accuse inquietanti: operaio sotto processo per violenze in centri massaggi di Sliema e Birkirkara

Harona Conateh entering a massage parlour in Sliema, where he is accused of raping a therapist.

A man told a massage therapist “no one can help you” as he dragged her screaming into a room and attempted to rape her, a court has heard.

Gambian construction worker Harona Conateh, 32, is accused of the rape and sexual assault of three therapists at three different parlours between June and July this year, two in Sliema and another at Birkirkara.

During a sex-hour video testimony, one of the therapists said she tried to fight him off as she lay on the floor but he punched her twice in the face, hitting her forehead and lips.

Conateh denies all charges.

The court heard the woman describe how she had been working at the Birkirkara massage parlour at around 4.30pm on July 10 when a man she later identified as Conateh approached the salon.

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Speaking to him as he stood outside, she said he asked how much it was for a massage, and when she told him it was €35 for one hour, he responded: “€35 with sex ok?”

After telling him she only performed massages, he agreed and took a business card from her as she was expecting another client.

However he returned ten minutes later.

Again the woman refused, showing the man a screenshot of her chat with the customer she was expecting within minutes.

He looked at the mobile, then grabbed the phone and flung it aside, ordering her to “give me a massage.”

He then grabbed the therapist with one hand while slamming the front door with the other hand.

Then he removed the victim’s glases, threw them aside and pulled her by the arm into one of the treatment rooms.

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She described trying to grab a mirror off the wall to hit her agressor but he pushed her to the floor. She then reached for a ceramic jar used to store massage oils and threw it at him. But he caught it and placed it on the floor.

It was at this point she tried to fight him off, punching and kicking him while screaming: “Someone help me!”

However, the man, who the victim described as “powerful” continued to attack her, saying: “No one can help you”.

Then, hearing footsteps outside the window, the woman said, “my customer at 5pm is coming.”

“He said something incoherent and left….calmly like he had done it a 100 times before,” testified the victim, through translators.

The victim was the third to testify so far in this case.

The first victim, a Chinese national, hadas “a very bad man,” saying that she wanted to do something “to protect others.”

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The second victim, a Thai woman, recounted how she tried to play for time during the attack by appealing to her attacker’s emotions.

The case presided over by Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi continues.

AG lawyers Angele Vella and Nicholas Degaetano are prosecuting together with Inspectors Clayton Camilleri, Wayne Buhagiar and Brian Xuereb. Lawyer Ilona Schembri is legal aid counsel.