An eighteen-year-old woman was allegedly raped, injured and held captive for almost 15 hours, after going to view Chakib Bellaoui’s, 26, London flat. Bellaoui knew that the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was looking for a place to live and offered her a chance to view a spare room in his home after a night out.
Having met Bellaoui earlier that day, the young woman (and a male friend) went clubbing with her attacker, before the group all headed back to his flat after their night out, where they continued drinking and taking cocaine. At some point in the early hours of the morning, the BBC reports, the male friend realised he had lost his phone and departed, leaving the two alone in the Tottenham residence.
The victim’s legal representative, Abigail Husbands, then told Wood Green Crown Court that the victim found herself having sex with Bellaoui, unsure as to whether or not she consented. Husbands added, “She couldn’t remember whether it was with her consent but it may have been. But what was happening in the bedroom changed. She distinctly remembers the defendant wanting anal sex. She said that was not happening, she said no, and he just ignored her, held her down by her wrists, she was trying to fight back but it didn’t work.”
Bellaoui is then accused of raping the young woman a further three times, forbidding her from leaving the flat. The court also heard that he then locked the doors, hit the victim and grabbed a knife.
A snippet of her interview with the police was played to jurors, in which she can be heard telling officers, “I was begging him to let me leave. I was really scared. He slapped me and I finally hit him back and he started battering me. Then he got a knife and I got really scared.”
The recording continued: “He cut himself so I knew he would not be scared to cut me so I sat down and played along with an idea I could go back and get my stuff and live with him for two weeks as a trial period.” She eventually managed to escape, covered in blood, and asked a member of the public for help.
Bellaoui, who stands accused of false imprisonment, four counts of rape and one count of grievous bodily harm (all of which he denies) was apprehended by police the following month in North Wales, while attempting to board a ferry to Dublin. His DNA has been confirmed as being present on swabs taken from the complainant.
The trial continues.
