Iraqi refugee Abthar Al-Athmany charged with shocking rape of girl at Parramatta’s Meriton Suites

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly stripped naked at knifepoint and blindfolded before two teenagers, including Abthar Al-Athmany, raped her in the bathroom of a western Sydney hotel room, a court has heard. We spoke to him at his home.

Abthar Bassam Talib Al-Athmany. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Monique Harmer

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly stripped naked at knifepoint and blindfolded before two teenagers raped her in the bathroom of a western Sydney hotel room, a court has heard.

Police will allege Iraqi refugee Abthar Bassam Talib Al-Athmany, 19, and an unnamed 17-year-old boy, detained the girl for several hours inside Parramatta’s Meriton Suites on August 27 last year after a male associate lured her to the room under the guise of picking up a friend’s mobile phone.

It is alleged the two teens subjected the girl to “degrading and humiliating” treatment during the ordeal, including trying to pimp her out for sex by creating two posts on her Instagram page advertising drugs and prostitution.

Details of the alleged attack can be revealed for the first time after The Daily Telegraph was granted exclusive access to prosecution documents following Al-Athmany’s successful bid for bail in the NSW Supreme Court late last year.

While some of the paperwork has been redacted due to the explicit and graphic nature of the allegations, a set of police fact sheets reveal Al-Athmany and the 17-year-old boy allegedly threatened the girl with a kitchen knife, stripped her naked and ordered her to perform sexual acts on film.

Abthar Bassam Talib Al-Athmany was charged with aggravated sexual assault in company.

The alleged attack happened at Parramatta’s Meriton Suites on George Street.

Police will allege she was then blindfolded using her own t-shirt and forced into the shower recess where she was repeatedly raped by the two teens under cold running water.

A second female is alleged to have arrived later in the night to check on the girl’s welfare and was also prevented from leaving the room and ordered to take her clothes off, according to the court documents.

The court heard the two girls eventually escaped the room just after 3.30am and fled to a relative’s home, who reported the matter to police.

Al-Athmany was arrested later that day and charged with aggravated sexual assault in company relating to the first female. No charges have been laid in relation to his alleged conduct towards the second female.

Abthar Bassam Talib Al-Athmany pictured outside his home in Hinchinbrook. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Monique Harmer

Al-Athmany spent more than three months behind bars on remand before being granted strict conditional bail to live with his parents and brother in the family’s western Sydney home.

When the Telegraph visited the house on Wednesday, a shirtless Al-Athmany was seen standing on the front lawn of the property and speaking briefly on the phone, before ending the call and darting behind a dark flyscreen door concealing the front entrance to the property.

When approached by the Telegraph and asked at the blacked-out door if he wished to comment on the sexual assault allegation, Al-Athmany said he believed he’d been “falsely accused” and did not have anything further to add.

“There’s not much to say,” he said.

Abthar Bassam Talib Al-Athmany leaving Parramatta Local Court in December.

Meanwhile, Al-Athmany’s father, Bassam Alothmani, provided a letter to the court in support of his son’s application for bail last year, saying the family had settled in Australia in 2011 after surviving war in Iraq and Syria, which had killed many of his relatives.

He said his son had been the victim of bullying at multiple schools in Sydney and suffered from depression and anxiety, but was a “kind-hearted, family-oriented man”.

Prosecutors opposed Al-Athmany’s release from custody, saying the case against him was a strong one and his release from custody would put the community at risk.

However, Justice Richard Button agreed to release Al-Athmany on a $30,000 surety - but not without some reservations.

“My mind has wavered very much as to whether or not in light of the gravity of what’s alleged he should spend many, many months in custody bail refused until all of this is resolved,” Justice Button said.

“I’ve reached the point where on balance I’ve shied away from that, but I don’t doubt that he and his whole family understand … that if he breaches his bail by a millimetre my intention is he goes back to jail and stays there.

“I’ve come to the view that although there are unquestionably risks here, they are just barely mitigated by the rigour of what’s been proposed by his barrister to the point of being rendered acceptable.”

As part of his bail conditions, Al-Athmany is required to live at the family home around-the-clock and can only leave in the company of his father or brother for medical emergencies, legal appointments or to report to police once a day.

He is also banned from accessing the internet and must continue receiving treatment for his mental health. He is also banned from accessing the internet and must continue receiving treatment for his mental health.

The matter will return to court in February.