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Original poster

Rape charges against man dropped after accuser commits suicide...

12 replies

QuentinSummers · 20/03/2017 19:53

...and of course it's all about him and how his life is ruined, and uses the occasion to call for offender anonymity. Ffs. This makes me so angry. Talk about lack of empathy.

I wish the press had been more balanced too and considered whether to publish the story in this way.

The poor girls family.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/20/student-whose-rape-accuser-killed-trial-says-has-horrendous/

OP posts:
OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 20/03/2017 20:22

I think expecting him to be full of empathy for his accuser is probably asking a bit much if he was innocent and completely bizarre if he wasn't. I disagree with his argument that "the pendulum has swung too far the other way" though. Beyond that I don't know any details of the case and find it hard to draw any conclusions. He was right in saying that it wasn't a day for celebration. Sad

Original poster
QuentinSummers · 20/03/2017 20:30

I don't expect him to be full of empathy just to show some tact. Going on about how hard the whole thing has been for him when a family have lost someone seems insensitive to me. But maybe he's just not a nice guy.

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BarbarianMum · 20/03/2017 20:37

I guess he was asked for a quote and said what he was honestly feeling. I don't blame him for that.

I do however have a problem with the article as a whole. Why does it even exist in such overblown format - a rape case was dropped. No coverage at all for most rape cases. Angry

TimeforANewTwatName · 20/03/2017 20:47

FFS someone is raped, they can't live with the aftermath, they suffered PTSD, and they accused walks of Scot free.

Blood on his hands.

KindDogsTail · 20/03/2017 22:44

It is a problem that has to be acknowledged and not ignored for fear of putting genuine victims off reporting. Because the reality is false allegations only harm the cause of those with a genuine complaint.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/20/elgan-varney-charges-dropped-hannah-stubbs-case

How very sad. I cannot say I know what happened, and of course cannot presume he is guilty.

But I feel uneasy that the cause of the suicide is said to be Post Traumatic Stress. So even if she was somehow deluded in her allegations, she was not just any false accuser.

Yet he does not say something like:
" I am sorry for this tragic loss, no one can know what was in her mind. Now I would like to rebuild me life... I am innocent...etc" He only calls her a false accuser who will harm the cause of people with a genuine 'complaint'.

AristotlesTrousers · 21/03/2017 08:00

Even if he is innocent, saying shit like that about false accusers is something that's far more damaging to rape victims everywhere. Sad

AristotlesTrousers · 21/03/2017 08:05

Sorry, pressed send before I'd finished. I meant to add that whatever happened, he is perpetuating a horrible myth in society that is a huge part of the problem.

Datun · 21/03/2017 08:38

He is saying he has been fully exonerated. But from what I can tell they dropped the case because she has died. They were fully prepared to go to court, so presumably they have some evidence.

If you listen to him, there wasn't a case to answer. But I don't see how that can be right.

Fairyflaps · 21/03/2017 09:07

The key witness in almost every rape trial is the victim of the rape. Usually she and the rapist were the only 2 people present at the time, so the trial consists of whose word to believe - his or hers.

So without the key witness, of course the prosecution has no chance of success. And given stats, it is likely he would have been found not guilty anyway as men continue to get away with rape over and over again. Almost all of us who have been raped know a man who has got away with it. Very few of us have seen our rapist convicted. This is why mud sticks, because the legal system does not work for victims.

But do not tell me allegations of rape ruin men's reputations. What harm it has done to Trump or Evans?

In her parents' shoes I would be seriously considering a private prosecution.

Dervel · 21/03/2017 12:05

Crowdfund a civil case? The standard of proof is balance of probability rather than reasonable doubt. I know it's not a criminal conviction but it changes the landscape around discussions like this.

I think a charity that could fund civil cases that for whatever reason don't make it to criminal trial or fail once they get there would shine a light on quite how easy it is to get away with rape.

Autumntactics · 21/03/2017 17:23

I just read this in The Times and all the depressing comments underneath about anonymity for the defendant or making the victim's identity known to make it equal. Everywhere I look there are men pronouncing on issues that predominantly affect women. This is just really sad.

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