A 15-year-old girl was allegedly forced to eat food off the floor “like a dog” and dragged around by her hair before she was raped at knifepoint by two teenagers inside a Sydney hotel room, a court has heard.
Abthar Bassam Talib Al-Athmany, 22, is on trial in the NSW District Court this week after allegedly holding the child “hostage” and “torturing” her inside the Meriton Suites in Parramatta in August 2023. He was 19 at the time of the alleged assault.
Mr Al-Athmany is facing the judge-only trial alongside a 19-year-old, who cannot be named as he was 17 at the time.
The pair claim the child consented to the “roleplay” with the 17-year-old before arriving at the hotel in exchange for $500.
Mr Al-Athmany claims he was “no way involved” in the acts but was “present” in the small apartment.
On Wednesday, during the trial’s closing submissions, the crown prosecutor told the court the victim had been having a consensual sexual relationship with the 17-year-old and went to the hotel to pick up a friend’s phone from him.
The court heard that the victim alleges that after arriving at the room, her phone was confiscated and she was made to do several “demeaning” tasks to get it back.
The court heard that she was made to go and get the pair pizza, before she was forced to eat it from the floor and “act like a dog”.
The crown alleges she was then blindfolded by her own shirt and forced into the shower, where she was covered in soap despite still wearing half her clothes.
She was then put in cold water before allegedly being raped by the pair, it is alleged.
The crown stated that at about 2.30am, the victim went to collect a friend from the hotel lobby and can be seen in CCTV with wet hair and different clothing.
The court hears how in the footage, the friend’s jaw “drops” before she gives the victim “a big hug”.
“What you see in that footage is completely consistent with what the complainant says she has been through at that time,” Crown prosecutor Page told the court.
“But completely inconsistent with … having engaged in some enjoyable consensual sexual intercourse.”
The two men’s lawyer argued that the victim appeared “tired, not distressed” in the CCTV footage.
“Not someone who’s been brutally sexually assaulted by two persons … not someone who has been dragged on their hands and knees,” Ms Blake said.
Instagram post
One of the main points of contention in the trial has been an Instagram story posted by the victim’s account about 12.41am.
The court heard how the photo was taken from inside the Meriton unit and stated: “$100 for a root HMU [hit me up]”.
The crown argued that the post was made by the teenager while the victim was out getting them food, in an attempt to further “humiliate her and degrade her”.
However, the men’s lawyer argued it was an example of the victim advertising her sexual services in exchange for money.
Closing submissions in the trial continue on Thursday.
Know more? Is there another case we should be covering? Get in touch with our reporter sarah.keoghan@news.com.au or reach out to us anonymously here.
