Chinese tourist who alleged rape in Maldives luxury resort says no arrests made days after incident

A Chinese tourist has alleged that authorities in the Maldives were trying to cover up an incident of sexual assault after she was raped by a hotel staff member while on vacation there.

Xu Yitong, 26, a student in Australia who agreed to waive her right to anonymity as an alleged victim of sexual assault, told The Independent that she received no official statement from the Maldives government or its law enforcement agencies despite filing a police complaint.

She claimed the authorities were trying to cover up the incident – an accusation the Maldives police have denied.

On Sunday, Ms Xu detailed her harrowing experience during her stay at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands resort in a Twitter thread to demand action.

Ms Xu, who is a student of economics at the University of Sydney, said she arrived at the tropical island in South Asia for a holiday on 6 June but decided to extend her stay after four days and checked into the Ritz-Carlton on 10 June.

She said she was assigned a member of staff upon her arrival at the resort and he was sent to her room after she asked for help from the front desk because her phone was not working.

“I was concerned (I) didn’t know how to contact my family so I asked the front desk to help me and they sent him. He came and he let me use my sim in his phone and speak to my mother. He then sat on the bed and started chatting with me. ‘Why did you come alone, where do you live’ etc,” she wrote.

She said he started asking questions about what she was doing last night and briefly left the room only to return as her mother had sent her a WeChat message on his phone.

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She said she felt “numb” and went “blank” when he asked her if she wanted to kiss him and forced himself on her after she denied his advances.

Ms Xu said he sexually assaulted her before he left.

The tourist said she informed the resort staff and called the police who took her statement but did not arrest the accused staff member.

“I was raped in your hotel and you did nothing. You told me I did this to get a free stay. I paid the full amount to the hotel. I’m a Chinese living in Australia, my family is well reputed and rich,” she said in a tweet.

Ms Xu told The Independent that she has been only contacted by the Chinese embassy in Malé so far.

The email, seen by The Independent, said the embassy got in touch with the hotel, the deputy minister of tourism, and the police, asking them to “take the report seriously and find out the truth”.

“All three sides said they attach great importance to the case and urge the police to investigate it seriously,” it said.

Ms Xu said: “I want justice. Nothing else. I want the perpetrator to be arrested.”

“Till now (I have received) no official statement from Maldives government or tourism ministry or police,” she told The Independent.

“I believe the authorities in Maldives – specially the police – are trying to cover up the incident,” she added.

Ms Xu shared the pictures of the bruises from the alleged incident in her Twitter thread.

The Ritz-Carlton Maldives Fari Islands said the matter was currently being investigated by police.

“We take such allegations seriously and this matter is currently with the police. The safety and well-being of our guests and associates are of the utmost importance. We continue to cooperate with the authorities, and are in regular communication with the guest,” it said in response to Ms Xu’s Twitter thread.

In a statement to The Independent, the Maldives Police Service denied allegations of a cover-up and said investigations were ongoing.

“The Maldives Police Service takes all reports of sexual assault very seriously and assures that a thorough investigation is being carried out. The Maldives Police Service would like to strongly deny any allegation of a cover-up or any dereliction of duty in the investigation of the case,” it said.

Maldives police spokesperson Yoonus Sobah clarified that they were investigating the case on the complaint of sexual assault and not rape.

The police said they attended to the incident with forensic teams and collected necessary forensic samples after receiving the complaint. They were now awaiting the results of the analysis of the samples taken from both the victim and the suspect.

“No person has been arrested so far regarding the incident however we would like to assure you that all necessary investigative actions are being taken by the police for a complete investigation,” the statement said.