The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 13 years in prison for a man who raped and threatened to kill his roommate in Esterri d’Àneu (Pallars Sobirà) while they were traveling by car to Tarragona. The events occurred on December 12, 2020, while the victim and the accused were heading to the consulate of Morocco, their country of origin.
According to what the woman said during the trial at the Lleida Court, she had been living with the aggressor for six months. During that time, her roommate had asked her to marry him several times, but she had always said no. On the day of the events, the woman had to go to Tarragona, where the Moroccan consulate is located, to regularize some of her papers and the accused offered to take her by car.
The victim has explained that the man took advantage of the trip to ask her to marry him for the umpteenth time. Then, when she again refused, the defendant stopped her vehicle in a wooded area and threatened her with a knife, saying, “At least have sex with me or I will kill you.” Next, he forced her to go to the seats behind her where he penetrated her vaginally, “managing to ejaculate,” according to the complainant. When he finished, the man threatened to kill her so that she would not tell anything about herself.
After the events, they continued their trip to Tarragona and then returned together by car to the apartment in Esterri d’Àneu. The woman commented that she wanted to flee, “but that she did not know where she was” and that “she was not in a position to ask for help either because she was afraid and wanted my death.” Finally, she reported the incident days later.
Likewise, several Mossos d’Esquadra agents have testified at the trial and have stated that the victim was in the country irregularly and that this made him more reticent when it came to reporting. The police have also indicated that they could not establish the location of the attack, since the complainant did not know the territory very well, but that they estimate that it is located somewhere between Tremp and Balaguer.
Together with the agents, the experts have testified at trial that they found traces of seminal fluid in the back of the car that “fully matched” the man’s DNA. The accused has denied the accusations and has defended himself by saying that days before the events he had sexual relations with a prostitute. He also denies the complainant’s version, stating that they were only roommates and that he never proposed to get married or have sexual relations, since he already has a family.
On the other hand, the police have confirmed that while they were inspecting the vehicle they found a 24 centimeter knife, to which a piece was hanging that made a peculiar noise. In her complaint, the woman said she heard that sound while the attack was taking place. Furthermore, when shown to her, she identified it as the weapon that the defendant used to threaten her.
The Prosecutor’s Office requests 13 years in prison for the detainee for crimes of sexual assault and threats, the prohibition of approaching within 500 meters of the victim and of communicating with her for 17 years. He must also serve seven years of probation. Likewise, they request his expulsion from the State once three-quarters of the sentence has been served or the third degree has been granted. Finally, they ask for 10,000 euros for moral damages.
For its part, the defense has requested acquittal for its client, considering that he maintained his innocence throughout the judicial procedure and that the complainant’s story has relevant inaccuracies and “adapts to what is best for her.”
