A British woman who was filmed being hauled off the streets by cops for wearing a bikini in the Maldives has accused police of groping her and assaulting her in custody.
Cecilia Jastrzembska, 26, said she was left fearing for her life after the officers slapped her, kicked her in the stomach, and strip searched her.
She said: ‘I was already injured and hyperventilating when they started to grope me. I was terrified. I thought my life was at risk.’
‘I thought I was being abducted,’ she told the Mirror.
She added that the men waved their fists in her face and she was ‘humiliated’ and ‘degraded’ by the incident.
Wearing bikinis is permitted in holiday resorts in the popular tourist location, although it is ‘strictly prohibited’ away from the resorts. It is not clear exactly where this video was filmed.
Cecilia Jastrzembska, 26, was manhandled and arrested by police in the Maldives for ‘indecent exposure’ on Thursday evening
Jastrzembska was arrested last week for wearing a bikini in the Maldives. She had previously appeared on the TV shows First Dates and Ninja Warrior UK.
In the 30-second clip, she screamed ‘you’re sexually assaulting me’ as she was manhandled and arrested on the island of Maafushi.
The chief of police in the Maldives has now apologised for the incident after footage emerged of the arrest showing three men grappling with Cecilia and trying to put her in handcuffs as she attempted to fight them off earlier this week.
Another man covered part of her body with a towel as she was led away in front of a crowd of people.
Police commissioner Mohamed Hameed said an ‘incident in which our officers restrained a female tourist seems to be badly handled’.
Cecilia Jastrzembska, 26, (pictured) screamed ‘you’re sexually assaulting me’ as she was manhandled and arrested on the island of Maafushi
The chief of police in the Maldives has now apologised for the incident after footage emerged of the arrest showing three men grappling with Cecilia (pictured during her appearance on the TV show First Date)
‘I apologise to the tourist and the public for this. The challenge I have taken up is to professionalise the police service and we are working on that,’ he said.
The travel blogger from London was arrested for ‘indecent exposure’ but the incident is now under investigation.
Cecilia, who describes herself as a parliamentary adviser at the House of Commons, stunned viewers of Channel 4’s First Dates in 2018 after refusing to let her date pay the bill.
Later that year she attempted the assault course on ITV’s Ninja Warrior UK.
Cecilia, who describes herself as a parliamentary adviser at the House of Commons, stunned viewers of Channel 4’s First Dates in 2018 after refusing to let her date pay the bill
In 2018 she attempted the assault course on ITV’s Ninja Warrior UK. She is pictured left and right taking on the course
The 26-year-old had earlier posted photos on Facebook of her swimming with a whale shark and posing on a beach in a red bikini.
Cecilia and a friend checked into a £40-a-night guest house on Maafushi last Monday, paying up front for six nights, islanders told The Sun.
Cecilia repeatedly shouts ‘you’re sexually assaulting me’ as she struggles to break free of the men.
According to the country’s local news service, Raajje.mv, she was arrested shortly after 5pm local time on Thursday for ‘indecent exposure’.
It reported that police suspected the woman to be ‘under the influence of alcohol’.
The travel blogger was arrested for ‘indecent exposure’ but the incident is now under investigation
Police commissioner Mohamed Hameed (pictured) said an ‘incident in which our officers restrained a female tourist seems to be badly handled’
The UK government’s travel advice for the Maldives states that visitors should be ‘sensitive to local dress standards’ in the country.
It states that the popular tourist destination is an Islamic country and that tourists should ‘respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times’.
The country is made up of about 1,200 small islands and is located about 400 miles south-west of Sri Lanka.
Cecilia was arrested for ‘indecent exposure’ but the Islamic country’s police chief has since apologised after an outcry over the video
The Foreign Office issued a separate warning to be ‘vigilant’ in the Maldives yesterday after a knife attack on foreign residents in Hulhumale.
Three suspected Islamic extremists were arrested over the stabbings.