A 61-year-old foreign resident suffered a horrific ordeal when a man broke into her house on a condominium on the outskirts of Tavira, and attacked and raped her before making off with various items in the woman’s VW Polo.
The terrifying attack took place in the early hours of Friday morning.
PJ police are now reported to be “in force on the ground” in a bid to hunt down the rapist as soon as possible.
Correio da Manhã writes that they presume the man broke into the house on the Quinta da Barra urbanisation with the intention of looting it.
“He thought the house was empty”, wrote CM. But when he came upon the sleeping woman, “a foreigner living in Portugal”, he immediately attacked and raped her.
The man then set about taking as much as he could carry, making off in the victim’s car.
PJ police have sent out an alert for the car, which is on Portuguese registered plates, and are said to be scouring the neighbourhood and talking to neighbours.
The woman, meantime, has been assisted in Faro hospital where various clinical exams were undertaken.
Quinta da Barra is described by CM as a complex made up of small houses, the majority of which are occupied by foreigners. Some of the properties are only used for holidays.
CM also reports that incidents of housebreakers resorting to rape are “considered very uncommon by the authorities”.
