“He gave me a wound that no one can see, that no one can understand, a wound I couldn’t talk about, a wound that was reopened again and again.
“His cowardice to take responsibility, his actions have permanently altered my brain chemistry leading to post-traumatic stress disorder.”
The woman shed tears as she spoke in the Christchurch District Court today about what Wiria Mohamadi, 40, had done.
“What he did to me completely altered my life, I will never feel safe.
“He targeted me when I was at my most vulnerable.
“This man preyed on me, a complete stranger.”
Mohamadi was found guilty in April when a jury of eight men and four women took just under three hours to return guilty verdicts on charges of abduction for sexual connection, rape and unlawful sexual connection.
He raped the woman in July 2023 after she had been drinking heavily while out with friends in Christchurch.
Today, the victim, in her 20s, said the past two years had been measured by the numerous court dates.
“Before July 2023, I prided myself on being strong and independent. Before the traumatic events I was happy; his actions shattered my sense of safety, my body no longer feels safe.
“I still feel trapped, repulsed and terrified. My world shrank, leaving the house is terrifying, I still watch for people who might follow me home. I tried desperately to return to a sense of normalcy, but it no longer exists.”
At trial, the victim said she had struggled to remember much of the events because she was intoxicated and fell and hit her head outside a bar just before 5am.
She said she repeatedly tried to re-enter the bar in an attempt to search for her bag and became increasingly frustrated as she continued to be removed from the venue.
Wiria Mohamadi was sentenced at the Christchurch District Court today. Photo / NZME
It was during that chaos, she hit her head on the pavement.
Mohamadi appeared in a car around this time and watched the woman’s interactions.
She was put in an Uber by a friend and Mohamadi followed her in his car, picked her up from outside her home and took her to his place where he sexually assaulted her.
While Mohamadi claimed the victim had consented to going with him, the victim said she had no memory of it.
The first memory she had was of Mohamadi lying on top of her. She remembered rolling away from him and saying she didn’t want sex, and Mohamadi trying to convince her to keep going.
While the Crown said there were many pieces of evidence that pointed to the complainant not being in a position to consent, the defence said there was evidence that favoured the defendant.
The Crown said Mohamadi had seen the complainant in a motionless state and that she had passed the point of consent through intoxication and hitting her head.
The defence said the complainant did consent and that she was not intoxicated to the point where she couldn’t make decisions.
The defence suggested she had blacked out and sobered up by the time she arrived at Mohamadi’s house.
In sentencing Mohamadi, Judge Michael Crosbie said there was a continued denial of the offending.
“You knew just how heavily intoxicated the victim was,” Judge Crosbie said.
“You took advantage of her vulnerability to a significant degree.
“All of your actions that night were deliberate, callous and highly premeditated.”
Judge Crosbie jailed Mohamadi for 11 years and six months.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.