Two migrants have been arrested on suspicion of raping a 17-year-old girl in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, according to reports. The teenager was said to have been left unconscious by the attack and had to be resuscitated twice before being rushed to hospital.
Two Moroccan men, aged 42 and 21, were detained following the alleged assault on Trampolin beach on Saturday morning, as per local news outlet Cadenaser.
Mass border breach
Around 60,000 migrants breached the border of the Spanish territory in north Africa in July, in what Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called "a violation of Spain's territorial integrity".
While the majority of those who broke into Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco have now returned, more than 3,000 people are thought to remain in open-air coastal settlements.
Police were made aware of the alleged rape by children shouting in the area, and found the victim emerging from a tent on the beach, The Sun reports.
Victim's condition
The 17-year-old, a young Moroccan woman, was semi-conscious and appeared to be intoxicated, police said. She also had visible injuries on her leg and face, and was heavily bleeding. She lost consciousness twice in the presence of officers, prompting two bouts of life-saving CPR.
The two men who were arrested refused to provide a statement on the incident and insisted they did not know the woman. National Police confirmed that an investigation was underway.
Rising assaults
It follows reports that almost one sexual assault is happening every day in Ceuta following the mass influx of migrants. The territory's chief prosecutor Silvia Rojas told El Pais that migrant girls were particularly vulnerable because of their irregular status.
The Spanish government said at least 67 migrants died in the stampede to cross a breakwater barrier earlier this summer. It has since installed a new barrier stretching along the breakwater fence into the sea.
Mr Sanchez criticised the reaction of other European Union leaders to the incident, saying calls for Spain to be suspended from the EU's borderless Schengen zone were "driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest".
