Woman withdraws rape allegations against ex

A young woman who initially accused her ex boyfriend of rape has withdrawn the allegations and she is now facing defamation charges.

Last week, a 24-year-old man was arrested in Nicosia after his 21-year-old former girlfriend leveled accusations against him, saying he had raped her on two separate occasions in February.

An arrest warrant was issued for the man last week, who was then remanded in custody for five days, while the woman was asked to undergo a medical exam to corroborate some of her claims, according to local media.

It later turned out that the woman retracted on her story, with reports saying she had filed her complaint with police right after the couple had broken up. In her initial claims, she said they had sexual intercourse twice without her consent.

After the charges were dropped on Monday, prosecutors were going after the original plaintiff, accusing her of defamation against her ex boyfriend.

Knews could not independently confirm details in the woman’s initial complaint or circumstances in retracting her story. She withdrew her complaint on Monday while some media outlets said she reportedly also admitted to lying about the rape.

The male suspect was released from custody and could be called to take the stand as a prosecution witness against the defendant. However, no civil lawsuit has been filed but police could be prosecuting her on the basis of making a false accusation, an offence punishable by law.