Representatives from the Family and Women’s Care Unit (UFAM) of the National Police have begun monitoring social networks for leads and potential images related to an alleged mass sexual assault outside a nightclub in the Malvarrosa district of Valencia. Local media reported that the victim herself alerted authorities. She described lights flashing like a phone screen while she was in pain as part of a group attack.
The absence of obvious online evidence does not mean nothing has been filmed. It simply indicates there were no posts yet. The Investigative Judge No. 11 of Valencia, who presided over the case during the initial hours, ordered the suspects to be identified and the suspects’ mobile phones to be tapped for data extraction and analysis.
Even if some data on hard drives or geolocation later disappear, deleted files can often be recovered with police software, and location data remains on company servers. Consequently, deletion does not erase electronic traces.
Investigators will also examine suspects’ geolocation. A strong indicator of timing is that the incident unfolded near the area where the victim and alleged attackers had attended a discotheque, in front of the Malvarrosa Civil Guard barracks.
Victims and witnesses testified
Brigade officers of the judicial police have begun taking statements from the victim, her friend, and several witnesses, including a security guard who asked for the victim’s phone to contact help and two officers stationed at the barracks.
Records from security cameras inside and outside the venue, as well as those at the Civil Guard barracks housing the Rural Security Group, will be reviewed to reconstruct the sequence of events and to identify the vehicle used by one of the suspects. A group of five teenagers is reported to have left the scene. It remains unclear how many participated in the events.
The incidents reported by the newspaper Levante-EMV occurred around 5:30 a.m. on a recent Saturday in the Malvarrosa neighborhood, near the beach and among Valencia’s most frequented spots.
Cornered by the group
The victim told officers she had agreed to go out with one person, but when they reached the parking area, others arrived. She described feeling unwell and being subjected to a group sexual assault under pressure from being surrounded by teenagers.
Some initial witnesses claimed they did not realize the victim needed help or did not assist. They reportedly saw the group with balloons, which led some to think a party game or a gas used for novelty purposes was involved, although the use of nitrous oxide in this context remains unproven. This substance has anesthetic and analgesic properties and can cause loss of consciousness when inhaled, though it has long-standing medical uses.
Witnesses noted that alcohol and cocaine were involved for some of the young people. Nitrous oxide’s effects can be intensified when combined with other central nervous system depressants, according to initial statements.
Vehicle tracking
The attack is said to have continued inside a vehicle, and investigators are pursuing one suspect, though no arrests have yet been made.
After fleeing, the victim asked a man for help and he gave her his phone to call her friend. A second girl, who was at the party with the first, was left at the discotheque unaware of what had occurred outside.
The trio then went to a hospital in Valencia around 7 a.m. The victim was examined by the on-duty gynecologist and a forensic medicine specialist in line with the sexual assault protocol.
Violations have doubled
Internal statistics do not always differentiate between group rape and solitary rape, but there is a clear alarm in the rise of penetrative sexual assaults. Current data show a doubling of reported rapes in the Valencian Community when compared with pre-pandemic levels. That year, lockdowns had temporarily reduced crime, but reported incidents have risen since 2018.
Nationwide, 349 cases were recorded in 2022, marking a 97.2% increase from 2019, when 177 complaints were filed. The province of Alicante experienced the largest increase, while Valencia saw a 27.4% rise with 154 reported rape cases.