KEY POINTS:
A man abducted and raped a woman in a car, then fell asleep - and his victim drove him straight to a police station, a court was told yesterday.
Vipul Romik Sharma, 22, is defending charges of abduction, threatening to kill and two counts of sexual violation by rape at a trial in the Auckland District Court.
The court heard that Sharma met the woman on February 17, 2006, when he and another man, Sukhvinder Singh, were drinking at the Globe Bar in downtown Auckland.
Sharma let the woman drive after the attack as he took her home.
He fell asleep in the passenger seat and she drove directly to Auckland Central police station in Vincent St.
Prosecutor Peter Dean put it to Sharma that as they neared the station he started to wake and said: "Please don't take me to the police, I'll go to jail." He was then said to have said: "I'm so sorry, I'll go to jail."
Sharma denied saying those things. He said he wanted her to drive because if he had carried on, they might have had an accident. "She parked the vehicle in front of the police station and I was out from there."
A police officer said he found the woman, crying and upset, outside the station, looking for an officer.
"She stated to me she had just been raped and was concerned [the offender] might run away."
While she was being helped, Sharma got out of the car and sat on the ground.
The attack occurred after the woman drove with the two men to Mission Bay. On the way, she became upset near the Tamaki Yacht Club and said she wanted to get out.
Sharma told the court yesterday he stopped the car and she started to run away, but was brought back by Singh, who had armed himself with a wheel brace from the boot of the car.
Sharma said he didn't like what was happening but was scared of Singh, who told him in Hindi, "Shut up or I'll bash you ... Let me do what I want to do."
Singh allegedly told him he would kill him and the girl if Sharma didn't do as he was told. "I was afraid. I had to do what I was told."
He drove to a secluded spot in Otahuhu where he was told to hand over the keys and his cellphone and get out of the vehicle.
Sharma told the court he saw Singh having sex with the girl but said he was too afraid to go for help in case she was killed and he was blamed for it.
Singh got out and Sharma climbed into the back seat with the woman.
The Crown alleges it was Sharma who pulled the woman's pants off while Singh was pinning her down before they both had turns raping her.
Sharma said he had consensual sex with her and she asked him to do it.
He said the woman told him she had been raped and that he must have sex with her too because that's what Singh wanted - and if they didn't listen to him he would kill them both.
Singh stood outside the car threatening him with the wheel brace while they had sex, he said.
The trial is expected to end today.
Singh has already pleaded guilty to abduction and rape charges and is in jail.
