Filipina testifies vs ex-boss in rape case

High Court

THE trial at the High Court of a former employer of a Filipina domestic helper who was accused of raping her in 2015 finally proceeded on Thursday after three days of adjournment.

Kokou Apelete,  who is from Togo and married to a Hong Kong woman, pleaded not guilty to one charge each of indecent assault and rape.

The Filipina, a mother of two who started to work for Apelete and his wife on Aug. 25, 2014, was flown in by government prosecutors from the Philippines to Hong Kong so she could give her evidence in the trial.

The former domestic worker,  who is referred to in court as “X”, said she lived with her employers at their home in Tuen Mun. It was her first contract in Hong Kong, but she had also worked as a domestic helper in Singapore before coming to the city.

In February, April, and May, her male employer began asking her if she wanted to have a boyfriend in Hong Kong.

“No, I do not want to,” the witness said in Ilonggo, and was translated in English by a court interpreter.

She said the incident happened three times. The Filipina said she did not tell her female employer, who was at work when the incidents took place,  about them because she did not want any trouble.

On Aug. 25, 2015, the Filipina said that at abut 1 p.m., her male employer came home from work. Her female employer was at work, while the couple’s two-year-old daughter was also not at home and was being looked after by the mother of her female employer.

While having her lunch in the kitchen, her male employer, who was in the living room, called her and asked her to go to the living room.

In the living room, while standing on the space between a coffee table and the TV set, the Filipina said she was asked again by the defendant if she wanted a boyfriend in Hong Kong.

“I want you, I want you to be my girlfriend,” the Filipina said, quoting what Apelete told her.

She then replied that she did not want to have a boyfriend. She went back to the kitchen and washed the dishes, but she felt him following her in the kitchen.

While standing near the sink, the defendant then allegedly told her that if she would agree to be his girlfriend, he would take care of her, her children, and her family.

The defendant allegedly came closer to her, and she warned him the CCTV cameras were on.

But he allegedly said he turned them off, and asked her to look at him. He then went back to the living room, and then she went to the toilet to begin cleaning it.

The defendant allegedly followed her to the toilet and blocked her way by closing the door and standing by the doorway.  He then repeated that he wanted the Filipina to be her girlfriend.

“I was afraid, nervous and worried that I might not have a job anymore and I cried,” the Filipina said when asked how she felt at the time.

The defendant then allegedly told her he would take care of her, her children, and her family and he will make her happy.

“I am contented with my salary and I do not need any of these,” the Filipina said when asked what her reply was to Apelete.

He then allegedly replied that she should be “practical” as she had come to Hong Kong so she could earn money.

He then started kissing her face, her breast and she tried to fight him off by crossing her arms on her chest but he held her hands. She added her employer sat on the toilet bowl, and she forced him on his lap and started kissing her face, and her breasts after pulling up her shirt and undoing her bra.

“Did you resist?” the prosecutor said.

“I couldn’t do it,” she said, adding that he was much stronger than her.

The Filipina started sobbing, and had to be asked by Justice Esther Toh if she needed a break and could continue giving her evidence in court.

The Filipina remained silent for a few minutes before telling the court interpreter that she could go on with her testimony.

She recalled that he then sat her on the wash basin in the toilet and took off her shirt and undid her bra. She said she wanted to jump from the sink but he was blocking her way, and then said that he wanted to kiss her again.

The Filipina added that he told her that if she wanted to leave the toilet, she would have to give him a hug.

“I wanted to go out so I hugged him,” she said.

Asked by the prosecutor if she was happy about giving the defendant a hug, the Filipina said “no”.

The defendant then left the toilet and then the Filipina went to her room to get some clothes because she wanted to take a bath as she felt “dirty” after the incident.

In her room, Apelete allegedly followed her and she saw him naked from the waist up, but was wearing a pair of black shorts.

He then pushed her onto the lower bunk of a double bunk bed in her room and started taking off her clothes.

The Filipina said she tried to cover the button of her shorts so he could not take it off, but said she was not strong enough to fight off the defendant.

She then again started sobbing, but continued to testify that the defendant pushed her legs apart.

“He put his what into my what,” the court interpreter then translated to the court what the witness was “literally saying”.

However, the prosecutor asked the Filipina to clarify what she meant.

“Do I have to say it?” the Filipina asked in a broken voice.

After being required to, the Filipina said the defendant “put his penis into my vagina”.

“It was painful, I told him it was painful, but he didn’t pay attention to me”,” the Filipina said sobbing.

She said the intercourse lasted for about five seconds, and the defendant allegedly told her that she “gave” herself “to him”.

Afterwards, she then saw him kneeling at the foot of the bed and was wiping off something from his penis.

The defendant then allegedly went to the toilet, while she stayed in her room and put back on her clothes.

After 15 minutes, she sent a Facebook message to  “Razel”, another Filipina working in Hong Kong and her friend.

Asked why she did that, the Filipina said she “did not know what else to do.”

Selection of a jury

Before the trial could finally began, the court called on some 20 persons, from whom seven members of a jury panel were selected via lottery.

The jury is composed of four women and three men.

In the morning session, however, the court dealt with the submission of the defense lawyers that they wanted to withdraw from representing the defendant.

Justice Toh, however, said the defense would need a leave from the court first, and said the trial would proceed.

On May 8, the scheduled first day of the trial, the defense counsel informed the court the defendant could not appear in court because he was admitted to a hospital.

The defense lawyer said the defendant was diagnosed with “hypertensive crisis” and “kidney failure” and the doctor suspected the defendant has a “heart problem”. The defendant was admitted to the hospital on the afternoon of May 7.

The defense added that the defendant will be undergoing various medical tests. The lawyer submitted the doctor’s opinion to the court.

Prosecutor Michael Arthur, however, told the court the defendant was in the police station mid-day of May 6.

“The letter (from the doctor) doesn’t tell us very much. Saturday mid-day, he was with the police and he was fit and all, ” the prosecutor said.

Justice Toh required the defense to submit all medical reports to her and furnish the prosecution with the same.

She added that while she did not want to force the defendant to appear in court if he is critically ill, but she said it would be to “no one’s interests” if the case is dragged out owing to its sensitive nature.

“It is worrying for both sides. I don’t want to force the defendant to appear in court especially is he is critically ill, but we have a witness who was especially brought back from the Philippines and owing to the sensitive nature of the case, it is not to anybody’s interests to drag it out. It is a balancing act, but I do not want to adjourn the proceedings indefinitely,” Justice Toh said.

Sources from the PCG previously told Hong Kong News the Filipina, 31,  had gone home to  the Philippines.

The Filipina initially took refuge at a shelter and the PCG found her another employer, but she resigned from her job and decided to return to the Philippines in September 2015.

The Hong Kong Police had sought the assistance of the PCG to locate the Filipina’s whereabouts in the Philippines.

A PCG official said they had been communicating with the Filipina who committed to come back to Hong Kong to give evidence in the case.

The trial continues on Friday.