Gibraltar — A British woman, 23-year-old Melissa Hart says she was sexually assaulted by two ‘Barbary macaque monkeys’ in Gibraltar after going to see them wearing a bikini.
She said she approached the monkeys, who then began pulling at her hair and clothes, the Daily Mail reports.
Hart claimed one of the animals pulled her bikini top completely off and the monkeys began pawing at her, according to the Olive Press. “I felt totally helpless as these two monkeys grabbed and pawed me in my most intimate areas.” the woman told the Press… “Then, with a yank, one of them pulled my bikini top straight off.”
She added: “I was being sexually assaulted and these people all thought it was a great joke.”
Hart said a warden later came to her aid after hearing her screams. The warden pulled the woman away from the animals.
She then reportedly went to the police station to file a report, only to be told wild animals “cannot be held criminally responsible.”
The Barbary macaque population in Gibraltar is the only wild monkey population in the European continent, and, unlike that of North Africa, it is thriving. At present, some 300 animals in five troops occupy the area of the Upper Rock area of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve, though occasional forays into the town may result in damage to personal property.
From TheDailyMail: “It is not the first time that a British tourist has been attacked by Gibraltar’s Barbary macaques.
In October last year holidaymaker Stuart Gravenell, 53, revealed he had been savaged on the arm by one of the largest macaques after going to see them with his son.
He said that while walking through a nature reserve on the island one monkey that stood over three foot tall ran over and latched its jaws on to his left forearm.
Medics in Gibraltar said the injury was one of the worst they had ever seen, and when Mr Gravenell returned home doctors in this country said he would be left with pronounced loss of feeling.”
Photo via The Guardian
