Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Swedish police retract advice warning women not to go out alone after dark

Comments described as 'unfortunate and unclear'

Monday 18 December 2017 19:39 GMT
Comments
Mollevangen district in Malmo
Mollevangen district in Malmo (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Police in Sweden have retracted their “unfortunate” advice that women should not go out alone after dark.

Local police in Malmö made a public statement saying women should stay indoors when it gets dark following the rape of a 17-year-old girl.

The incident occurred after midnight as the victim walked through a playground area and is the third attack of its kind in the Swedish city of Malmö in the last few weeks.

It is thought there is no direct link between any of the cases and police are currently investigating all of the incidents.

The police officer in charge of the investigation, Anders Nilsson, was quoted in Swedish media saying that women should only go out in pairs or in large groups after darkness, according to the Local.

Malmö police have now issued a formal statement retracting the remarks and said they were “unfortunate and unclear”.

A Malmö police press spokesperson said that the public should “live their lives as usual” and “not give into fear”.

No CCTV images of the incident were captured but police have secured forensic and mobile phone evidence.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in