Laurence Dollimore
AN alleged rape victim has recalled the sickening details of her alleged assault at last year’s Pamplona bull running festival.
The young woman told a court in Madrid how five men took turns assaulting her in a secluded building entrance.
The victim, 18 at the time, had willingly kissed one of the defendants and was walking towards his car when the other four men, all from Sevilla, joined them and took her to the secluded spot.
“When we arrived to the building entrance I became so scared,” she told the court.
“They took off my fanny pack and bra and started unbuttoning my top, then they grabbed my jaw.”
She said she became frozen with fear and didn’t know what else to do but submit.
“I just closed my eyes, I was in a state of shock.”
She said the men only talked to each other while they took turns raping her.
“I could not even look at their faces, I only remember seeing their tattoos.
“I remember them laughing and one of them saying, ‘hey man, it’s my turn!'”
The alleged victim told the court she has had nightmares and insomnia ever since, and had periods of deep depression where she ‘did not want to do anything’.
The young woman denies that the relations were consensual.
The ‘La Manada’ case, which is being conducted in closed chambers to protect the woman’s identity, has gripped Spain and attracted worldwide attention.
The Prosecutor’s Office is seeking 22 years and 10 months in prison, as well as €100,000 in damages.
The defendants claim the sex was consensual and are seeking a not guilty verdict.
