Russian journalist raped in a luxury hotel in the Seychelles: shocking details
'23.03.2018'
Source: RIA News
“I was raped in a super-luxurious hotel, I screamed, struggled, scratched, he was stronger,” XNUMX-year-old Russian woman Anna Karabash wrote on her Facebook page.
Such cases are not unique. We wrote about that 150 Americans are victims strange crimes on the expensive resorts of Mexico. And just the other day in Dubai, a young Russian woman jumped out of the window the sixth floor of the hotel to escape from the pursuer.
Now the injured Russian journalist is suing both the attacker and the hoteliers, from which she is going to demand from one to four million dollars compensation. On the new details of this scandalous case and on the responsibility of hotels before the guests - in the material RIA News.
With a knife to the throat
The other day, PR-manager of several business projects in the social sphere and journalist Anna Karabash revealed her name and told about this story.
“I was at the hotel as a journalist, it was a press trip. I slept in the villa. It was night, half past midnight. The janitor came - I don't know how, because I was asleep - and raped me. I had never seen this person before. He was with a knife and among other things he promised to kill. I screamed. I struggled. I was scratching. He was stronger, ”she recalls.
“The villas are far enough from each other, and apparently no one heard anything,” explains Anna. "Through tricks and negotiations, I gave him a strong sleeping pill, waited until he fell asleep, and ran to seek help." It took about an hour - a hilly island, secluded villas. Nobody ever met.
Recidivist Cleaner
I had to get through the window into an empty office, but the police could not get through to the phone. Half an hour later the night guard came, then the manager.
“The police were called only eight hours after I informed the hotel security about the crime,” says Anna. - The co-owner of the hotel Laura Valabji began our conversation with the words: “Did you get pleasure last night?” (“Did you enjoy last night?”), After which the peace negotiations were ended on my part. ”
Anna clarifies that the hotel’s security guards detained the attacker, but the main piece of evidence, the knife that he threatened her with, disappeared.
The investigation was delayed. The accused was released on bail, and in September he was caught on a new episode - naked, climbed into the house of a local resident. He is now under arrest.
"This is rape!"
In December, Anna went to the court session. The Russian diplomatic mission helped. “Consul Dmitry Chigashev was with me all the days. He brought me, took me away from the hotel, sat at meetings, - says Anna. "But he is not omnipotent."
According to American court reporter Dana Kennedy, the defendant's lawyer Basil Hoare, during a hearing in late December 2017, shouted at Anna (“You're lying, prostitute!”) And insisted that she seduced the suspect.
Anna ignored Hoare's insults, his words about the Russians, the “Kremlin” and the “KGB”, but not repeated references to her alleged “love” with the suspect.
“It wasn't 'love'! She cried to Hoare. “This is rape!”
Network CEO Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas Neil Jacobs commented on the situation:
"Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas confirms that this incident occurred at our resort in Seychelles, which is currently under investigation by the police. Six Senses Zil Pasyon takes the safety and protection of its guests very seriously. The police are investigating this incident and we are working closely with the police. After the results of the investigation appear, the resort intends to take all necessary measures to resolve this issue. "
Adequate management?
“We believe that the hotel is definitely responsible for its guests. He is obliged to ensure their safety, ”says a lawyer specializing in travel business, Irina Dotsenko. And he adds that cases of attacks by employees on guests are rare, hotels care about their reputation. There are usually guards throughout the territory, but they try not to show themselves to tourists so as not to disturb them.
Video cameras, according to experts, should also be throughout, but in a way that does not violate the privacy of guests. If a maid, for example, enters the room at night, the guards might think that the guest himself called her, suddenly something broke in the room and you need to get out.
“If the crime happened in the room or on the territory, then the hotel should be held liable,” confirms Nadezhda Efremova, head of ATOR's legal service.
The help of the consulate is also needed. “In a critical situation, people are shocked and not always able to behave correctly,” she says. “It is very important to involve a specialist who speaks Russian and understands the laws of the country where the incident occurred.”
Russian diplomatic missions, in her words, generally support our citizens. It is important to enter into negotiations before the trial, because the meetings can be postponed, deliberately delayed by the other side, and you will often not fly to the same Seychelles.
“With adequate management, acting in the paradigm of the XNUMXst century, we would be able to preserve my anonymity and not damage their reputation,” says Anna Karabash.
She believes that the court will be “delayed as long as you like, there Laura, the co-owner of the hotel, has“ all her own ”. Anna is not going to the court hearing in May. According to her, the prosecutor said that she would no longer be given the floor.
Neutrality of tour operators
Russian tour operators remain neutral. Some of the representatives of large companies we interviewed preferred to refuse to comment. At least - until the court decision.
“I did not interfere in this process, write to my partners. I have been sending tourists to the Seychelles for 15 years, I myself have been there many times with children, ”says Irina Zakharova, head of a tour operator company specializing in the islands of the Indian Ocean.
"AT Six Senses Zil Pasyon I have not been, but I know this chain. I am sure that they have met all the necessary requirements for ensuring the safety of guests, ”she says. "This hotel has been in operation since 2016 and the reviews are positive."
Half a million lawsuit
“My attorney Frank Elizabeth helped me to file a civil claim. But the judge returned the papers and asked to reformulate it, - Anna Karabash tells RIA Novosti. "I am sending another package of documents with DHL to re-file a claim."
“The lawyer explained to me that in the Seychelles it is pointless to file a claim for more than 500 thousand dollars,” she says. - But if I manage to raise the case to the level from the owners of the hotel (Seychelles) to the management company of the chain, then the amount of the claim is from a million. Precedents for similar judicial penalties - up to four million dollars ”.
The decision on a civil suit is directly dependent on the criminal verdict. The first meetings of the criminal court took place in December last year, but they did not lead to anything. The next is scheduled for May, that is, it will take place a year after what happened.
