Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1069175
MATTHEW AGIUS A judge hearing evidence in the trial of a young man accused of raping his underage cousin has heard the girl give candid testimony about the al- leged incident. The now 16-year-old girl took the stand late yesterday afternoon, ex- plaining why she had only spoken out after seven years of abuse. "I didn't have the courage and didn't want to break up the family," she said as she testified via videoconferencing. The girl told Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera that the abuse would happen in various rooms at her grandmother's house. "He would make me touch his private parts and move my hand up and down... We would be on a bed. I would be staying there [at the house] and have nowhere to sleep but in his bed." The abuse would take place once or twice a month, she said. "One time he told me not to tell anyone… I was afraid that I would be shouted at or that the family would get broken up. I didn't have enough courage also. The last time it happened there were two cousins with us, but normally we would be alone." WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post WEDNESDAY • 9 JANUARY 2019 • ISSUE 618 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY FREE PAGE 5 Rape victim's court anguish 'I hate my body' 'I will not resign' says embattled PN leader KURT SANSONE ADRIAN Delia has no regrets over his decision to enter politics and in- sists in an interview published today that he will not resign from Nation- alist Party leader. Delia is facing separation proceed- ings, during which his wife has al- leged domestic abuse. Interviewed on Times Talk, Delia insisted he will not address the al- legations that have been made be- cause of a court agreement with his wife not to discuss their separation in public. Delia has been facing internal pres- sure from certain sections of the PN to resign in the wake of the serious allegations made in his regard. But the PN leader responded with a solid "no", when asked whether he offered his resignation. "No, I never offered my resignation and don't in- tend to do so… I don't understand the need for someone to ask for a vote of confidence because he is passing through a separation," Delia said. PAGE 4 ADRIAN DELIA Panama investigation: Appeals Court overturns order for graft inquiry An Appeals Court yesterday overturned a magistrate's decision to kick-start a magisterial inquiry into allegations of money laundering made by the former Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil against the prime minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri (left) and minister Konrad Mizzi (right) after their offshore companies were revealed in the Panama Paapers scandal of 2016, declaring that no substantial evidence had been presented to merit such an investigation STORY PAGE 3 PN leader Adrian Delia