WARNING: This story is about sexual assault
Wiria Mohamadi has been found guilty of abducting and raping a drunk stranger he approached and followed home.
Mohamadi didn’t deny picking the victim up, but denied that the sex was not consensual.
A jury of eight men and four women took just under three hours at the Christchurch District Court on Monday to return guilty verdicts on charges of abduction for sexual connection, rape and unlawful sexual connection.
The victim struggled to remember much of the events because she was intoxicated and fell and hit her head outside a bar just before 5am.
The victim was kicked out of the bar. At that point, Mohamadi had made a couple of attempts to speak to her.
She had repeatedly tried to re-enter the bar in an attempt to search for her bag and became increasingly frustrated as she continued to be removed from the venue.
During the chaos, the woman fell and hit her head on the pavement.
Mohamadi had appeared in a car around this time and watched the woman’s interactions.
She was put in an Uber by a friend and Mohamadi followed her in his car, picked her up from outside her home, and took her to his place where he sexually assaulted her.
While Mohamadi claimed the victim had consented to going with him, the victim said she had no memory of it.
The first memory she had was of Mohamadi lying on top of her. She remembered rolling away from him and saying she didn’t want it, and Mohamadi trying to convince her to keep going.
Judge Crosbie told the jurors they must reach a decision uninfluenced by feelings of prejudice or sympathy, and that extended to gender and ethnicity.
“The key issue is to recognise them and [put] them to one side, this is a court of law and not of morals.”
Judge Crosbie said that consent was the key element.
While the Crown said there were many pieces of evidence that pointed to the complainant not being in a position to consent, the defence said there was evidence that favoured the defendant and rebutted inference.
The Crown said Mohamadi had seen the complainant in a motionless state and that she had passed the point of consent through intoxication and hitting her head.
The defence said the complainant did consent and that she was not intoxicated to the point where she couldn’t make decisions.
The defence suggested she had blacked out and sobered up by the time she arrived at Mohamadi’s house.
Judge Crosbie remanded Mohamadi in custody to August 28 for sentencing.
SEXUAL HARM
Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
