Alleged violent rape by gym date left woman with injuries

CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses an alleged sexual assault.

A man is accused of injuring a woman he met at a gym in an alleged violent rape, which resulted in her being taken to hospital for treatment.

She and 28-year-old Ali Raza Razayee had talked over Instagram for some time, but she put off meeting up with him because she thought he was pressuring her, court documents allege.

Eventually dinner plans were made to meet at his home in the north Canberra suburb of Palmerston and go out in Gungahlin on Friday (13 January), but she asked one of her friends to drop her off and stay around nearby because she was anxious about their date.

When she arrived, Mr Razayee allegedly told her they’d order dinner instead and took her into his bedroom where he wrapped his leg around her on the bed so she couldn’t move.

She allegedly said, “I don’t want to”, but he allegedly said, “It’s OK”, and started kissing her.

The woman allegedly tried to push him off and scream, but he held her down, covered her mouth and told her to “be quiet”.

He is accused of biting her, digitally raping her while she said “Please stop”, then raping her as she cried.

Afterwards, she asked him if she could use the bathroom and texted her friend, asking if he could pick her up, saying, “Please hurry”.

When the friend collected her, he said she was shaking, had scratches and began to cry. She was taken to a police station and then to hospital for treatment for her injuries, which included bite marks and bruises.

Mr Razayee appeared over audio-visual link in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday (16 January) and whispered, “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it”, and, “It’s not true”, while the allegations were read out to the courtroom.

When police arrested him, he claimed the sex was consensual.

He applied for bail. His Legal Aid lawyer, Jeremy Banwell, said the allegations were strongly denied and claimed the relationship between his client and the woman was different to how it had been framed in the court documents.

Mr Razayee admitted they’d met at a gym, but reported the claim that they hadn’t had any more dates to be highly inaccurate.

Mr Banwell claimed they’d had sex several times and the woman had stayed at his home before.

Prosecutor David Leggett, who opposed bail, alleged it had been a “violent sexual assault” and Mr Razayee faced a strong prosecution case, which included an immediate complaint and forensic evidence.

Magistrate Beth Campbell described the allegations as “extraordinarily serious” and noted there was evidence of “some rough sex” due to the woman’s injuries.

She accepted Mr Banwell’s argument that the woman’s credibility could be an issue in the case, but also said she was not confident Mr Razayee wouldn’t commit an offence or attempt to intimidate a witness if released on bail.

When she refused bail, Mr Razayee could be seen crying and putting his head on the table in front of him.

He was remanded in custody and the matter was adjourned to 2 February. He did not enter pleas to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent as well as single counts of sexual assault in the second degree, assault, choking or strangulation and committing an act of indecency.