Thai police arrested a 37-year-old Canadian man accused of raping a 23-year-old British backpacker in Chiang Mai after a karaoke gathering on 13 September. The woman told police she had been intoxicated and woke the following morning naked, later reporting that she had been sexually assaulted. The case matters because police obtained an arrest warrant and detained the suspect shortly before he was due to leave Thailand.

The suspect, Aldo Guiovanni Ochoa Saenz, denies the allegation and says the sex was consensual. Police said the woman’s testimony and medical examination supported the warrant; tests found no drugs, although traces of semen were reportedly detected. Officers seized the suspect’s phone and said they were preparing rape and sexual-assault charges while the investigation and detention proceedings continued.