Jowad Haji, 24, is accused of raping a woman in the back room of a barbershop in Stratford-upon-Avon after offering her a job there. The alleged victim told police she felt like “prey” during the attack, Warwick Crown Court heard yesterday, Monday, August 17.
Simon Hunka, prosecuting, told a jury of seven women and five men that Haji, of Park Street, Coventry, made inappropriate remarks about the woman’s body before the alleged assault in January this year. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had told Haji she was out of work when he offered her a job at Barberia.
Prosecution outlines alleged attack
Mr Hunka said Haji commented on the size of the woman’s breasts and bottom, called her a “pretty girl”, and offered to pay her £100 or £150 a day at the shop. The woman went to the barbershop with a friend, who left shortly after.
“The alleged victim waited while Mr Haji worked. She noticed him winking at her. Then the haircut he was performing finished which left the two of them alone,” Mr Hunka said. “She sensed at that point the air changed, that she felt like prey. That’s how she described it to the police.”
Mr Hunka said the woman followed Haji to a back room to sign paperwork. He allegedly beckoned her closer, saying “you are sad” or “you look sad, you should come closer”. He then took hold of her hands, pulled her towards him, and put his arms around her.
Alleged assault and arrest
When she tried to push him away, Haji allegedly trapped her arms, put her wrists together with one hand, and placed the other hand on her throat, holding her firmly while he tried to kiss her. Mr Hunka said she resisted, but Haji “responded by grabbing her even more tightly” before kissing her, inappropriately touching her, raping her, and attempting to rape her a second time.
The attack only stopped when the woman’s friend returned to the shop, the court heard. After the attack, the alleged victim was “trying not to be sick, was crying and shaking” and wanted to burn her clothes, Mr Hunka said. She went to the police a few weeks later, and Haji was arrested.
Defendant denies charges
Haji denies the allegations and told police that he and the woman had kissed consensually on a few previous occasions but “things never progressed beyond kissing”. The prosecutor said: “Mr Haji is saying they were in fact much closer than the alleged victim would say, that they simply engaged in something they had done before – a consensual kiss that the woman instigated.”
Haji, who sat in the dock assisted by a Kurdish interpreter, is charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, assault by penetration, and intentional strangulation in relation to the incident. He denies all charges against him. The trial continues.
