AN 18-YEAR-OLD woman is recovering after being stripped naked and beaten with a stick on the head and body in a field in Co Longford.
A man out walking his dog witnessed the assault and alerted gardaí. When local gardaí went to the field the attacker, a man in his 30s, was still beating the woman.
When the attack was interrupted the man was arrested and the victim was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar.
The incident occurred in a field at Tinnynarr, on the Longford side of Edgeworthstown near the CD foods plant in the town.
The Irish Times understands the victim had cuts and bruising to her head and upper body consistent with having been hit repeatedly with an implement, believed to be a stick.
Gardaí are not looking for any other suspects in connection with the assault. The attack occurred at 10am on Wednesday, although details only emerged publicly yesterday.
It is believed the man had been living locally, but he is not originally from the area. The woman is originally from Co Meath and also lived locally. The man is known to gardaí.
The man was arrested under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, allowing for his detention without charge for a maximum of 24 hours. He has since been released without charge and a file on the case is being prepared for the DPP.
The woman has been reluctant to make a formal statement of complaint to gardaí about the attack on her.
The man who raised the alarm, a foreign national living locally, has also been reluctant to give gardaí a statement.
The investigating team at Granard Garda station have appealed for anyone who was in the area or who may have witnessed the attack to contact them in confidence.
The incident has left locals with a sense of disbelief and horror. Longford County Council chairman Councillor Frank Kilbride (FG) has run a business in Edgeworthstown for the past 25 years.
“Local people are in disbelief”, he said, “they are saying, ‘God you wouldn’t think something of this nature would take place here’.”
“The local reaction is horrified, horrified that something like this could happen.
“Obviously people are thankful that it wasn’t fatal,” added Mr Kilbride.
Local councillor PJ O’Reilly (FF) questioned how anyone would “leave a human being in such a condition”. He said the community was in shock as a result of the incident, all the more so as it had occurred in a rural town in the heart of Co Longford.