I have received several messages online from readers asking to learn more about the case of 51-year-old N. K. which was featured in this column last Sunday and concerned his conviction a few years ago by the Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court to eight years in prison for the rape of a 38-year-old woman in the public restrooms of Solomos Square in Nicosia .
I wrote that five months after his release, I encountered him wandering around the same area, and he pointed out the places where he slept at night —on the benches of the adjacent public garden and inside the restrooms where he had committed the crime for which he had ended up in prison! I note that I had followed his trial continuously for months until its final conclusion.
The court’s guilty verdict includes graphic descriptions of the sexual assault, which occurred when N. K. burst into the restroom just as the woman had entered; according to the court’s ruling, “had left the door slightly open so she could see by the light from the hallway, because there was no lighting in the restroom. Undoubtedly,” it adds, “the complainant experienced nightmarish moments of terror and pain in her unsuccessful attempt to push the defendant away and stop his unlawful acts, resulting in her suffering the torment of two rapes accompanied by the use of force.”
N. K. had been known to the relevant state agencies for many years and lived in conditions of destitution, homeless and wandering in the city centre, where he happened to encounter and rape his victim on that fateful night.
According to the report by the government psychiatrist who was called as a witness for the prosecution, N. K. “suffers from a personality disorder and requires psychiatric treatment. However, for at least the last few months prior to the rape, he did not receive any such treatment.” He also referred to “psychopathology, which prevents people with this disorder from perceiving and experiencing emotions—that is, from understanding that their behavior emotionally affects others.” He added that “they tend not to feel remorse and do not feel guilt. In the case of the defendant, who requires long-term care, there is a mixed-type personality disorder with antisocial traits predominating.”
N. K. was represented by a lawyer who provided him with free legal aid during this difficult legal proceeding, which revealed numerous state shortcomings in the correctional and post-correctional treatment of the small number of offenders with psychiatric problems. The question is whether the state “learned” anything from this case and whether it is now fulfilling, to a satisfactory degree, its obligation to provide them with adequate medical care.
