Wiria Mohamadi, right, is facing charges of abduction, rape, and unlawful sexual connection at a jury trial in the Christchurch District Court. Photo/Al Williams
Wiria Mohamadi, right, is facing charges of abduction, rape, and unlawful sexual connection at a jury trial in the Christchurch District Court. Photo/Al Williams
Wiria Mohamadi denies charges of abduction, rape and unlawful sexual connection, claiming consensual sex.
The alleged incident occurred in July 2023 after the complainant had been drinking heavily and received a head injury.
The trial continues at Christchurch District Court before Judge Michael Crosbie.
WARNING: This story contains allegations of rape and sexual assault.
A man accused of abducting and raping a drunk stranger he approached and then followed home initially claimed he could not recall meeting the woman when probed by police.
Wiria Mohamadi said he often met up with womenand had sex with them, repeatedly telling the officer interviewing him that he did not know the complainant.
The woman alleges Mohamadi raped her one evening in July 2023, following a night of heavy drinking while she was out with friends in Christchurch.
But the woman struggled to remember much of the events because she was intoxicated and fell and hit her head outside a bar just before 5am.
The Crown alleged Mohamadi, whom the woman did not know, offered her a ride home but she declined.
She was later put in an Uber by a friend and Mohamadi followed her in his car, picked her up from outside her home, and took her to his place where they had sex.
The trial is being heard in Christchurch District Court. Photo / File
He doesn’t deny following the woman, picking her up in his vehicle and taking her to his house, but he does deny that the sexual encounter they had was non-consensual.
She claims she was unable to consent and that the sex was rape.
Now, Mohamadi is defending charges of abduction, rape and unlawful sexual connection at a trial being held in the Christchurch District Court.
Yesterday, the jury of eight men and four women were shown Mohamadi’s police interview following his arrest.
Speaking to Detective Stephen Eder, he repeatedly said he could not remember who the complainant was.
He said he would never forcefully have sex with someone.
Mohamadi said he had “slept with a few girls”, none of whom had complained or were drunk at the time.
He would meet them in town, introduce himself and sometimes forget their names, he said.
Eder gave him a description of the complainant, her name and her age.
Mohamadi said in the several weeks before the police interview he’d had sex with five women and a couple of them were of the same race and similar age to the complainant.
Eder asked if there would be any reason for the woman to make up the allegations.
Mohamadi said it could be jealousy as “girls do stupid stuff these days”.
When asked at what level he would consider someone to be drunk, Mohamadi said someone who didn’t make sense or make the right decisions.
He then said he had sex with drunk women, but that “they weren’t really drunk”.
As the interview progressed, Mohamadi revealed a recollection of the complainant, stating he had met a woman in town who did not have her wallet or keys and that she mentioned she had left her bag at a bar.
Mohamadi said he had spoken to her friend and had checked if she was okay.
He told Eder that when he noticed she wasn’t happy with her Uber driver, he told her, if she wanted, he could drop her at her house.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands News.
