Crew member arrested after British girl raped on Mediterranean cruise
Stock photo, Celebrity Equinox: PA
A crew member has been arrested over the alleged rape of a British holidaymaker on a Mediterranean cruise with her parents.
The 27-year-old woman was just hours into an 11-night Eastern Mediterranean cruise, costing £1700, when it is claimed she was targeted by a member of the entertainment crew.
The Celebrity Equinox cruise liner, which carries 2,850 people and is owned by Royal Caribbean, left the Italian port of Civitavecchia last week, and will dock back there after stops in Pireaus, Greece, Kusadasi, Turkey, and the Greek islands of Rhodes, Santorini, and Mykonos.
According to the Daily Mail, the suspect, who is also 27 years old, was arrested just 17 hours after the cruise ship left port.
He is being question after disembarking the boat at the port of Messina on the island of Sicily.
The man is thought to have spent a number of hours drinking in the bar with the girl, but when she said she was tired and going to bed, he followed her, then allegedly threw her on the bed and carried out the attack before escaping.
The victim's parents told the captain, who, after viewing video footage of the pair at the bar and him following her back to her room, ordered him to be held until they arrived at the Messina port.
The woman was treated by a doctor, and decided to continue with the cruise.
A spokesperson for Celebrity Cruises told the Daily Mail: "We are aware of the incident involving a British guest on one of our ships and she has opted to continue her cruise. We are liaising with the relevant authorities."
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