Three men charged with gang rape

No Gang rapeNo means No!. Photo: Pixabay.com

Three men charged with gang rape

The police are strengthened in the belief that a woman was gang raped during a mountain trip: She is in an extremely difficult situation.

 

The police in western Norway have questioned 20 witnesses after a possible gang rape.

A 30-year-old woman has stated that she was attacked and raped by three unknown men on a mountain trip in the south of Sunnmøre in Møre and Romsdal on Tuesday last week.

Friday last week three men were detained for four weeks. They are charged under the Penal Code Section 291, which constitutes rape with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.

The accused are three Eastern European men who are respectively 39, 23 and 21 years of age.

All of them deny culpability.

Diverging explanations

When the men were detained, the Court emphasizes the victim’s testimony. This is not in the least due to the fact that the three accused have made inconsistent testimonies.

It should also have been influential that a fourth person claims the three men have told him about the abuse.

The woman attended a sexual assault center after the incident, and the police state that they therefore are in possession of forensic evidence.

– We can not go into the details of what has emerged from the information, as it can harm further investigations. But I can say that the investigation has strengthened our belief that there has been committed a serious criminal offense, says Section Manager at the Aalesund police, Robert Hjelmeseth to NRK.

The police have questioned neighbours, colleagues and others associated with the defendants. Police believe they have a good overview of the event and that the case has been strengthened.

Extremely difficult

Her counsel, Mette Ekroll Nyland, says that the woman is faring extremely badly.

– There are almost no words that can describe how she is faring, she tells Dagbladet.

Nyland states that the woman has no prior knowledge of the men.

Dagbladet has not succeeded in getting any comment from the police in Ålesund today.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today