A MEDICAL examination of a woman at the centre of the trial of a 28-year-old Zimbabwean man accused of rape was inconclusive, a jury at the Invercargill District Court in Southland, New Zealand, was told on Wednesday.
However, Crown witness Dr Sandra Ryan, a sexual assault and abuse specialist, told the jury and Judge Kevin Phillips at day two of the trial of Munyaradzi Chikerema that "normal and non-specific findings" were common in rape and sexual cases.
Chikerema is accused of the sexual violation by rape and sexual violation of one woman and the indecent assault of another on May 11 last year.
Dr Ryan said she examined the rape complainant between 14 and 18 hours after the alleged assault.
She said while the complainant said she had abdominal tenderness, she found no abnormalities.
The Crown alleges Chikerema committed the offences against the women, who were 17 at the time, after travelling with them to Oreti Beach in Southland.
Once at the beach, Chikerema allegedly lured the first complainant out of the car and into sand dunes before violating, then raping her.
When the pair returned to the car Chikerema allegedly indecently assaulted the second woman when he made advances on her.
Day two of the trial began with cross-examination of the rape complainant by Chikerema's lawyer Hugo Young.
Young repeatedly questioned her about her willingness to go with Chikerema into the dunes.
"If you weren't happy to go with Mr Chikerema, then why did you go to the light (a streetlamp at the edge of the dunes) with him?"
Struggling to answer questions, the woman replied: "I dunno."
She did admit to Chikerema telling her she was "beautiful", "hot" and "hard to get" but claimed she did not realise his intentions.
She also admitted she remembered a conversation with Chikerema after they had had sex about whether she asked if he had worn a condom.
However, she said she never consented to having sex with him.
The second woman said she could tell the woman was upset when she and Chikerema returned from the dunes.
It was while the first woman was making a mobile phone call that Chikerema assaulted her, running his hand up her leg and attempting to touch her breasts, she said.
Questioned by Crown prosecutor John Young, she admitted it was she who had initiated the meeting with Chikerema when he texted her after finding her mobile phone number on social networking site Bebo.
"He said he had no friends and didn't really know anyone."
She said she had taken the other woman with her to meet him because she had not wanted to go alone.
As the trial opened on Monday, prosecutor John Young said “consent will be at the heart of the trial”.
From the witness stand, the alleged rape victim struggled to deliver her testimony, often needing time to compose herself.
She told the jury Chikerema pulled her out of the car at the beach and made her walk with him beyond the view of the other occupants and into the sand dunes, despite her resistance.
He began kissing her, pushed her on to the ground, lay on top of her and started touching her, she said.
Chikerema repeatedly tried to lift up her skirt and she kept pushing it back down, she said.
He finally took off his pants and "he did it". She had never had sex before and suffered from bleeding as a result, she said.
"Did you agree to have sex with him? Did you want to have sex with him?" John Young asked the woman.
"No," she said.
The trial, before Judge Kevin Phillips continues.
(additional reporting The Southland Times)