Inspector describes how woman claimed she was pestered, raped and assaulted by former partner

A Libyan man who is facing proceedings for allegedly raping and beating an Italian woman with whom he had an affair in Malta, was warned by a court on Monday to not to even look at the woman.

Inspector Lara Butters told the court that the victim had filed a report last May when an argument had broken out with the accused, Ali S. Ali Saad, 38.

The woman had told the police that she had been receiving messages and phone calls from Ali Saad before he finally turned up at her apartment and demanded to know why there was another man there. As a row broke out between the estranged couple, Ali Saad allegedly pushed her onto the sofa and beat her, causing her slight injuries.

In an attempt to find a way out of the situation, the woman convinced him to go with her to a pizzeria.

Once there, she locked herself inside a bathroom and dialled the police for help.

The inspector said the woman had later told investigators how she had been raped by the alleged aggressor on one occasion, some four months previously, while in his car at Baħar ic-Cagħaq.

The couple had had an affair, but the accused kept harassing her with messages, causing her to experience panic attacks.

Mr Ali Saad denied the...