Man charged with rape of elderly woman

A man from Mali has been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to the rape and sexual assault of a 72-year-old woman in St Paul's Bay.

Mamadou Sakine, 33, was arraigned under arrest before magistrate Monica Vella this afternoon to face a slew of charges, which include rape, violent indecent assault, attacking and slightly injuring the woman, detaining her against her will and causing her to fear that he would be violent towards her in the months leading up to 9 May.

Sakine was further charged with the separate crime of attempting to withdraw €250 from an ATM using a card he had found in a misplaced wallet. It is understood that the Malian's mugshot had been passed on to the police after it was captured by the ATM's camera, following multiple unsuccessful attempts at guessing the PIN. He was further accused of possession of cannabis.

Sakine, who told the court that he worked as a cleaner, denied the charges this afternoon.

Prosecuting police inspector John Spiteri explained to the court that the police had started investigating the accused after the 72-year-old British victim had gone to hospital complaining of chest pain. She told medical staff there that she had been sexually abused by the accused over a period of months.

“We are talking here about violent rape, on more than one occasion, in her own home,” inspector Spiteri said. When the accused was arrested, he was found to be carrying what police suspect to be cannabis grass, as well as “a number of objects that did not appear to belong to him.”

The inspector said that the accused had unilaterally decided that he was in a romantic relationship with the woman, who was unable to fight back.

Lawyer Leontine Calleja, appearing as legal aid to the accused, explained that Sakine had claimed to have been in a relationship with the victim and also lived with her. Inspector Spiteri replied that the woman had told police that the two had become friends and that she had allowed him to stay in her flat “out of pity.”

“When these things started happening she had kicked him out and he lived for a period in the common area of the block of flats. She was terrified and had locked herself in her bedroom on one occasion when he had broken down her flimsy front door,” the inspector said.

Bail was not requested. The man was remanded in custody.