Updated | CCTV of steamy bus encounter 'shows rape victim lied under oath' • Bus driver suspended

A 21-year-old woman from Zabbar has been released on bail after she was charged with falsely accusing a bus driver of rape.

Police inspectors Joseph Busuttil and Christabelle Chetcuti told magistrate Neville Camilleri that police had received a report from a young woman, who had filed a police claiming that she had been raped by a bus driver on 13 November.

The police had investigated the case and had seen CCTV footage from inside the bus, provided by Malta Public Transport, which had captured the incident in its entirety. The early-morning encounter was “clearly consensual,” the court was told and the bus had not been in service at the time.

The young woman was charged with accusing the driver of a crime despite knowing him to be innocent, as well as judicial perjury and the fabrication of false evidence.

Lawyer Giannella De Marco entered a plea of not guilty on the girl's behalf. The court turned down the defence's request to order a ban on the publication of the name of the accused.

Bail was granted against a deposit of €1,500 and a personal guarantee of €10,000.

Malta Public Transport suspends employee

In a separate statement, Malta Public Transport confirmed that inappropriate behaviour had taken place on one of its buses, and that action was taken against its employee who was suspended with immediate effect.

"Malta Public Transport was requested by the police to provide CCTV footage from on board one of its buses on Monday 14 November 2016. Without going into the merits of the case, concurrent and immediate internal investigations concluded that gross misconduct occurred on the company’s staff bus which was not operating a public transport service, and the employee in question was suspended with immediate effect that same day. Disciplinary proceedings are currently underway," the public service provider said.