A 37-year old, Pakistani man who works as a nurse was on Sunday accused of having raped, on several occasions, a Pakistani woman who he knew.

The accused, Aftab Prince, was denied bail.

The defence accused the police that whenever a case is newsworthy the investigations are not done sufficiently. The defence lawyer, Shazoo Ghaznavi, argued that Prince had been living in Malta for 10 years and had a clean criminal record, but did not contest the arrest.

Prosecuting investigator Joseph Busuttil asked Ghaznavi if he was part of the investigation and said that he is accusing the police of “throwing mud”, the exact thing he was doing.

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

Busuttil said that in the culture of Pakistan it was considered very bad to have sex before marriage. After having been allegedly raped several times, the victim finally sought help from a physiatrist, who empowered help to file charges.

The prosecuting lawyer said that Busuttil’s statement about the Pakistani culture was unfounded.

Prince pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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

The prosecuting office objected to the ban of publication of the accused’s name, saying that if everyone who was married with children had to not have their names published then that would mean a third of all names. He also said that the accused did not have real ties to the victim.

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.