Teenage girl, 17, is allegedly ‘dragged into the bushes and brutally raped’ in Arrawarra, on the NSW mid-north coast
- The woman was reportedly dragged into the bushes and raped
- Police have arrested a man and officers are investigating
EXCLUSIVE
A teenage girl was brutally raped on Friday evening after being dragged into bushes in an idyllic beach town.
The 17-year-old girl was walking home near Arrawarra Beach north of Coffs Harbour, on New Zealand’s north coast, at around 7.30pm when she was confronted by a man who had allegedly been sexually assaulted.
Police arrested a man at a camping site and accommodation in Arrawarra about 5pm on Sunday.
Little Arrawarra on the NSW Mid North Coast was the site of an alleged brutal rape of a teenager who was attacked and dragged into bushes on Friday evening
Officers from the Coffs Harbor-Clarence NSW Police District attended a site currently home to hundreds of seasonal workers from a nearby berry farm.
The man was taken to Coffs Harbor Police Station where he is ‘assisting police with their inquiries’. No charges have been filed.
The incident follows another a week ago when a young woman reportedly hid in a toilet stall after being chased by a man she believed was under the influence of alcohol.
Locals told Ny Breaking Australia that up to 400 pickers are housed at a holiday park every day and bused to a nearby farm.
It is believed the man being questioned is a seasonal worker from the workforce hired into major crop areas in NSW from the Pacific Islands and East Timor.
The village of Arrawarra is a destination for surfers, caravanners, backpackers and visitors to the waterfront location.
Waste has been dumped around Arrawarra, which has concerned some locals
Locals complained earlier this year that fruit pickers had turned the coastal paradise into a ‘slum’.
Some locals have complained that there have been incidents of drunkenness and aggression by workers and litter being left on the beach and in local waterways.
The beach strip is considered a gem hidden among the area’s most populous townships, with a relaxed atmosphere, kangaroos hopping along the beach and pristine surf.
The influx of hundreds of berry pickers in recent years has led some residents – whose local population is only between 50 and 100 people – to worry that their piece of paradise is being destroyed.
The employee accommodation provider earlier this year branded the criticism “lies and fabrications” and accused locals of being biased against Pacific Islanders, who make up the majority of fruit pickers.
Earlier this year, a concerned local seasonal worker filmed an alleged drunken fight (above) on Arrawarra beach