Shane Su­perville 

Po­lice are in­ves­ti­gat­ing two sep­a­rate rape re­ports in­volv­ing young women in Barataria and Mal­abar with­in less than a week.

In the first case, a 23-year-old woman told po­lice she had booked an ap­point­ment with a tat­too artist via so­cial me­dia and vis­it­ed his Barataria home around 12.30 pm. While she wait­ed in the gallery, she said he grabbed her hand, forced her on­to a bed and as­sault­ed her.

She screamed for help as a neigh­bour knocked on the door, prompt­ing the man to get dressed and leave. The woman then con­tact­ed a rel­a­tive, who took her to the Barataria Po­lice Sta­tion to make a re­port.

In the sec­ond in­ci­dent, re­port­ed last Fri­day, a 20-year-old woman vis­it­ed a friend’s home in Mal­abar around 10.30 am. She told po­lice her friend’s fa­ther forced her on­to a bed and raped her.

She said she man­aged to free her­self and es­caped be­fore re­port­ing the as­sault.