Student attacked and robbed in Old Nicosia

Last week, on Saturday the 1 st of August, a 26-year-old south Asian student was ‘violently ambushed and robbed ’ at around 4:20am in Nicosia, in a parking lot near the construction beside the ‘Oxi’ roundabout. The student told en.philenews that a group of about ‘three to four men,’ who they believed to have been speaking Arabic, approached them, asking if they would like a cigarette . When the student said no, the men attacked them, throwing them to the ground and stealing their phone and flat keys. The student said they ‘screamed as loud as [they] could’ but did not receive any help, noting that at 4am, the area was ‘a complete ghost town.’ The incident took place in a ‘dark’ parking area next to the construction site on Konstantinou Palaiogolou Street, ‘right before the Oxi roundabout.’ The student stated to en.philenews that the switch from the ‘brightly lit restaurant street’ into a ‘pitch black construction zone,’ is concerning, and a ‘massive hazard’ for citizens. En.philenews reached out to Nicosia Municipality, who stated that they do not have any plans at this time to install more lighting in the area, advising for complaints to be sent via email in order for any incidents to be reviewed. The student reported the incident to the Nicosia Central Police and submitted a medical report to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) as evidence, having suffered from injuries on their ‘knee, feet and elbow’ after being ‘thrown to the ground.’ They also provided the CID with the IMEI number of the phone and gave a statement. They told en.philenews that the CID informed them that locating the perpetrators could be difficult, as a specific description of them could not be given ‘as it was dark,’ along with the lack of CCTV footage. The 26-year-old has yet to have their stolen property returned at the time of writing, but told en.philenews that the CID informed them that they would be contacted if they managed to ‘track the phone.’ The student noted to en.philenews that the area is ‘very dark’ at night, ‘even at nine or ten o’clock’ and that they do not think any CCTV cameras operate in the area where the assault took place. They later created a post on the social media site Reddit to ‘inform the general public,’ aiming to warn other citizens to ‘practice caution.’ In the post, the student stated that citizens should ‘just call a taxi to take you door-to-door.’ ‘Please do not risk it alone.’ Other social media users shared their thoughts on safety in Cyprus in the comments of the post, with one user advising the student to ‘change the locks,’ and another commenting on how, ‘As a woman,’ the incident sounded ‘terrifying.’ The 26-year-old added that they usually feel safe and walk in the area quite often. They stated that the attack was likely random, and the attackers ‘hide in the shadows.’ They added that their ‘biggest issue’ with the area is ‘how pitch-black it is at 4 in the morning.’ The student stated to en.philenews that as ‘a member of the LGBTQ community, it left [them] pretty traumatised.’