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Allegations
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Female victim says she felt like ‘a piece of meat’
Details of a now historic alleged
rape by five men in Mount Maunganui reached Tauranga District Court
yesterday, with depositions being presented to the court. Four men were committed for trial
after their lawyers conceded there was a prima facie case to answer. The
fifth man has never been identified. In a formal statement to police,
the victim outlined how she met the men and how the alleged rapes took place.
In the summer of 1988 and 1989,
she was working for a Hamilton firm based in Mount Maunganui. During that time she got to know
three of the five men, one of whom she developed an attraction for. She asked a friend of the man to
see if the man would be interested in a lunch date one day. The friend agreed and told her to
meet him at his place of work the next morning at 10am. She did, and then accepted a ride
from the friend who said the man she liked was working but he would take her
to a place where the two could have lunch. Instead, he took her to a room in
a Mount Maunganui property and once inside she saw that the man she liked was
waiting, with three other men. “I remember thinking ‘Oh my God’
because it was not what was planned and it was very quiet and I just knew
that they were not there to set up a date,” the woman said. She was told to lie down on the
floor of the room and her arms were restrained so she could not fight. “I felt I had no choice but to
carry out their instructions. I started to panic.” She said the man she wanted to
have lunch with started to remove his clothing. “At that stage all I could think
of was ‘I’m a goner’. I knew they were going to rape me. “I was panicking, and I don’t
recall much detail.” She asked them not to harm her and
told them: “No, no, I don’t want this.” “When I looked at them they all had
weird grins on their faces and all I could think of was a pack of animals
looking at raw meat.” The man then allegedly raped her
while the others watched. In her statement, she said she was
too scared to scream in case he hit her or hurt her. Next, a co-worker of the man
allegedly raped her after sexually violating her with his fingers. Then the first man forced her to
perform an indecent act on him. “By that stage, I would describe
it as being pretty much an out-ofbody experience,” she said. “I was physically there but not
mentally present.” Next, the first alleged rapist
sexually violated her with an object. “That was when everything started
going haywire because it was huge and I told him it hurt and I think then I
started to cry.” Then he raped her for a second
time, she said. “I would describe his state as
being derogatory. He was seeing me not as a woman, but as a piece of meat.” After that, the woman was allegedy
raped by the man’s friend, who had offered to set up the date with the man she
was interested in. By that stage, the woman was
exhausted. “I couldn’t have fought back if I
had tried to. Basically, it just couldn’t have happened as I was not
physically able to protect myself.” After that, she alleges a fourth
man and then a fifth man raped her. One of the men then took her back
to her place of work. She left immediately to go home and shower. She was too scared to complain to
the police because she did not think anyone would believe her and was scared
the men would come after her. She eventually left New Zealand
and settled with her family overseas. The woman did not lay a complaint
until March this year. The four men are all on court
bail. The public gallery was packed with
supporters and members of the men’s families for the depositions hearing in
front of Judge Oke Blaikie at Tauranga District Court yesterday. The depositions were handed up to
the court before being released to the media. The four men involved in the
allegations have been granted blanket suppression of any details leading to
their identity. But their lawyers all conceded
there was a prima facie case to answer, and entered not guilty pleas on
behalf of their clients. The case is set down for a
callover in the High Court at Rotorua on February 17 next year. |
