A man in his late teens was found not guilty in Reykjavík District Court yesterday of having raped a young woman, which allegedly had taken place in a public restroom in the basement of Saga Hotel in Reykjavík on March 17.
The verdict states that the woman’s testimony–that she had not consented to having sex with the man in the restroom–had been credible, but that the man’s actions–pushing the woman into a cubicle, locking it, undressing her and forcing her down on the toilet and then onto the floor–could not be defined as violence and therefore the man was acquitted of the charges, Morgunbladid reports.
The man was also found not guilty on rape because the woman had not shown any resistance or called for help.
Margrét Gunnlaugsdóttir, who represented the woman, told Morgunbladid she is extremely dissatisfied with the verdict. Gunnlaugsdóttir said in other cases locking someone in was considered a violent act and that the man should not have been acquitted because the woman had been too afraid to object.
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