DJ Remzi Bektasovski jailed over rape of teenage girl

A popular DJ and martial arts instructor forcefully tried to take off a teenager’s underwear before sexually assaulting her in the laundry room of his family home.

Remzi Bektasovski, 23, leaves Wollongong Court on January 18. Picture: Madeline Crittenden

A brave young woman has come face to face with the Illawarra DJ who raped her when she was a teen, telling a court the attack left her questioning her own sanity and self worth. 

The woman was raped by 22-year-old DJ and martial arts instructor Remzi Bektasovski, who on Tuesday was jailed for five years and six months in the NSW District Court by Judge Andrew Haesler. 

Imposing a non-parole period of three years and four months, Jude Haesler said he “appears to have no idea of the damage he caused” the young woman and her family.

“She (the victim) made her lack of consent inexplicably clear to him,” Judge Haesler said. 

“Yet Mr Bektasovski still seems surprised. He’s not the man he thinks he is and does not deserve the respect of others.” 

Remzi Bektasovski, 22, was supported by several family members during his sentencing. Picture: Madeline Crittenden

Bektasovski was found guilty of three charges relating to the rape of the teen girl by a majority jury verdict in the NSW District Court in January, including sexual assault without consent and assault with act of indecency.

Bektasovski stood trial over the alleged sexual assaults of three teenage girls between 2016 and 2017, where he claimed each of the encounters were consensual. 

After days of deliberations, the jury found the 22-year-old not guilty of sexually assaulting one of his accusers in November 2016, while it was unable to reach a majority verdict on the charge relating to a third complainant and was discharged.

The jury, however, found Bektasovski raped one teen girl in his family home on an afternoon in February 2017, after he agreed to help her with an IT issue. 

During the trial, the court heard Bektasovski began trying to force the teen to kiss him while they were on a bed, before she said she was coerced into performing oral sex on him.

Remzi Bektasovski shook his head as Judge Haesler jailed him on March 30, 2021. Picture: Facebook

In her evidence, the girl told the court Bektasovski raped her in an adjacent laundry room, after forcefully trying to pull her underwear off.

Bektasovski maintains his innocence, saying she initiated the sexual encounter. 

On Tuesday, Baktasovski’s victim read a letter to the court, saying she tried to push down thoughts related to the rape for years, which impacted her family, her friendships and her mental health. 

“The assault took a very heavy toll on my family, a few weeks after I  told my father,” she said. 

“He didn’t scold me or tell me I was wrong…. He asked me why it took so long to tell him.

“I’d never seen more hurt in a grown man's eyes until that day… It was evident it was weighing him down and it affected the way he saw himself as a father.” 

Through tears, she told the court she’d suffered panic attacks and recurring nightmares following the rape, but that with time, she was recovering. 

Bektasovski kept his head down as she spoke, and shook his head as Judge Haesler handed down his sentence. 

He will be eligible for release to parole in May 2024.