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Bruises found on British woman allegedly gang raped

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Forensic examiners found injuries and bruises on the 20-year-old British woman, who claimed five Israelis gang-raped her in an Ayia Napa hotel room.

Swabs were taken from the complainant and sent for scientific testing along with the clothes she wore during the incident.

The clothes of the five Israeli suspects detained in custody after Sunday’s incident were also sent for testing, including bed sheets and other evidence taken from their hotel room.

Authorities are reportedly waiting for the results to establish whether the five Israelis arrested are implicated in the alleged rape, as they deny any involvement.

UK news outlet ‘The Guardian’, citing sources from the Cypriot Police, reported that the suspects have denied having ever met the 20-year-old tourist and have rejected the accusation of rape.

The five suspects, two 20-year-olds and three 19-year-olds, were remanded in custody for eight days on Tuesday, with officers taking their statements with the help of a translator in the presence of their lawyer.

The 20-year-old British woman had reported the alleged gang rape on Sunday night at the Famagusta CID offices.

She had gone to the hotel where the suspects had been staying to attend a pool party.

While swimming in the pool, according to her testimony, one of the men started flirting with her.

As the woman told police, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to his room, which he shared with another four of his friends.

The woman reported that the five men repeatedly raped her.

It is similar to the gang rape case in Ayia Napa four years ago when 12 Israelis were arrested for a sex attack on a 19-year-old British girl.

They were released after the woman retracted her police statement, and she was convicted in 2020 for causing public mischief.

In 2020, she was given a four-month suspended jail sentence, but after an appeal, the conviction was quashed in 2022 when the Supreme Court ruled it was a miscarriage of justice as she was coerced into changing her police statement.

So, this time, there is more public scrutiny on how the police handle this alleged sex attack.

Nearby Cyprus is a popular destination for Israeli tourists and official figures for July show they were the second largest group of visitors, 10.2% (46,402) behind the largest market, the UK, with 34.8% (159,061).