Man gets six years in Ayia Napa rape

A man has been sentenced to six years in prison for the rape of a British girl in Ayia Napa, after prosecutors said DNA evidence linked him to the crime.

The Cyprus News Agency reported on Wednesday that a criminal court handed down a six-year prison sentence to a 36-year-old male, who had been found guilty on rape charges.

According to CNA, an 18-year-old British girl was out with friends attending a Monday night party at Makronissos Beach in Ayia Napa, when she got separated from the group and was forced to take the bus that dropped her off not very far from her hotel.

While she was walking to the hotel in the early morning hours on 4 July 2017, according to CNA, an unknown man in his car who just got off work approached her and offered a ride.

The man then drove his female passenger to Ayia Napa’s new cemetery and parked the vehicle in the parking lot, according to the accuser’s statement, where he proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her outside the vehicle on the front-end of the hood.

“He then pushed her to the ground, got in his car, and left,” CNA reported, adding that the girl could not recognize her assailant’s face because it was dark.

Police told Knews no report had been issued over the incident while no information about an arrest in connection with the case was publicly available.

But CNA reported that the defendant, whose nationality was not disclosed but was said to be a resident of a village in Famagusta district, emerged as a suspect after he was linked to the crime based on scientific evidence including DNA.