British girl, 17, is raped on cruise with family in the Med
... but legal loophole lets suspect walk free
A BRITISh teenager has been raped on a cruise ship in the Med while on holiday with her parents.
The 17- year- old girl told police that the attacker forced her into his cabin in the early hours of Thursday.
But the suspect, an 18-year-old Italian, has reportedly been freed on a legal technicality.
The man, who has not been named, was arrested after the 1,000ft MSC Divina docked in Valencia, Spain.
But a Spanish judge concluded he did not have jurisdiction to probe the crime – because the suspect is Italian, the victim is British and the crime was committed on a Panamanian-flagged vessel in international waters.
The judge could have claimed jurisdiction over the case if the Italian man had an address in Spain, regional newspaper Levante eMV reported.
The teenage girl is said to have been attacked at about 5am on Thursday, when the cruise liner was sailing from Palma, the Majorcan capital, to Valencia.
The suspect was arrested in Valencia after he returned from a day trip that same day. The captain had informed port authorities about the incident and they had alerted police.
The ship left without the suspect just after 4pm bound for Marseille, with the British girl and her parents on board.
The girl had been examined at Valencia’s La Fe hospital and DNA tests are also understood to have taken place in the cabin where the attack allegedly occurred. The British girl’s clothes are also being analysed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Valencia.
The Italian man is believed to have been released on Thursday night. his whereabouts are unknown. The MSC Divina, which is operated by MSC Cruceros, was christened by veteran actress Sophia Loren in May 2012 and registered in Panama.
It has capacity for 4,300 passengers in its 1,750 cabins.
It was due to reach Palermo in Italy this morning on stop 16 of a 27- day one-way cruise from Lisbon to Valencia.
An MSC Cruises spokesman said: ‘As there is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide any additional comment on this matter.
‘Within this context, our company is fully co-operating with the authorities overseeing this investigation, but is not itself in any way subject to it.’
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that it was helping the victim, adding: ‘Our consular staff are providing support and assistance to a British woman and her family following an incident on board a cruise ship.’