Convicted rapists walk out of court, skip town

Two international students — both convicted in the gang rape of a young Ottawa woman — have skipped town and possibly the country.

Ousmane Kader Diarrassouba, 24, and Abdilahi Houd, 22, were convicted on June 28. The successful prosecutor, Juliana Martel, asked the judge to revoke their bail while they awaited sentencing but he refused.

The prosecutor then asked the judge to at least order the convicted rapists to surrender their passports.

Ontario Court Justice Robert Fournier gave them 72 hours to turn in their passports at Ottawa police headquarters but they never

showed and haven’t been seen since they walked out of the Elgin Street courthouse.

Fournier initially gave them 48 hours to hand over their passports, but because of a statutory holiday — Canada Day — the judge afforded them extra time. Diarrassouba and Hood were granted bail while awaiting trial and afforded the chance to finish their degrees.

Arrest warrants have been issued for the fugitives, according to court records, and the Canada Border Services Agency has been asked to investigate if and how the pair fled the country.

At the judge-alone trial earlier this year, Fournier heard different stories about consent on the day the young woman said she had been raped by two men.

The men told court she enjoyed it, but the judge sided with the victim, who testified she wasn’t moaning in pleasure, but rather in pain as she was shoved down and raped.

The woman said she felt like a meaningless object when the men started talking about having a threesome because it was one of their birthdays, and she would be the gift. Even the thought of it was upsetting, and she found their conversation “chilling,” court heard.

She categorically declined and said clearly she wasn’t interested but they didn’t stop. Instead of asking for consent, they continued to urge her on until she felt boxed in and scared. She told court she knew it was about to happen but couldn’t stop it.

She felt like she was not “psychologically present” at the time, the judge said.

“At times she experienced pain as she was being penetrated against her will,” Fournier noted in his June 28 verdict. “Adding salt to injury, when it was all over, (Diarrassouba) addressed (Houd), saying ‘Happy Birthday,’ ” the judge said.

The woman was left distraught and withdrawn afterward, and the judge noted her emotional and psychological scars.

The judge also highlighted that the victim did not waver during a “relentless” cross-examination by defence lawyer Oliver Abergel.

Both men testified at trial, and Diarrassouba expressed “remorse and sorrow upon realizing the deleterious effect his actions have visited upon this complainant,” the judge recounted.

The judge didn’t buy their stories, and ruled they had embellished them in a “very careful and calculated fashion.”

After the two men were convicted, they failed to show up for court dates in July and August, and in turn, have eluded sentencing.

The wanted men were facing a penitentiary sentence for the October 2017 sex attack.

Their lawyers don’t know where they are, only that they didn’t show up for sentencing dates. They haven’t heard from them since.

Ottawa police are aware of the bench arrest warrants issued for Diarrassouba and Houd but so far the fugitives are not featured on the police department’s “Wanted” page.

The Citizen has requested mug shots of the wanted rapists but Ottawa police has yet to release them. gdimmock@postmedia.com @twitter.com/crimegarden