ROME – Police in the southern Italian city of Brindisi say the British woman who accused Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis of brutal rape has received injuries consistent with her allegations. “I was raped for days,” said the wife of investigating prosecutor Antonio Negro, according to a summary of the arrest warrant released by The Daily Beast. “We were supposed to work together, but instead he raped me from Sunday night to Wednesday.
The woman, whom the Negro’s office claims holds a British passport, was left last Wednesday before dawn by the director in front of Brindisi airport in Puglia province, who is sitting on the heel of the Italian boot, according to her testimony to police. She says she did not have a plane ticket, but he gave her money to buy it when the airport opened, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say the woman was found shrinking in the corner of the small airport by a flight attendant, who immediately notified authorities. “It was destroyed,” the police officer said, according to the initial investigation. She spoke with difficulty.
After an initial medical examination at the airport’s health clinic, she was taken to hospital for treatment in accordance with the Italian “Pink Protocol” for rape victims, which includes psychological counseling. Prosecutors say she “suffered multiple sexual assaults without consent”, including so violently that she was “forced to seek medical help”.
This horrific event apparently brought an end to her ordeal when she said Haggis took her to the airport in the early hours of Wednesday. The forensic doctor’s report says she has remained incapable of having sex because of the violence.
Prosecutors say that after she was left incapacitated, he drove her alone to the airport from the tourist town of Ostuni, about an hour away, where the 69-year-old, accused of sexually abusing four other women, hosted Allora Fest with Oliver Stone, Matt Dylan, Edward Norton and Marisa Tomei. The music and film festival immediately distanced itself from Haggis, canceling all events in which he had to participate.
Police are then investigating the new allegations, investigating camera footage in front of Haggis’ hotel room and airport, which reportedly proved she was with him. They then waited until the woman left Italy safely to arrest the director on Sunday in Ostuni. By then, his family had joined him. He is being held in custody in the provincial capital of Brindisi, where he will face the Italian equivalent of charges on Monday or Tuesday.
Haggis’ lawyer, Priya Chaudry, declined to comment to The Hollywood Reporter, citing a non-existent “law” that she said forbade her from commenting on current cases. “Having said that, I am confident that all charges against Mr Haggis will be dropped,” Chaudhry said in an email to the paper. “He is completely innocent and wants to cooperate fully with the authorities to get the truth out quickly.
Haggis wrote two Oscars for Best Picture with Million Dollar Baby in 2014 and Crash in 2005. The latest incident is not the first time the Canadian director has been in legal trouble. An ongoing civil case accusing him of violence was filed against him by publicist Hailey Brest in 2017. Three other women came out a year later that he had sexually abused them. He denies all charges.
Haggis, who left the Church of Scientology in 2009, said accusations of sexual violence were just revenge on the part of the church. His accusers deny the allegation.
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