{"id":83522,"date":"2013-04-22T01:05:27","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T19:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=83522"},"modified":"2013-04-30T12:39:33","modified_gmt":"2013-04-30T07:09:33","slug":"tangalle-rape-victim-has-spoken-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/tangalle-rape-victim-has-spoken-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Tangalle Rape Victim Has Spoken For The First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

A student has spoken for the first time of her ordeal at a Sri Lankan resort<\/a><\/span> and tells David James Smith she will fight on for justice<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Victoria Tkacheva was attacked at a hotel party on Christmas Eve 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

A woman raped at a hotel in Sri Lanka has spoken for the first time of the attack in which she was badly beaten and her British boyfriend was killed.<\/p>\n

Victoria Tkacheva, 24, a Russian languages graduate, fears that the men responsible for her rape and the murder of Khuram Shaikh, a 32-year-old Red Cross worker from Rochdale, will not be brought to justice.<\/p>\n

One of the eight suspects who were arrested but later released is a local politician whose family have close ties to the Sri Lankan president<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

There is currently no prospect of a trial, but Tkacheva insists she will not rest until justice is done. \u201cI know if Khuram was in my place he would go on to the end,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I must do too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple had met in 2009 in North Korea where he was working as a prosthetics expert for the Red Cross, fitting artificial limbs to adults and children. Tkacheva was in Pyongyang, the capital, to study the Korean language. The relationship continued when Shaikh was posted to Gaza.<\/p>\n

They were enjoying a holiday in December 2011 at the Nature Resort in Tangalle, 100 miles south of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, when a group of men arrived at a hotel party on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

After a minor tiff with Shaikh during the party, Tkacheva was sitting alone on the beach at midnight to cool down when she was approached by a man and asked whether anything was wrong.<\/p>\n

She became anxious and ran back towards the hotel but was set upon by a number of men. She does not know how many.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t even see them. They started beating me. I fell to the ground \u2014 I was covering my head with my arms so I couldn\u2019t see anybody,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was next to the pool. It was so sudden, they were kicking and punching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her assailants pushed her into the swimming pool. \u201cI was trying to escape from the pool but they were not letting me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tkacheva, who had suffered a fractured skull, eventually managed to get away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got out from another side of the pool and in a few steps I found Khuram lying on the ground. I ran to him and started to call his name but he wasn\u2019t responding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to make him conscious, trying mouth-to- mouth, but there was nothing I could do to make him conscious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tkacheva saw cuts on Shaikh\u2019s face but did not notice the stab or bullet wounds that killed him. \u201cWhen I couldn\u2019t bring him round I screamed very loud from helplessness and then I think I lost consciousness because I don\u2019t remember anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

It appears that at this point she was raped. Her next memory is waking up in hospital wearing a T-shirt that she did not recognise and finding that her dress was blood-splattered and her underwear had gone. Her face was badly swollen and her body was covered in bruises.<\/p>\n

Witnesses said Tkacheva had been found naked and unconscious in a room at the hotel on Christmas morning. She had been raped or sexually assaulted and had suffered vaginal injuries, according to a Sri Lankan police report.<\/p>\n

Tkacheva does not recall when or where she was found. \u201cYou try not to think that could have happened but it\u2019s disgusting because they killed Khuram and sexually assaulted me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To the best of Tkacheva\u2019s knowledge, her missing underwear has never been found and her dress was thrown away. Both could have provided police with DNA evidence.<\/p>\n

The eight suspects were identified through witness accounts. They include Sampath Chandra Pushpa Vidanapathirana, the head of the local council in Tangalle, one of the largest towns in Sri Lanka\u2019s southern province. His family have links to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

While there is no suggestion that Rajapaksa or members of Vidanapathirana\u2019s family have intervened in the case, the relatives of Tkacheva and Shaikh believe there has been a lack of urgency during the investigation. All the suspects were released on bail without charge last November.<\/p>\n

Tkacheva, who has waived her anonymity as a rape victim, is ready to give evidence at any trial. \u201cI was devastated when the men were freed on bail,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Last month the Sri Lankan government said it was awaiting a report on DNA evidence and had made every effort to find those involved.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Sunday Times UK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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