• A woman alleges she was raped by Wiria Mohamadi after a night of heavy drinking.
• Mohamadi denies the charges, claiming the encounter was consensual, while the woman insists she did not consent.
• The trial continues before Judge Michael Crosbie in the Christchurch District Court.

WARNING: This story contains allegations of rape and sexual assault.

A woman who claims to have been raped by a man she did not know following a night of heavy drinking has been accused by his lawyer of behaving out of character on the night in question, including by having consensual sex with a stranger.

One evening in July 2023, the woman was out late with friends in Christchurch when Wiria Mohamadi, whom she did not know, offered her a ride home.

While she declined and was later put in an Uber by a friend, Mohamadi followed her in his car, picked her up from the roadside and took her to his place, where they had sex.

Today, the complainant was grilled by defence lawyer Kerryn Beaton, KC, on the second day of Mohamadi’s trial before a jury in the Christchurch District Court.

He doesn’t deny following the woman, picking her up in his vehicle and taking her to his house, but he does deny that the sexual encounter they had was non-consensual.

Under cross-examination, the complainant told Beaton she did not remember talking to Mohamadi or getting into his vehicle.

The trial is being held in the Christchurch District Court.

Beaton said Mohamadi told police they had a brief conversation through the window of a car before she agreed to go to his house.

But the woman struggled to remember much of the events due to her being intoxicated and having fallen and hit her head outside a bar just before 5am.

It followed a period of drinking, which began around 6pm the previous day.

“You already know that you did things that night that were out of character for you, this could be one of those things that is out of character for you,” Beaton suggested to her.

Mohamadi told police that when they got to his house, they sat on the couch, ate food and watched television.

The complainant said she had no memory of it.

Beaton asked if she had any memory of kissing and cuddling, taking off her clothes, getting into bed with Mohamadi, where there was more kissing and cuddling and, eventually, sex.

The first memory she had was of Mohamadi lying on top of her, the complainant responded.

“I wasn’t able to consent to this,” she said.

“I remember at the end, I remember rolling away and saying I didn’t want it, and him trying to convince me to keep going.”

Mohamadi had told police the complainant had never told him “no”, Beaton said.

She put to the woman that she had indicated consent in other ways.

“I didn’t consent to this, I didn’t consent to this,” she responded.

Beaton suggested she experienced a memory blackout, during which she did several “complex things” that she could not recall.

“I don’t know, I don’t have any memory,” the complainant said.

Crown prosecutor Sean Mallett asked the complainant about her visit to a medical specialist on the same day as the incident.

She said she was in tears and found it incredibly difficult to discuss what had happened.

“I was crying and unable to catch my breath; I was hyperventilating.

“I was feeling really overwhelmed, I wanted to give myself options if I wanted to report it.”

The trial continues before Judge Michael Crosbie.

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 [email protected]
• 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.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamata. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.