Instagram model Stefania Costache raped by her dentist after he drugged & kidnapped her while working on her teeth
A FAMOUS Instagram model has been raped by her dentist after he kidnapped her while working on her teeth.
Stefania Costache revealed she went to the doctor for teeth surgery but found herself inside his apartment the next morning after being drugged.
Disgraced dentist Costin Iulian Berechet is understood to have raped her at his place.
In a harrowing vlog last March, Stefania sparked a police investigation when she told how Berechet had contacted her after seeing her profile on social media.
She said: “In January 2020, the doctor wrote to me on Instagram to offer a barter, or at least that’s what I understood.
“I had some problems with my teeth; they were quite visible, but they cannot be solved because of the amount it costs.
“I saw the opportunity to solve them when he wrote to me and decided to see what could be done.”
But instead of a trade-off for publicity on Instagram, the dentist drugged her during the appointment, took her to his place and raped her.
Berechet was found guilty and has been jailed for ten years by judges in Romania.
He denied the allegations, but judges at Bucharest District Court found him guilty of sexual assault and false imprisonment last week.
The dentist was also ordered to pay his victim £40,000 in compensation – and has been barred from practising dentistry for five years after being released from jail.
Adrian Cuculis, the victim’s lawyer, said after the hearing: “The doctor accused by the influencer Stefania Costache was sentenced on the evidence to ten years in prison for sexual assault and deprivation of liberty.
“The court also admitted our request for payment of moral damages and established a compensation of £40,000.”
Costache, known as Lolrelai to her 240,000 Instagram followers, was praised for forcing police to act by going public with the allegations.
The court also heard from other victims who had suffered a similar ordeal but were not part of the current case.
Her lawyer said that other women confirmed that “they had suffered the same fate, but their complaints were dismissed by other prosecutors’ offices for lack of evidence.”
It comes after a Majorcan taxi driver was accused of raping a Brit tourist while driving her back home from a restaurant.
The holidaymaker rang her parents and asked them to alert the police before being left “semi-naked” in a car park by the cabbie.
Cops reportedly found the British woman crying in a car park of a resort village.
They rushed her to the hospital for a medical examination after she told them the cab driver attempted to rape her.
Her dress was found ripped when officers reached the scene.
How you can get help
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.