The physical appearance of a woman
saying she was raped it wholly "irrelevant" and is a
"non-decisive" element in assessing her credibility, the supreme
Court of Cassation said in its explanation of a recent decision
to overturn the acquittals of two young South Americans accused
of raping a 'masculine-looking' Peruvian girl on March 9, 2013 -
acquitted by the lower court because she looked too masculine to
be raped.
The court in Ancona acquitted the pair in November 2017 and
in its verdict referred to the "masculinity" of the victim which
allegedly undermined the credibility of her complaint, implying
that she was too ugly to be raped.
Last month the justice ministry opened a probe into the
sentence that said the 22-year-old Peruvian woman had been too
ugly to be raped.
The sentence, issued by three women judges, said the rape by
two young men had not been "credible" because of the victim's
"masculine appearance".
The sentence was annulled by the supreme Court of Cassation
which ordered a new appeals trial, quashing the acquittal of the
two young men.
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