CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police are looking for a 24-year-old Swedish national, who is accused of raping a 27-year-old woman in a hostel in Cebu City.
Joseph Daniel Arian, who owns a Swedish passport, is being pursued by police after the woman, who was also staying in the hostel, claimed that Arian allegedly raped her in her room while she was drunk.
Police Major Armando Labora, Parian Police Station chief, said the victim, who is from northern Cebu, reported the alleged rape to their police station at 5 p.m. of February 19, 2020, which was 15 hours after the alleged incident happened or at 2 a.m. of the same day.
The victim told police that Arian allegedly stalked her to her room after the two met in the bar belonging to the hostel with both having a drink there.
“The victim told us the two of them got drunk. She said he followed her to her room where he reportedly touched her, removed her clothes, and then raped her,” Labora said.
According to the victim, she reported the alleged rape at 5 p.m., because she woke up between 10 a.m. and noon, and felt pain in her private parts.
She said being so drunk, she tried to remember what happened and then later she realized that she had been raped.
Labora said the gap between the time when the crime was reportedly committed and the time that the victim reported the incident to the authorities was quite long and the suspect had already checked out of the hostel by then.
“When we conducted a follow-up operation, he was no longer in the building where he checked in. He already checked out,” said Labora.
Labora said that initial investigation showed that Arian checked in at the hostel earlier in the week and he was reportedly a tourist.
He said while they were still looking for the Swedish national, the victim was also referred to a hospital where she underwent a psychological and medical check up.
Labora said that the victim was waiting for the results of the tests on her today./dbs