Film
director
Paul
Haggis
was
detained
on
Sunday
for
investigation
of
allegations
that
he
sexually
assaulted
a
woman
in
southern
Italy,
Italian
news
media
said,
quoting
local
prosecutors.
The
Canadian-born,
Oscar-winning
Haggis,
69,
has
been
in
Italy
for
a
film
festival
that
begins
on
Tuesday
in
Ostuni,
a
tourist
town
in
Puglia,
the
region
that
forms
the
“heel”
of
the
Italian
peninsula.
The
news
agency
LaPresse
and
several
other
Italian
media
carried
a
written
statement
from
prosecutors
in
the
nearby
city
of
Brindisi
that
they
were
investigating
allegations
a
“young
foreign
woman”
was
forced
to
have
“non-consensual”
sexual
relations
over
two
days.
Prosecutors
Antonio
Negro
and
Livia
Orlando,
who
are
conducting
the
investigation,
said
in
the
statement
that
the
woman
was
“forced
to
seek
medical
care" following
the
sexual
relations.
After
a
couple
of
days
“of
non-consensual
relations,
the
woman
was
accompanied
by
the
man”
to
Brindisi
airport
on
Sunday
and
“was
left
there
at
dawn
despite
(her)
precarious
physical
and
psychological
conditions.”
The
Brindisi
prosecutors'
office
was
closed
on
Sunday.
Haggis's
attorney
didn't
immediately
respond
to
a
request
for
comment.
The
prosecutors
said
airport
staff
and
police
noticed
her
“obvious
confused
state”
and
" and
after
lending
initial
treatment,
took
her
to
Brindisi's
police
headquarters,
where
officers
accompanied
her
to
a
local
hospital
for
examination.
Police
at
headquarters' operations
room
said
they
weren't
authorized
to
give
out
information
about
the
case,
including
whether
Haggis
was
being
held
at
the
police
station
or
at
a
hotel
or
other
lodging.
Haggis
is
a
director,
producer
and
screenwriter.
He
won
an
Oscar
in
2006
for
best
original
screenplay
for
"Crash."
Prosecutors
also
were
quoted
as
saying
that
the
woman
“formalized
her
complaint
and
cited
circumstances
which
were
subsequently
looked
into
for
confirmation
by
investigators.”
They
didn't
cite
her
nationality
or
age.
For
women
in
distress
help
available
at,
Central
Social
Welfare
Board
-Police
Helpline:
1091/
1291,
(011)
23317004;
Shakti
Shalini-
women's
shelter:
(011)
24373736/
24373737;
All
India
Women's
Conference:
10921/
(011)
23389680;
Joint
Women's
Programme:
(011)
24619821;
Sakshi-
violence
intervention
center:
(0124)
2562336/
5018873;
Nirmal
Niketan
(011)
27859158;
JAGORI
(011)
26692700;
Nari
Raksha
Samiti:
(011)
23973949;
RAHI
Recovering
and
Healing
from
Incest.
A
support
centre
for
women
survivors
of
child
sexual
abuse:
(011)
26238466/
26224042,
26227647.