Two Libyan men were arraigned in court yesterday in connection with the rape of a Swedish girl and the attempted rape of her friend early on Sunday morning on the rocks at Paceville.

Testifying in court before they returned home, 18-year-old Sandra V. explained how one man sat on her chest while the other one raped her. Her friend, 22-year-old Teresa W., told the court how she was being held while her friend was being raped.

Although still visibly in shock, the two girls admitted that the incident took place after a night out drinking and that they could not remember all the details .

The two accused are Nader Abdulaziz Elgerian and Hasan Mohammed Ahmed, both aged 26. Elgerian alone was accused of raping Ms V. while Ahmed alone was accused of attempting to rape both girls and complicity in the rape of Ms V. Both were also accused of holding the two girls against their will, violent indecent assault, theft of cash and a credit card belonging to Ms V. and slightly injuring the two girls.

Both men denied the charges before magistrate Silvio Meli.

Ms V. told the court how she and her friend had come to Malta on holiday with her parents. She said she and her friend had left a bar in Paceville and, on their way back to their hotel, at around 4am, they had met two men. They started to talk and they walked together in the direction of their hotel.

The men persuaded them to go for a stroll on the beach and they agreed, although in a drunken state and not knowing exactly what they were doing. She explained that she sat down on the rocks and suddenly one of the men, who she recognised as Ahmed, started touching her and kissing her and she told him to stop. Soon after, she said, he sat on her chest while someone else, who she said she could not see, removed her pants and underwear and raped her.

She said she resisted them as much as she could and was also punched in the face and had her head held down while the rape was taking place. She said that soon after, the men, who she said numbered five in all, ran off. She said she identified the men during an identification parade at the police depot.

Ms W. more or less confirmed what her friend had said and also confirmed that they were drunk and that she could not remember everything. She recognised Elgerian as one of the men who had raped her friend but could not recognise Ahmed as the other aggressor. She said she was thrown to the ground when she tried to stop the men.

Under cross examination, both witnesses confirmed that they were drunk and did not remember everything that happened that night, to the extent that Ms W. had replied with an “I don’t know” to the question of whether she had been raped.

They said the beach where the alleged rape took place was dark and that there was no one around to help them.

Both men were remanded in custody.

Police inspectors Paul Vassallo, Carlo Ellul and Raymond Aquilina prosecuted while Dr Leon Bencini appeared for the defendants.