Doctor unsure if girl was raped, court hears
A doctor who examined a 14-year-old Donegal girl has told the Central Criminal Court that she "she wasn't sure she was definitely raped".
Dr Eliza Joseph, who travelled from India to give evidence at the trial of a Donegal man for kidnapping, threatening to kill and raping the complainant, also said she found no signs of injuries or abrasions consistent with the then 14-year-old's allegations.
The 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning her, threatening to kill her and raping her on August 25, 2004 in Co Donegal.
Dr Joseph told prosecuting counsel, Mr Justin Dillon SC (with Mr Stephen McCann BL), the girl "was crying and shaking" when she gave her an account of what she said happened to her.
Dr Joseph said she found "a small abrasion or scratch" on the girl's hymen which was not intact but she found no other injuries.
She did not see any injury on the girl's body in relation to her complaint of pain and advised her to get an x-ray.
"I wasn't sure she was definitely raped," the doctor told Mr Dillon.
She agreed with defence counsel, Mr Roger Sweetman SC (with Mr Peter Nolan BL), she would have "expected to find signs" in her genital area to show it was the teenager's first time to have sexual intercourse, as counsel said she had claimed to gardaí.
She also agreed with Mr Sweetman she would have expected to find abrasions on the girl's body if as she claimed she had been pulled from the back seat of a car to the front.
When Mr Sweetman told Dr Joseph that from the documentation provided to the defence, it appeared the girl would claim in her evidence that she was naked when pulled across the car seat, the doctor replied that the teenager had not told her that and there would be abrasions if that was true.
Dr Joseph said the teenager did not tell her she was "kicking the car door" and she further agreed with Mr Sweetman that there would be an injury to the girl's elbow if she claimed she was using it to try and break the car window. "There were none," she said.
The hearing continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of five women and seven men.
