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A Libyan man previously convicted of rape was remanded in custody yesterday after pleading not guilty to what was described by the prosecution as “a very serious case of domestic violence.”

Ans Algheziwi, 30, from Tripoli and residing in St Paul’s Bay, was arrested on Sunday after a woman turned up at the Qawra police station with signs of her alleged ordeal at the hands of the accused, her partner for the last six months.

The foreign woman had several bruises and bite marks.

Prosecuting officer Inspector Godwin Scerri told the court that although the victim’s injuries had been certified as slight, the police were treating this case as one of very serious domestic violence.

Algheziwi’s criminal record includes a past conviction for rape for which he was sentenced to three years behind bars, the court was told.

The man was charged with having injured the woman without intending to place her life in manifest danger, threatening and assaulting her, and relapsing.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, representing the accused, entered into a plea of not guilty but did not make a request for bail.

Magistrate Gabriella Vella remanded the man in custody while issuing a protection order prohibiting the accused from contacting or harassing the victim in any way