Pakistani man accused of rape over eight months denied bail

A Pakistani man, Aftab Prince of 37 years old, was accused of repeatedly raping a Pakistani woman over a course of eight months and was denied bail.

Prince happens to be the Head of the Pakistani United Alliance Malta. 

The defence argued that Prince had a clean criminal record and though defence lawyer Shazoo Ghaznavi didn’t contest the arrest, he accused the police of throwing mud before any further investigations were conducted. 

Prosecuting investigator Joseph Busuttil stood and asked, “Where you part of the investigation by any chance? Because it seems to me that what you’re alleging is exactly what you yourself are accusing the police of: throwing mud.”

Presiding magistrate Josette Demicoli asked the parties not to argue, given especially that the defence was not contesting the arrest.

Prince pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecution said that they intercepted Prince only after the victim of the alleged rape sought psychological help due to the “mental damage” she was incurring. 

The defence asked the court not to publish the name of the accused on the basis of him being married and has children. 

“If we had to choose not to publish the names of people who are married and have children, a third of names will not be published,” the prosecution said. “As to the victim, he has no real ties with her, so there’s no reason why his name shouldn’t be published.”

The court did not accede to the defence’s request and denied Prince bail. 

Josette Demicoli was presiding magistrate.

Inspector Joseph Busuttil led the prosecution.

Helen Caruana and Shazoo Ghaznavi were defence counsel.