A woman has accused her former partner, whom she alleges raped her on multiple occasions, of tying her to a bed and whipping her repeatedly with a horse riding crop.
"I could feel my skin burning," the alleged 20-year-old victim told the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The accused, who is also 20 years old, has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges allegedly taking place between January and March 2022, including multiple counts of sexual intercourse without consent, choking, suffocating or strangling, and assault.
The alleged victim gave evidence on Tuesday regarding multiple alleged incidents of sexual and physical violence, telling the court how one of them, on March 22, 2022, left her contemplating suicide.
Following a previous evening when the accused was said to have been both physically and sexually abusive, the alleged victim told the court she had decided to leave the pair's shared Greenway apartment.
The man was said to have been angry about the alleged victim trying to leave.
He is accused of throwing his then-partner onto their bed, straddling her as she physically struggled against him and undressing her.
"He's a lot stronger than me," the woman said.
The alleged victim told the court the accused then "started talking to my vagina as if it were a person".
"You are such a good [alleged victim], I love you [alleged victim], the mean [alleged victim] wants to take you away from me," the accused allegedly said.
The woman said she was terrified of the accused, who looked "like he was in a trance".
"I knew if I didn't get out, I would die in that situation," she said.
The court heard the alleged victim begged the accused to stop as he forced her onto her stomach, hitting her back and buttocks, telling her to be quiet and threatening to tie her down if she wasn't.
The man allegedly attempted to use her underwear as a gag.
He is then accused of retrieving a horse riding crop from the bedroom cupboard.
"He said it was the only thing he could do to scare away the mean [alleged victim] and get the good [alleged victim] back," the woman said.
The accused allegedly whipped his then-partner "very aggressively" on the buttocks with increasing force.
"I was begging, I was crying, saying 'please don't, please don't, please just let me leave'," the alleged victim said.
He is then said to have tied the alleged victim by the wrists to their bed before continuing to whip her.
The court heard the alleged victim asked the accused to let her out onto the ninth floor apartment's balcony, "so I could jump off because I'd rather do that".
"I was just watching the clouds go past hoping it would all end," she said.
"I tried to disassociate from that situation as best as I could ... after a while, I just stopped feeling it."
The accused is said to have stopped using the riding crop before allegedly raping the woman multiple times.
The court heard of five other days on which physical and sexual violence was allegedly perpetrated by the accused prior to March 22.
They included another alleged instance during which the accused is said to have violently used the same horse riding crop and when the woman is said to have lost consciousness due to choking while she was allegedly being raped.
Defence barrister Travis Jackson cross-examined the alleged victim on Wednesday but did not ask her about specific incidents of alleged sexual or physical violence.
Mr Jackson asked the woman if she called police or visited any police stations on the day of the alleged March 22 incident, after which she had left the accused in the north Canberra region and driven off alone.
"[Calling police] could have been done quite easily," Mr Jackson said.
The alleged victim responded: "It could have, under different circumstances, been a very easy option."
Mr Jackson also asked the woman about a conversation she had with a Director of Public Prosecutions witness assistant after a January 1, 2022 incident, which allegedly forced her to flee the shared apartment wearing nothing but a T-shirt.
"You told that person you don't remember what happened," Mr Jackson said.
The woman agreed having said that.
Mr Jackson asked her if she recalled also saying words to the effect of "it was just a misunderstanding" and "[accused] didn't do anything bad ... he didn't do anything wrong".
Again, the alleged victim agreed she had said those things to the prosecution employee in early February 2022.
The alleged victim is set to return to the witness stand on Thursday for further cross-examination.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline on 13 11 14; MensLine on 1300 789 978; beyondblue on 1300 224 636; or 1800-RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
