The drama of a young Syrian refugee was highlighted in the Mixed Court of Thessaloniki. The girl complained that at the age of 16 she was raped by a 30-year-old Egyptian man who had taken care of her and her two younger brothers, with the consent of her mother who was in Germany. The tragedy of the case is that the minor became pregnant and gave birth to her rapist’s child.

The defendant was referred to trial for rape and for child abuse. After his apology, today (26/4), the Mixed Jury Court of Thessaloniki suspended the trial of the case, due to running out of time.

The patient testified behind closed doors. According to information, the 19-year-old (today) girl testified that the accused had taken care of her and her younger siblings.

On the night in question she said the 30-year-old (then) gave her an orange juice that contained some substance. When she fainted and went to her room, he followed her and performed sexual acts without her consent.

“I was dizzy and couldn’t react. I never wanted him. He raped me” the victim allegedly pointed out, refuting the defendant’s claim that they had an affair and were going to get married.

“Her mom asked me to look after the children. She had rented her house in my name. We all stay together. We kissed, hugged. One night when the children were asleep he came and hugged me. I didn’t want to. We had a relationship. Then I got caught because I didn’t have papers and went to jail – 4 months for drugs.

There she called me and told me that she is pregnant. She wanted to abort but I didn’t want to. When I came out he asked me to break up. She told me she lost the baby. She was afraid of her father and mother. We went to the hospital to give birth.

When the child was born we stayed together and then he didn’t want to marry me. One day we argued and she called her mother. He lied about the rape to get a residence permit. Her mother did everything because we argued. She ran away with a chick to Germany and left the children alone,” claimed the defendant, during his plea.

The chronicle of the gruesome case
According to the indictment, 16-year-old (then) Syria entered Greece, with her two other siblings, aged 14 and 9, in the summer of 2019. Their father stayed in Turkey while their mother lived in Germany, where the final their destination. Initially they were hosted for a few days by family friends and then they stayed for a month with relatives with their mother who in the meantime had moved from Germany to Thessaloniki.

They attempted to travel on false travel documents but failed, so the mother returned to Germany, from where she would initiate the procedures to legally achieve family reunification. For this purpose, the mother rented an apartment in the Neapolis-Sykeon area and agreed with the 30-year-old defendant, who happens to be a distant relative of theirs, to take care of her minor daughters until their transition to Germany was achieved, while the mother covered living expenses by sending money. The defendant had also been appointed a juvenile commissioner by court order. Initially, he moved to the rented apartment once or twice a week, staying for a few hours, while from the end of the summer he settled permanently, staying overnight most of the time.

One night in October or November and while her sisters were sleeping, the accused offered the 16-year-old a glass of orange juice which contained an unknown substance and she felt sick and sleepy. He followed her into the bedroom, pushed her onto the bed and, having overcome her resistance, raped her. She woke up a few hours later to find she was bleeding, when she asked for an explanation he claimed he had videotaped her threatening to post the footage on social media if she revealed what had happened.

She eventually became pregnant which was realized after the 5th month of the pregnancy, during which time the accused was already in jail for another case. When he was released from prison and informed about the pregnancy he offered to marry her but the minor refused. In July 2020, she gave birth in Hippocrates with forged documents that he had provided her so that her minor was not revealed.

After the complaint, the Egyptian was arrested and remains temporarily incarcerated in Grevena prisons.