Rotorua woman raped by men, court told

Photo / File

A Rotorua woman walking home alone in the dark was picked up and raped by two men, a court has heard.

Gurpinder Singh Brar and Amritpal Singh Sidhu, both of Rotorua, are on trial in the Rotorua District Court accused of raping a woman in the early hours of October 16, 2011. They have pleaded not guilty.

In his opening statement yesterday, Rotorua Crown prosecutor Chris Macklin said the woman had gone into town with her boyfriend that night, they had a fight and he was taken away after being caught drink driving.

She got picked up by a man she "thought she knew" and they had consensual sex in his car. He dropped her off in town and she began walking home.

A car driven by Brar, then 23, with Sidhu, then 20, in the passenger seat pulled up beside her and the men offered her a ride. She declined and continued walking. They pulled up beside her again and Sidhu got out of the car and told her to get in.

The pair drove her towards the dump and stopped on the side of the road. Sidhu raped her in the back seat, then directed Brar to rape her, Mr Macklin said.

"The complainant was petrified, she feared for her life," Mr Macklin said. "She did not want them to hurt her, to kill her or to leave her all alone in the middle of nowhere."

After the rape the men dropped her off in a street and a member of the public called police.

Mr Macklin said the men gave two statements each to police denying they had even seen the woman, however DNA evidence later proved there had been sexual contact.

During last year's trial the pair accepted having sex with the woman, then aged 38, but claimed it was consensual, he said.

"The sole issue in this case is consent."

Brar's lawyer, Louis Te Kani, said his client had followed the instructions of Sidhu. He said Brar would give evidence that it was consensual sex, not rape.

Sidhu's lawyer, Harry Edward, did not make an opening statement.

The trial before Judge Chris McGuire is expected to last three to five days.