A Galway woman who said she was repeatedly raped by her brother-in-law has described being beaten by the accused after making a report to social services. The victim says she was raped up to twice a week for four years from the age of 14.
The Galway man (49) has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 14 charges of raping the woman on dates between June 12th, 1983, and June 30th, 1986, in a Galway house. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
On the first day of the trial the woman (45) told Michael O’Higgins SC, prosecuting, that her sister’s husband would rape her “whenever he felt like it”.
The woman was aged 14 when she was sent to live with the married couple. She said the accused was in his 20s at the time and that he raped her within a few weeks of her moving in with him.
She said he told her that she was under his rule now and that he could do whatever he liked to her.
She told the court: “I was frightened and nobody wanted me. I was a lost cause.”
The trial continues.