Police question man suspected of sexually assaulting Italian local councillor at Buġibba hotel

A man is expected to be charged in the coming days in connection with what has been described as a sexual assault on an Italian holidaymaker.

Earlier today the Times of Malta reported that a suspect had been taken into custody after police identified him from CCTV footage from an establishment in Buġibba.

Lara Ali Shahin, a teacher and local councillor from the Veneto region of Italy, told the newspaper that her assailant had followed her into the hotel on Sunday after she had rejected his advances earlier that day.

Shahin said that her attacker had followed her into her room, where he allegedly threw her on the bed and sexually assaulted her. Hotel staff, alerted by her screams, had gone to the room and dragged the man off Shahin. The man then fled.

Sources have informed this newspaper that the suspect is being questioned and will likely be arraigned within the next 48 hours, depending on the results of the police investigation.