Man accused of raping pregnant cousin

A MAN charged with raping his cousin sister appeared before the Waigani Committal Court.
Joshua Albert, 25 from Baimuru, Gulf, charged for allegedly raping his 19-year-old cousin appeared before Magistrate Cosmas Bidar.
It was alleged that at 7pm on the night of July 14 in Erima, Port Moresby, Albert went to the victim’s house and invited her over to his house to have dinner with his family.
The victim agreed and followed him.
On the way to Albert’s house, he stopped and hugged the victim but she pushed him away as he was drunk.
Before they reached Albert’s home, he asked the victim to have sex with him.
The victim refused stating that they were cousins and she was also pregnant.
When she saw that he was serious, she started to scream and run back to her house but Albert forced her to the ground and allegedly raped her despite her pleas.
“For a charge of rape, the main element police need to establish is that the victim did not give consent,” Bidar said.
The court asked Albert if he would like bail as he appeared from custody and Albert responded with a request of K500 bail.
Police prosecutor Joseph Sangam said he did not have any issue with bail however, he stated that such cases of rape by family members were starting to be common and asked the court to impose strict bail conditions to negate the likelihood of Albert interfering with state witnesses.
The case was adjourned to Aug 28.