No visible injuries on domestic worker who accused ex-employer of rape, doctor tells Hong Kong court
Hong Kong Free Press
A medical examination of a domestic worker who has accused her former employer of rape found no identifiable injuries, a doctor has testified in a Hong Kong court.
The trial of Swedish businessman Patrik Tobias Ekstrom, 36, continued at the High Court on Monday. He is accused of one count of rape and one count of non-consensual buggery over an alleged incident in October 2022 involving his then-domestic worker.
According to the prosecution, the alleged victim – known only as X – lived in Ekstrom’s house in Shek O, where she took care of Ekstrom, his wife and their three children. On the night of October 27, 2022, Ekstrom returned home and appeared to be drunk. He made sexual advances at X and dragged her upstairs to the bedroom, where he forced her to have sexual intercourse and anal sex, the prosecution alleged.
Ekstrom told police that he and X did have sex, but that it was consensual. X is Nepalese and started working for the family in April 2021, the court heard.
Forensic pathologist Garrick Li, who examined X after the alleged rape, was summoned as a prosecution witness on Monday. He told the court that there were no recent identifiable external injuries on her body, including on her vaginal area and anus.
Responding to questions from prosecutor Diane Crebbin, Li said he could not conclude whether vaginal or anal penetration had occurred. He also said that doctors could not conclude based on forensic evidence whether sexual intercourse was consensual.
Defence counsel Simon So, who is representing Ekstrom, cross-examined Li after Crebbin completed her questioning. So asked Li whether there would be bruises or marks left on a body if “huge force” had been exerted.
Li said it depended on the force used, and that it could only be judged on a case by case basis.
He also agreed with Li that the chances of injury would generally be higher if there was no lubricant used, if the female was resisting, and if there were no bodily fluids.
Blood stains on quilt
On Monday morning, the prosecution summoned two police officers involved in handling the alleged rape case.
The first officer told the court that police first went to Ekstrom’s home in Shek O on October 28, 2022, but that he was not there. Police then called Ekstrom and requested that he go to the police station in Chai Wan.
Ekstrom arrived at the police station just before 11 pm, the officer said. He was holding two bottles of beer when he walked in, which he threw away in a rubbish bin in the toilet. After that, police went to Ekstrom’s residence to search his home.
The second officer to testify, surnamed Hung, was among those who searched Ekstrom’s house. He confirmed that he observed blood on a quilt in the master bedroom, as well as stains on the bedsheet.
Both the quilt and the bedsheet were shown to the court as exhibits, with Hung pointing to the areas where the stains were.
Monday marked the fifth day of the rape trial, which is scheduled to take eight days.
So far, the court has heard the prosecution’s opening, as well as the testimonies of X and a security guard who was working at Ekstrom’s residential complex on the night of the alleged incident.
During her testimony, X teared up multiple times as she recounted the events of the night, including when she said Ekstrom had threatened to kill her and that he “wanted” her daughter as well.
X told the court she did not consent to the sex but felt she had “no power to run away.” She added that she left the house at around 7 am the following morning with her possessions, after which she went to the police station.
Defence counsel So, however, accused her of lying and questioned why she did not physically resist or attack Ekstrom if she did not want to have sex. He also asked why she did not call the emergency number 999.
So said the defence’s case was that the night of the alleged incident was not the first time she and Ekstrom had sex, but that in fact, X had initiated sex with him before. X denied that this was true.
The trial will continue on Tuesday.
| 💡If you are suffering from sexual or domestic violence, regardless of your age or gender, contact the police, Harmony House (click for details) and/or the Social Welfare Department on 28948896. Dial 999 in emergencies. |
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