The alleged victim in parliamentarian Neil Rowe’s rape case denied that she cried rape in order to blackmail him into getting an SUV and, in a long and tearful testimony, also spoke out about the leaking of her police statement on social media that caused her to be shunned.
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She said that she felt that she was being punished all over again following the rape when the statement bearing her name and address and some details were shared on social media along with her pictures.
“That was very difficult to deal with and I felt like I was being punished again not only did I have to deal with reporting it but everybody was able to see some of my information, my name, my address . . . my pictures were being passed around . . . I felt not to come out the house . . . . I stayed inside for a very long time,” the witness said of the leak.
Cried at intervals
The woman, in her 30s, was giving testimony yesterday on the second day of trial before Justice Pamela Beckles and cried at different intervals of her more than three hours on the witness stand saying there was a period when she did not want to leave the house.
Rowe, the Barbados Labour Party sitting Member of Parliament for St Michael North West and the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, has pleaded not guilty to having sexual intercourse with the woman on September 18, 2022, at his Kingsland Terrace, Christ Church home without her consent or was reckless as to whether she consented.
The court had been cleared so that only the empanelled jury of five women and four men, court officials including marshals and members of the media were present for first, her evidence in chief which was an hour and 23 minutes and then her cross examination which lasted almost two hours. The witness had two family members with her for support and sat through her testifying.
“My life has never been the same from the time it happened . . . I found I wasn’t sleeping properly. I had to get medication
from my doctor to help me sleep. I was very jittery. I found that I couldn’t focus.
“I got into two car accidents back to back before I wrote off my car. I wasn’t sleeping, I couldn’t get insurance. Socially people avoided me,” she said in response to questions from prosecutor Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis.
Later when she was cross-examined by Safiya Moore, one of the three women on the defence team led by Michael Lashley KC, the virtual complainant repeatedly denied that she was attempting to blackmail Rowe to get a vehicle or that she was the one pursuing him. In relation to questions about being wife material, she said she was not interested in marriage as she was going through a divorce.
Not upset
She also told the court she was not upset after asking him about a relationship with a former colleague based on Whatsapp messages between the two, read by Moore.
“That is not true,” she said time and time again in response to suggestions.
She said that it was quite possible that she hung up on the doctor who called about a physical examination appointment in connection with the alleged rape as she was quite agitated at the time. She wanted to attend her church convention and felt overwhelmed, she said.
The witness also accused Rowe of taking out a gun following the rape and that intimidated her, so in fear her life she did not make any attempts to call or speak with anyone. She did not, on the night of the rape, texted her friend that she had gotten home safely because she obviously did not, she said.
The case has been adjourned until today. (AC)