A Tobago man has been acquitted of kidnapping, falsely imprisoning and raping his former common-law wife with whom he has a child.
The man, whose identity was withheld based on the nature of the case and its outcome, was found not guilty of the charges by a nine-member jury before High Court Judge Nalini Singh earlier this week.
The charges arose out of two alleged incidents on November 8 and December 6, 2008.
In the first incident, the man was accused of abducting the woman at her mother’s home. He allegedly beat the woman, placed her in a car driven by his friend and they drove to Plymouth.
The victim was allegedly able to run away as she was let out of the car to urinate at the side of the road.
Several weeks later, the man was alleged to have contacted the woman and told her to meet him outside her home to collect money for their son.
The victim, who claimed she was in her underwear and wrapped in a bed sheet, alleged that the man grabbed her and dragged her to his car.
She claimed he drove to Mount St George where he beat her again and raped her twice before dropping her off at the side of the road.
During the brief trial, the doctor who examined the victim the day after the second alleged incident said while she complained of stomach and vaginal pain and had a swollen lip, she had no further signs of bruising or trauma.
The man elected to testify in his defence and denied that the first incident transpired.
He alleged that on the day of the second incident, they had consensual and non-violent sex.
He suggested that the victim fabricated the allegations against him as he had ended their relationship and refused to reconcile.
The man was represented by Deputy Chief Public Defender Raphael Morgan and Shuzvon Ramdass.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was represented by Charmaine Samuel.
