A man who allegedly threatened his young daughter with a throat-slitting gesture, was remanded in custody on Tuesday after that umpteenth incident sparked a report by the girl’s mother alleging that she had been raped by the man in August.

The alleged culprit, a 51-year old Hamrun resident, was arrested and questioned by the police before being arraigned over charges related to the alleged rape of his estranged partner and threats made to her and the couple’s two young children.

Prosecuting Inspector John Spiteri explained how the woman was prompted into action when her 11-year old daughter claimed that her father had made a throat-slashing gesture when he met her on the street. He also told the court that the woman had in the past filed many reports against her partner. 

The man had a shop close to the home of his estranged family, which meant that encounters between the parties were rather inevitable, the court was told.

Defence lawyer Jason Grima contested the validity of the arrest, questioning why proceedings over the alleged rape were being instituted now, over two months later. He said that there had been endless reports against his client, all of which had never resulted in a finding of guilt.

“This is just another false report against my client. Why did this charge remain under wraps all this time?” argued Dr Grima.

A request for bail was strongly objected to on account of the “very serious nature of the charges,” that of rape carrying a possible maximum jail term of 12 years.

The prosecution further pointed out the possible tampering of evidence since the victims were related to the alleged perpetrator whose criminal record also denoted his untrustworthy character.

Dr Grima countered that the prosecution had not presented an updated criminal record sheet and that his client had always abided by court orders, including the terms under a conditional discharge delivered a few days ago. Moreover, since the alleged rape, his client and the victims had met several times, even when the latter called at his shop.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri turned down the request for bail in view of the risk of tampering with evidence, further imposing a ban on the publication of the names of all parties involved.