Elisa Menendez
A MAN has been arrested for holding his girlfriend hostage for over a week and sexually assaulting her on the Costa del Sol.
The 35-year-old was arrested in Benalmadena after he kept his girlfriend locked up with almost no food in his apartment for eight days.
Policia Nacional officials reported that the man did not allow the 32-year-old woman to wear clothes and regularly beat her.
Officials were contacted after the woman arrived at a Malaga hospital on Saturday with a relative, weak and exhausted from a lack of food.
The woman, from the from the Dominican Republic, had travelled to Malaga to meet the Spaniard after they had formed a relationship online some months ago.
At first she stayed with relatives in Malaga but quickly moved in with him.
Barely 24 hours later, she claims he began forcing her to have sex with him several times a day and became violent – hitting her and pulling her hair if she disobeyed.
The victim also claimed he stole her phone and took pictures and videos of her against her will.
She managed to escape after secretly calling her cousin, who rescued the woman and took her to hospital.
Policia Nacional officials arrested the man at his home that night in Benalmadena.
He appeared in front of a judge yesterday and is charged with crimes of holding a person against their will, sexual assault and maltreatment.
Officials are investigating whether there have been other victims.
