He whispered "shhh" and told her his daughter had passed away as he forced himself on her, the court heard.
She said she then watched on, frozen in terror as he raped her friend, who had passed out in the toilet cubicle, over a sanitary bin — before she was allegedly able to slip out and get security.
But Salih's lawyer John Desmond told the jury the alleged victims were "in party mode" on the night and invited Salih into the toilet cubicle while they were fooling around.
Prosecutor Shivani Pillai said the two women were friends, aged 23 and 24, who had been club-hopping before ending the night at Melbourne's Clique Bar in the early hours of February 2, 2019.
Salih was already there and saw the girls at the bar, the jury heard.
He offered them cocaine and the three of them plus a second man went into a staff bathroom where one of the women and the second man consumed drugs, Pillai said.
The man and the woman who snorted the drugs later said they didn't think it was cocaine, the jury heard.
The woman felt "scattered" and "really off" after taking the drugs Salih gave her, the court heard.
He was trying to get her to stay alone with him in the bathroom but the other male insisted they all leave together, the court heard.
A short time later the women went to the ladies' bathroom and into the same cubicle, where one passed out and the rape happened, police allege.
A security guard at the club came in and insisted the cubicle door be opened, where he saw Salih's pants down and a woman in a sitting position on the floor, he told police.
The security guard told police that earlier in the night Salih tried to give him money to allow him to take a woman into the bathrooms — which he rejected, the jury heard.
Salih had claimed the woman was his girlfriend, he said.
Salih lived with his parents in Hampton Park before being taken into police custody about a week after the alleged rapes.
His lawyer told the court Salih's version of events was a "very different picture to be painted".
He said the two women were captured on nightclub CCTV kissing each other, which he said was "to attract men to get more free booze and free drugs".
"The girls are wanting more drugs, trying to get permission to access those staff toilets again, so he eventually goes in at the request of the girls," Desmond said.
"There was no sex. There was no sexual intercourse with either girl. So therefore there was no rape."
Salih told police the women told him to meet them in the ladies' bathroom, where they were making out and "fondling each other".
They "instructed him to come over the top of the partition, rather than coming in through the door," he told police.
He said he kissed one of them in the cubicle and then all three left.
His DNA was not on swabs from either alleged victim.
The trial continues today.
SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP?
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact Safe to Talk confidentially:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit www.safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station -
click here for a list.
