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Rape victim's final insult
ONE of four brothers convicted of a spate of brutal gang rapes yesterday confessed before telling one of his victims: "It is stupid to sit there and cry for the rest of your life."The Pakistani-born 25-year-old apologised to one of his young victims, known as T, who looked on from the gallery with contempt as he grovelled for forgiveness. For three years, the brothers denied the attacks - branding their four victims liars and appealing against their convictions all the way to the High Court. Yesterday's belated apology came at a sentence hearing for the rapist known as MAK and his brothers MSK, 26, and MMK, 19, who were convicted this year of sex offences against two girls, aged 14 and 13, in 2002. MAK, MSK, MMK and a fourth brother, MRK, 20, are already serving jail terms of between 11 and 22 years for raping two other teenagers at knife-point. MAK claimed he had only recently realised his "mistakes" through discussion with a psychologist. "Do you now accept that even if you perceive a woman is being flirtatious to you that doesn't mean she will have sexual intercourse with you?" MAK's lawyer Stephen Handley said. MAK agreed, denying his admission was a ploy for "benefit on sentence", as Crown Prosecutor Ken McKay said. "I am sorry for what happened and my father told me once ... about these Australian people that anyone who make mistake, such a forgiving community and such forgiving people, that they will accept your apology," MAK said. "I don't know if my father is wrong." T yesterday dismissed as "pathetic" the last-ditch confession by MAK, who even declared his young victim had a "big life ahead of her". "It is stupid to sit there and cry for the rest of your life," he said to T. Outside court, T said: "It wasn't heartfelt. It was all an act. "I thought it was pathetic that he was sitting there telling me he was a broken man. I'm a broken woman." The courageous 18-year-old read her victim impact statement aloud, facing her attackers as they sat together, taking notes in the dock. She spoke of depression, bulimia and self-harm, all arising from her ordeal. Her strength through months of harrowing trials was drawn from a desire to reach out to other victims. "People's perceptions of rape victims is that they should be a complete mess ... When I was around other people, I didn't want them to know that I was hurting and I didn't want them to think that I was a weak person." In 2003, MAK was found guilty of a further nine counts of aggravated sexual assault against two best friends aged 16 and 17, but until yesterday denied those rapes. The victims were befriended by the youngest brother, then driven to an Ashfield home and plied with alcohol before being subjected to assaults. The brothers will be sentenced on a date to be fixed. Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian 2005-10-29 |
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