Victim can't remember King's Day rape; Suspect to remain in custody
The woman who was raped on an Amsterdam street on King’s Day has no recollection of the event, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) said in a preliminary hearing against her suspected rapist on Wednesday. The OM described the rape, a video of which went viral online, as an “absolute nightmare” for the woman. The Amsterdam court ruled that the suspect will remain in pre-trial custody, NOS reports.
After King’s Day in Amsterdam on April 26, a video surfaced online of a man lying on top of a woman with his pants around his ankles between the cars on the Keizersgracht canal. After the first video went viral, a second video surfaced showing a group of women yelling at the man and trying to kick him off the woman while he tried to fend them off.
The suspect, a 27-year-old Italian man staying in Amsterdam, was arrested two days after the incident. He has been in custody since and did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.
The victim is a 36-year-old woman from Ireland. She was taken to the hospital by ambulance after the rape, where she was told that “something sexual had happened to her,” the OM said in court. She cannot remember what that was, but after seeing the videos, she said that she definitely did not want that to happen.
The OM assumes that the two met on King’s Day. Video footage showed the two kissing in the street and eventually ending up between the cars.
According to the OM, there is no doubt that the man raped the woman. Responding police officers reported that the woman was barely conscious. Witnesses said she looked like a “rag doll.” This shows that the woman was not capable of making a decision about having sex with the man, and the man should have known that, the OM said. According to the prosecutor, the man said after the incident that he had made love to the woman, but he didn’t know if the woman wanted it.
The OM also said that the man refused to cooperate with a psychological examination. According to the OM, he spat at the psychologist.
The suspect’s lawyer told the court that he, too, doesn’t remember much of King’s Day. The man does remember kissing the woman and enjoying it. He also remembers bystanders pulling him away from the woman. According to the lawyer, the suspect was drunk.
The lawyer asked that the man be released because he wants to return to Italy. The court decided to keep him in custody, raising concerns about the man fleeing or committing another sex crime. The man is suspected of previous sexually inappropriate behavior, including masturbating in a Dutch café and undressing completely in another country.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 9.
