By Latrishka Thomas
Latrishka.thomas@antiguaobserver.com
Another rape trial began in the High Court yesterday with a man accused of raping a woman who had just moved into the house where he was living.
The alleged victim was the first to take the stand in the jury trial before Justice Colin Williams.
The woman, who is in her early 30s, told the court that she met the defendant three years before the incident because they lived next door to each other in 2016.
She said that she did not give him her number until 2019 and at that time they were no longer neighbours.
The complainant said that when she began to have a hard time at home, she told the defendant that she was trying to find a place to rent and he indicated that he had an extra room that she could pay for.
According to her, on June 7 2019, she moved into the house and she immediately noticed that the lock on the door to the room she was occupying was broken.
She said she asked the defendant to fix it as soon as possible and, in the meantime, she placed a black sheet in front of the door so she could have some privacy.
The complainant said that after she had finished unpacking, she said her prayers and went to bed.
But sometime in the wee hours of June 8, she felt someone pulling her pants off and then felt “a weight” on top of her.
“I started fighting with whatever was on top of me and when I opened my eyes, I realised it was [the accused] and he didn’t have any clothes on,” she recalled.
“I continued to fight with him until he overpowered me and forced his penis into my vagina,” she continued to testify.
She said that she cried herself to sleep that morning and then woke up, took a shower and went to her cousin’s home.
It wasn’t until around June 19 that the complainant reported the matter to the police.
“After the incident, I went quiet for a few days because I didn’t know what to say and then went to police but didn’t get any help, so I went to CID to make a report. I went to Gender Affairs and they sent me to SVU [Special Victims Unit]. There is where I gave my report and they took me to see the district doctor,” she told the court.
When asked by the prosecution to clarify what she meant by “went quiet” she replied, “I couldn’t speak to anyone about what happened. I would either cry or gaze off into the distance and someone would actually have to touch me to get my attention.”
The defendant’s lawyer Wendel Robinson then cross examined the accused, suggesting that the sexual intercourse was consensual.
He insinuated that the alleged victim spoke to the accused via telephone and knew he was interested in her.
The complainant however denied that claim.
It was through Robinson’s line of questioning that the complainant revealed that the incident happened again the next day and the accused again fell asleep in her bed.
The woman indicated that she slept there for only two nights because she had nowhere to stay.
But for the rest of the time before officially moving out her things on June 17, she slept on her cousin’s couch.
The matter is expected to continue throughout this week.