Mother gives evidence at rape trial

7:32pm Wednesday 27th August 2008

The mother of an alleged rape victim told a court today she felt uncomfortable about two men in her daughter's bedroom.

Her 21-year-old daughter told Oxford Crown Court that one of the men pinned her to the bed before both of them raped her after a drug-fuelled all-night party at her home.

Rakesh Surina, 28, of Howard Street, East Oxford, denies two counts of rape. Rajiv Lal, 33, of Frederick Road, Cowley, denies one count of rape and one of serious sexual assault.

The alleged victim said she drifted in and out of sleep before the alleged attack and had not had much energy because of the drugs and alcohol she had taken.

Her mother said she had been going in and out of her daughter's bedroom in the morning of the alleged incident in August last year to check she was OK.

She said: "She was kind of not all there. She was very lethargic and slow. She seemed to be half asleep and half awake - but more asleep than awake. I was really uncomfortable with the situation."

The alleged victim said she was drinking and taking cocaine the night before in a Cowley Road bar.

During cross-examination, Jennifer Edwards, defending Surina, suggested the sex had been consensual, which the woman denied.