinghy that was found at sea to Arrecife. Among them was Abarrafia Hader, the now presumed aggressor, born in Morocco on 12 April 2005. Once on land, the illegal migrants were identified and it was then verified that the young man was not carrying a visa or any other documentation authorising his entry into Spain.

In accordance with the legislation in force, it was agreed that they would be "returned to their country of origin or provenance". An appeal against this decision could be lodged with the government delegation within one month.