A man is facing charges after he did nothing to help a woman who drowned on Sunday.
The Sun reported that Elaine O’Donovan, 41, died early Sunday while in the sea off the Canary Islands. The Irishwoman was reportedly vacationing with family at the time.
Authorities believe the 41-year-old decided to take a swim after a night out with a man who decided to stay on the shore.
“Moments later the woman appeared floating face-down near the shore and the man, when he saw this, left the scene without trying to help her or raise the alarm,” a Civil Guard spokesman commented.
The man was reportedly heard yelling something to O’Donovan while she was in the water. The woman ignored him and he left, according to the spokesman.
“The next thing the other group saw was the woman floating face-down in the water,” he claimed.
It appears that it may another group of bystanders who pulled the woman from the water, about an hour after she took to the water. Though she had a pulse, she died shortly after paramedics arrived.
It is still unclear if the people who witnessed the suspect leaving her there in the water contacted authorities.
The suspect, who is said to be Moroccan, was arrested on Wednesday. He is believed to have met the Irishwoman that night.
A source close to the situation told The Irish Times that the 41-year-old wouldn’t have died if the man had gotten help. Despite this, the source said that authorities don’t believe the man acted out of malice.
It took authorities more than 24 hours to retrieve O’Donovan’s purse and positively identify her. They ruled out robbery as a motive, since money was still in her purse and she was wearing an expensive watch at the time.
An autopsy also determined that O’Donovan had water in her lungs. Though the spokesman said that police are investigating the 41-year-old’s death as an accident, he declined to reveal whether she had alcohol in her system when she died.
The man is accused of “being the presumed author of an alleged crime of omission of the duty.” According to the source, the man was released on bail as authorities conduct an investigation.
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