Police on the Spanish island of Majorca on June 25 said they had arrested two tourists of Vietnamese nationality accused of raping a 17-year-old girl and privacy violation, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in Spain.

Guardia Civil in Andratx. Photo courtesy of Majorca Daily Bulletin

How it happened?

The alleged victim, a 17-years-old girl from UK, was dining with her mother, aunt and grandmother in a restaurant by the beach on June 24. They later joined a neighboring table of three people (two male, one woman) to chat. At one point the alleged victim, a 17-year-old British girl, decided to have a smoke sitting on a small wall by the beach, next to the restaurant (smoking on restaurant terraces is prohibited in Spain).

According to local media, the two Vietnamese male citizens are “actors and musicians” aged 37 and 42 years old. Photo: Yahoo!Finance

The two men in question sat down next to her and started a conversation with the girl. After about ten minutes, the group realized that both, the girl and the two men were not sitting on the wall anymore, so the aunt went to the beach to search for her. When she returned, a waiter from the restaurant said that he saw the girl and the two men leaving in another direction, so two waiters, the aunt and one of the germans proceeded to search for her.

They then found her sitting on the floor close to the neighboring hotel crying and took her back to the restaurant at the other side of the street. When returning to the restaurant, the girl said that the men had attacked her and went straight to the toilette, her aunt followed.

According to the alleged victim, the two Vietnamese men told her that they wanted to show her a different beach close by and then guided her to their hotel room, where they raped her one after the other.

After the girl had been back to the restaurant the group saw the two men peaking over a bush to see what was happening at the restaurant. Two of the germans quickly got up and followed the men, that tried to walk away. They caught them and and with the help of the by standing restaurant waiters managed to keep them until the Guardia civil arrived after approximately 30 minutes.

The two men tried to remove themselves from the scenery a few times but did not succeed. Whilst waiting for the police, the 42 year old claimed that they had not taken the girl up to their room and only chatted with her by the beach, despite the girl, the hotel receptionist and CCTV footage saying otherwise. The 37 year old men claimed that he did not know anything and could not remember what had happened. The men were then arrested by Guardia civil.

What international media reported?

The incident was reported in Spanish media as well as international press such as: Daily Mail (UK), Morning Express (India), Yahoo! Finance.

“Two men of Vietnamese nationality have been arrested by Mallorca police on charges of sexual assault. One was born in 1980, the other was born in 1984,” a spokesman for the Mallorca Police Agency, cited from respected local newspaper Ultima Hora.

The news gained quick fame and went trending on the internet about the description of the because the ages of two famous Vietnamese artists also in Spain on their business visit matched the age of the two culprits allegedly involved in the case. The two culprits have been detained by the Spanish police and are being investigated.

On June 30, the Olive Press, Spain's expat newspaper reported that the alleged victim told in a statement given to court on June 28 that the men forced her to have sex with them before they made her take a shower to remove evidence of bodily fluids.

The alleged victim was examined by doctors at Son Espases Hospital in the Majorcan capital Palma as part of standard protocol before making her police statement, according to Ultima Hora.

Spanish media quoted a notice from the country’s Civil Defense agency that two Vietnamese citizens were arrested on June 25 on Majorca island, in the Balearic Islands.

What is the status of the case?

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later confirmed two citizens were arrested on charges of “sexual abuse of a 17-year-old minor” and “invasion of privacy”. These two people have been released on bail and are in the process of being processed by Spanish authorities.

Police said the responsibility for prosecution and trial would be decided by the Mallorca court. “They may have been released on bail now,” the spokesman said.

In particular, they appeared in court on June 28 and were released on bail, but had their passports held by Spanish authorities. They were detained at a hotel in Andratx; they have since been released on bond but are not allowed to leave Spain while their case is being investigated.

The British female citizen provided a statement to the court, confirming her previous testimony with the police. She and her family left Majorca on June 28.

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