British woman, 20, is 'raped in the sea during Rhodes holiday by man she met online'

A 20-year-old British tourist was allegedly raped in the sea during a summer holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes after she visited a beach with a man she had met online.

The Briton, who has not been named, told police a 23-year-old Albanian man raped her on Saturday after they went for a swim at Glystra beach on the east coast of the island.

The young woman claimed the man, who she had been speaking to online for two weeks before meeting in person, then took her back to her hotel room in Kiotari where he attacked her and tried to rape her a second time, reports the Vradini newspaper. 

The Albanian man, who has not been named, has since been arrested by police on the Greek island on suspicion of rape and attempted rape. He denies the charges.

The British tourist told police that she had met the suspect at her hotel room before they agreed to ride on his motorbike to Glystra beach where they went swimming.

But she claimed that the man attacked her while they were in the sea and raped her.

The victim walked onto the beach and put on her clothes before begging the suspect to drive her back to her hotel room. 

But when they arrived at the hotel at 4pm local time, the 23-year-old man followed her back to her room where he took off her clothes and tried to sexually assault her again.

This time, the woman was able to push him away from her and forced him to leave the room. The victim then left the hotel and reported the rape and assault to Rhodes Police. 

Detectives launched a manhunt for the Albanian man and he was found hours later and taken to the police station. 

The victim identified the suspect as the man who allegedly raped her and a case has now been filed against him for rape. 

A criminal trial has yet to be set. If convicted, the suspected assailant faces up to 10 years in prison.