Papua New Guinea weightlifter goes on trial for sexual assault
LONDON, England (AFP) — A Commonwealth Games weightlifter from Papua New Guinea went on trial in the host city of Glasgow yesterday accused of sexually assaulting another man in a supermarket toilet.
Toua Udia, 22, denies intentionally or recklessly touching the man’s testicles on July 21 in a Tesco coffee shop lavatory near the athletes’ village.
Udia’s accuser, who cannot be identified, told a Glasgow court that the weightlifter touched his testicles while he helped him strap an ice pack to his leg.
“I came out of the cubicle and saw him strapping a bandage to his left calf,” he told the court.
“I asked him: ‘Are you okay?’. He asked me if I could help him tie the bandage.
“I took both ends of the bandage and he said: ‘Pull it tight’.
“I held it as tight as I could and he put his left hand between my legs and touched my testicle with two fingers.
“There was a bit of pressure. It wasn’t a scuff and it wasn’t a total grab, but it was definitely as if someone was poking.
“I said: ‘Hey!’ to tell him to back off. He looked at me and just smiled as though it was normal, with a wee smirk, as if everything was fine.”
The man said he did not consent to the contact or wish it to happen, and that he left the toilet and alerted staff and the police.
More than 800 languages are spoken in Papua New Guinea and Udia’s interpreter does not speak his particular dialect.
But Sheriff Martin Jones said the case could proceed with reference to photographs and anatomical diagrams if required.
Udia’s lawyer Ian Moir told the court: “This case is one which has had a huge impact on (Udia), particularly because his career hangs in the balance.”
The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games concluded on Sunday.