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Mexican pop star Kalimba arrested, charged with rape

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Mexican authorities have arrested pop star Kalimba Marichal in the rape of a 17-year-old girl last month.

The 28-year-old who was the singing voice of Simba in the Spanish version of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ was arrested Thursday in El Paso, Texas, and deported to the Caribbean city of Chetumal, Mexico. He was taken into custody soon after the Quintana Roo state attorney general issued a warrant for his arrest.

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Kalimba’s attorney told the Associated Press that the singer, who lives in Mexico City, was in Texas on business and was not trying to flee. He was arrested for immigration violations.

On the night of Dec. 18, Kalimba and his manager Gerard Michel Manel Aguilar, who is also being sought, allegedly left a DJ gig at Buda Bar in Chetumal, located south of Cancun near the border with Belize, for a hotel, accompanied by two teenage girls who had been hostessing at the event. The next morning, one of the girls, 17, alleges, Kalimba raped her.

Kalimba has denied the charges and said that the girl accompanied him to the airport the next day -- a sign that there was no foul play. He also took to Twitter to plead his innocence.

If convicted, he could face 25 to 50 years in prison.

Read more about the singer’s case at our sister blog La Plaza.

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-- Nardine Saad

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