Kosovo rape: Teacher and policeman accused in teenager case
31 October 2019
Kosovo prosecutors have charged six people over the alleged rape of a teenager that has shocked the Balkans. The teenager is said to have been abused by a teacher and then by a police officer over two years from 2017, when she was 16. Prosecutors opened the case following reports by an investigative website. Police said in February they had arrested a teacher, a policeman and a gynaecologist accused of performing an illegal abortion on the girl. Kosovo President Hashim Thaci described the case at the time as "tragic". The case, first reported by the Insajderi website, provoked outrage in Kosovo, leading to a women's rights protest outside police headquarters in the capital, Pristina. On Wednesday, prosecutors said six suspects, including a teacher and a policeman, had been charged in connection with the case, AFP news agency reports. They were indicted "on suspicion of having committed the offences of sexual abuse, abuse of their position... and inducement to unlawful pregnancy", prosecutors said. The girl, according to Insajderi's report, was allegedly first raped in 2017 by her teacher in a town west of the capital. When she reported the case to police, the girl was allegedly raped repeatedly by the officer assigned to investigate the allegations, the website said. When the girl became pregnant, she was allegedly driven to Pristina in January this year and forced to have an abortion. The teacher and the policeman have denied the allegations, according to reports. When Insajderi reported the case, hundreds of women took to the streets of Kosovo, demanding justice for victims of sexual violence. Waving placards and chanting slogans against the police and judiciary, protesters accused authorities of failing to safeguard women's rights.
The girl, according to Insajderi's report, was allegedly first raped in 2017 by her teacher in a town west of the capital. When she reported the case to police, the girl was allegedly raped repeatedly by the officer assigned to investigate the allegations, the website said. When the girl became pregnant, she was allegedly driven to Pristina in January this year and forced to have an abortion. The teacher and the policeman have denied the allegations, according to reports.
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What is the case?