A masseuse who was allegedly raped at a Sliema parlour last month described her aggressor as a “very bad man” who attacked “many girls” including one who did not file a police report after suffering the same fate last February. 

The woman, a Chinese national employed at the Sliema massage shop, was testifying as the compilation of evidence began on Monday against Harona Conateh, the 32-year-old Gambian construction worker who is pleading not guilty to triple rape charges. 

The accused was at the centre of some court drama last week as he tried to get away from his police escorts while awaiting arraignment in the corridor outside the courtroom.

On Monday, the first of his alleged victims recounted her ordeal when testifying via videoconference in the presence of Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi.

“I want to do something to protect others because this man is very bad….He did many bad things to many girls,” the woman said, assisted by two interpreters. 

She identified the tall stocky man in a blue jacket, seated between two other interpreters in the courtroom, as the alleged rapist when she was asked to have a look at the courtroom on the computer monitor in the magistrate’s chambers. 

The witness explained that as a member of the local Chinese community, she knew that the accused had been to another massage shop in February and “did the same thing.” 

However, that alleged victim did not file a police report. 

Following her own ordeal, her Chinese friends had shared a photo of the suspected rapist whom she had never seen before the day of the incident. 

“Half an hour for massage. How much?” 

The woman recounted how on June 22 the stranger walked into the parlour and asked for a 30-minute massage. 

She told him that that would cost €30. 

She turned the key in the lock on the entrance door and showed him into the massage room. 

She offered a neck, shoulder and back massage, explaining under cross-examination that that was what she could do in half an hour. 

But the client evidently wanted more. 

He removed her trousers and top and as she grappled with him, he caught her hands and tied them up. 

She said that she could not reach his face with her hands because he was much taller than her.

He subsequently untied her hands and drew one hand towards his private parts.

Then, as she lay face up, he raped her, the woman recalled.

Her account was momentarily interrupted because the Chinese interpreter relaying the details to the Maltese interpreter, became rather emotional. The magistrate, sensing her upset, gave her time to recompose herself. 

“It was over in a minute,” said the victim. 

Then without saying a word, the rapist pulled up his dark pink underpants and trousers, bent over to pick up his cap which had fallen to the floor and just walked out of the massage room. 

“Please come to the massage shop”

After he left, she looked for her long skirt which she normally left in the bathroom.

She put it on and pulled it up, wearing it like a dress. 

She was about to go outside to look for help but then she changed her mind since her English was “not very good.” 

So she decided to call her friend, a Maltese man who did not speak Chinese but who spoke English well. She had known this friend for some five years. 

She was crying and could not speak clearly when she dialled ‘Xiao’s’ number, simply telling him, “please come to massage shop.” 

Xiao got there within half an hour.

He suggested heading straight to Mater Dei Hospital and then filing a police report. 

Medical staff at the hospital checked the bruise on her head, the injuries on her ribs and stomach and carried out tests. 

Meanwhile, her Maltese friend spoke to the police who arrived at the hospital. She later accompanied the officers to the massage parlour where they took photos and gathered evidence, including her clothes and a bottle of massage oil. 

Under cross-examination, the witness said that she did not suspect anything wrong when the accused walked into the shop. 

She locked the outer door because she was afraid that someone might enter the shop and steal something while she attended to the client in the inner room. 

There were CCTV cameras focused on the entrance but not inside. 

Asked how she had identified the accused in court when she previously said that she could not clearly identify his facial features, the witness said that she recognized his hairstyle, his skin colour and his height. 

She also confirmed that after the incident she has not “worked for almost a month.”

As the marathon hearing reached an end, Magistrate Azzopardi decreed that there was sufficient prima facie evidence for the accused to stand trial on indictment.

The court also issued a ban on all victims’ names but not that of the accused. 

The case continues. 

AG lawyers Angele Vella and Nicholas De Gaetano are prosecuting together with Inspectors Clayton Camilleri, Wayne Buhagiar and Brian Xuereb.

Lawyer Ilona Schembri is legal aid defence counsel.