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Alleged gang rape victim “willingly” kissed accused Simon Vunilagi

The alleged victim of a harrowing gang rape has admitted she “willingly” canoodled with the man accused of being the ringleader of the crime.

Canberra nightclub Mooseheads.
Canberra nightclub Mooseheads.

The alleged victim of an hours-long gang rape by four Fijian men has admitted she “willingly” kissed, embraced and held hands and rubbed the back of the alleged ringleader while smiling and laughing.

The woman, who cannot be named, was on Wednesday taken through security camera footage from Mooseheads on the morning she was allegedly raped by four men - Simon Vunilagi, Josefa Masivesi, Isimela Vatanitawake and Ratu Macanawai.

Simon Vunilagi (right) leaves the ACT Supreme Court while supporters unleash a tirade of abuse the threats of violence. Picture: Craig Dunlop
Simon Vunilagi (right) leaves the ACT Supreme Court while supporters unleash a tirade of abuse the threats of violence. Picture: Craig Dunlop

The men have pleaded not guilty to a string of sex charges stemming from their roles in the alleged attack.

The footage, played in the ACT Supreme Court, shows the woman canoodling with Vunilagi at the nightclub just before 5am on November 3 last year.

She and Vunilagi, are near the group of men, none of whom she had met before.

Under cross-examination from Vunilagi’s barrister, Katrina Musgrove, the woman agreed she “willingly” kissed and embraced Vunilagi.

She also agreed she held his hand and rubbed his back.

She said in the footage she “didn’t look drunk”.

At one stage she stood on one foot without difficultly to adjust one of her socks.

“You willingly went there and put your arms around (Vunilagi),” Ms Musgrove said.

The woman replied: “yes”.

The woman accepted she was smiling and laughing with Vunilagi.

“You weren’t forced to kiss him,” Ms Musgrove said.

The woman replied: “Didn’t look like it, no”.

The prosecution case is that Vunilagi was the first of the four men to rape her on an unmade bed in a cramped unit on Northbourne Ave in Downer.

The woman says she remembers telling a taxi driver she was scared of the men, but the taxi driver does remember her saying that.

The judge-alone trial, before Chief Justice Helen Murrell, continues.

Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/canberra-star/mooseheads-gang-rape-trial-alleged-victim-willingly-hugged-kissed-accused-ringleader-simon-vunilagi/news-story/9e2933d1bf393e79ecb8a97e3c35c043