Kamaldeep Singh pleads not guilty to two counts of rape of woman he met via Tinder

A woman who has accused a man she met via Tinder of rape had a case of “buyer’s remorse”, defence has claimed during a Cairns trial.

Earlier this month Tinder rolled out a new safety warning feature to help promote respectful and appropriate behaviour on the dating app. Picture: Tinder

A woman who has accused a man she met via Tinder of rape had a case of “buyer’s remorse”, defence has claimed during a Cairns trial.

Kamaldeep Singh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape arising from an incident in the woman’s bedroom on June 27, 2022, after they had driven to Port Douglas for lunch and he came into her apartment, where she consented to allowing him to give her a massage in her bedroom.

Defence barrister James Sheridan told the jury the woman was not forthright in her evidence.

“She said ‘there was a moment when you get kind of caught up in what’s going on, but like, what he was doing wasn’t enjoyable’,” Mr Sheridan said.

“He was exploring the boundaries, she was not objecting to it, until she did, and then he stopped.”

Mr Sheridan said when he cross examined the woman and asked about her telling Mr Singh she found him sexy, she became visibly nervous and anxious.

“If she was credible she would have said that from the get go,” he said.

“I’ll be submitting to you that she made a choice she later regretted, that’s the nub of it – you have sometimes heard the expression ‘buyers’ remorse’.”

The trial is continuing in Cairns. Picture: File

He said the woman’s account of having the dress and her underpants ripped from her did not stack up and urged the jury not to be persuaded by what he referred to as Crown prosecutor Emily Thambyah’s “soaring rhetoric” in her closing address.

The jury saw a recorded police interview with Mr Singh a week after the alleged rape where he questioned why she would go on a second date with him, and allow him in her apartment, kiss him back and call him sexy.

“It turned into kissing and cuddling, I showered, I left, I didn’t try to stick my dick into her or anything … I did not force myself on her,” Mr Singh told police.

He said the woman called him and told him she was upset and he said ‘hang on a sec, it was all mutual’ and when she said he forced himself on her, he responded ‘that’s bullshit’, in calls recorded by police.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t do anything and that was it,” Mr Singh told police.

In her closing address, Crown prosecutor Emily Thambyah said the woman made it clear from the start she was only interested in friendship but was allegedly raped.

She said Mr Singh was dismissive of her, saying it was just “kisses and cuddles”.

The man has denied the rape allegations. Picture: File

“If you find there was no penetration then you must consider whether he is guilty of the alternative offence of sexual assault,” Ms Thambyah said.

She said the woman gave evidence more than two years after the event.

“She was honest and forthright, it was not exaggerated, and it was truthful,” Ms Thambyah said.

“She felt genuinely confused about what happened and she was scared, you might also infer that she was humiliated.

“She told him to stop repeatedly and he penetrated her on two occasions without her consent.”

“He didn’t listen and he didn’t care.

“He was not asking, he was just doing, she told him no, she said that over and over and over again, she said ‘please stop’ – it doesn’t matter that she may have told him she thought he was sexy, a kiss on the cheek, allowed a massage, it does not equate to consent to penetrate her vagina.”

Ms Thambyah said Mr Singh had a complete lack of ability to accept a woman who led him into the bedroom would have the audacity to say no.

The trial before Judge Dean Morzone KC continues.

Originally published as Kamaldeep Singh pleads not guilty to two counts of rape of woman he met via Tinder