Cecilia Jastrzembska, a British woman’s vacation to the Maldives ended badly when the tourist was taken into custody because she reportedly was wearing an “indecent” bathing suit.
Jastrzembska is a 26-year-old reality TV star who appeared on shows like Ninja Warrior UK and First Dates.
The incident allegedly took place on Thursday, at around 6 p.m., when the young female was sunbathing on the beach during her visit to the island of Maafushi.
At one point, she was approached by three police officers, who forcefully escorted her from the place and tried to cover her body with a sarong.
The case gained a lot of media attention when footage of the event started circulating over the Internet recently.
In the video clip, the woman, who is wearing a two-piece swimsuit in black and white, could be heard screaming that she was sexually assaulted, while the policemen were trying to take her away from the beach.
She said: “You are sexually assaulting me! Anyone who gets in my personal space I’m going to have a problem with.”
Following the massive publicity of what happened, the Maldives police issued an official apology to the British, and the Maldives Police Service Commissioner, Mohamed Hameed, stated publicly that his colleagues did not handle the situation as they should have.
Hameed also claimed that one of the challenges he was facing was to professionalize the police service, and they were already working on that.
He stated: “Incident in Maafushi in which our officers restrained a female tourist seems to be badly handled. I apologize to the tourist & the public for this. The challenge I have taken up is to professionalize the police service & we are working on that. This matter is being investigated.”
Besides, it was revealed that the woman was arrested because someone allegedly made a complaint about her revealing bikini.
When the vacationer was initially asked by police officers to cover up, she refused, which in turn led to her arrest. The British tourist was eventually set free after being detained for about an hour.
Some locals have criticized the reality star for not respecting their way of life. Those voices insist that she is the one who should be apologizing for not obeying rules.
Those critics say some tourists display a form of entitlement when visiting the area. Jastrzembska, who studied philosophy at the University of Warwick, is an avid traveler and has remained silent for now.
