In Brief
CHILD ABUSE
Girl, 11, forced to have sex with relatives and ‘clients’ A 30-year-old man alleged to have been raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter for the past nine months was in police custody in the Cretan port of Hania yesterday. Police said they were also seeking the girl’s 42-year-old uncle and an 85-year-old man alleged to have paid to have sex with the girl. The 11-year-old arrived on Crete two years ago from a Balkan country, police said without providing further details. ERRANT PYTHON Huge snake caught, again A 4-meter python that escaped from its owner in the central town of Trikala on Thursday, just a few weeks after it first went missing for the first time, was caught yesterday by the local fire service. The 60-kilo python was spotted by a taxi driver who alerted the fire service. For the second time in a month, firefighters trapped the snake and placed it in a special bag before handing it over to municipal authorities. Trafficking arrests Police in Thessaloniki yesterday detained two Nigerian nationals, a 29-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, who are alleged to have been forcing a female compatriot, aged 21, to work as a prostitute for their profit. The pair, arrested in the city’s Toumba district, are alleged to have paid 5,500 euros to purchase the 21-year-old from her father last year. Horse power A horse found galloping yesterday in the fast lane of the Attiki Odos, in the direction of the Athens International Airport, was caught before it could cause any injury to itself or to motorists. The animal is thought to have got onto the highway shortly after 9 a.m. by means of a slip road, according to traffic police, who did not give any further details about the unusual occurrence. Panathinaikos stadium The Environment and Public Works Ministry yesterday issued a permit for the construction of a new soccer stadium and sports complex for Athens club Panathinaikos in the central district of Votanikos. According to a study into the environmental impact of the project, the grounds will cover a surface area of 39,243 square meters and will include a parking lot with 715 spaces. Balcony fall A man, who, according to police, is aged between 25 and 30, plunged off the balcony of a first-floor hotel room in central Omonia yesterday, suffering serious injuries. The man, who sustained serious head injuries and fractured ribs was in the intensive-care unit of Athens’s Evangelismos Hospital. It was unclear whether the man had jumped, fallen or been forced off the balcony. Rape charge A 36-year-old hotel worker from Marathon, northeastern Attica, yesterday faced a prosecutor after a 36-year-old French woman accused him of raping her. The woman, who allegedly claims to have been taken to a hotel room and raped by the 36-year-old after a night out, was to undergo medical tests yesterday. Corfu quake A moderate undersea quake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale occurred off the northern coast of Corfu, in the Ionian Sea, early yesterday. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
