Bendigo rape case bail

By Whitney Harris
Updated November 7 2012 - 4:29am, first published January 17 2011 - 11:22am
Mohammad Zaoli, 21, is led into Bendigo Magistrates Court yesterday before being granted bail on gang rape charges.
Mohammad Zaoli, 21, is led into Bendigo Magistrates Court yesterday before being granted bail on gang rape charges.

ALL four men accused of the gang rape of a Bendigo mother last weekend have been released on bail.The men, along with three boys, are charged with repeatedly raping the 21-year-old and detaining her against her will while her two young children slept in another room.Police allege the attack happened in the early hours of Sunday, January 9. Aru Gar, 19, Akoak Manon and Mohammed Elnour, both 18, applied for, and were granted bail in Bendigo Magistrates Court last week.Mohammad Zaoli, 21, appeared in the same court yesterday and was also granted bail.Zaoli, Gar, Manon and Elnour are each facing 17 charges, including 14 counts of rape and single counts of unlawful and injurious imprisonment and detainment, assault in indecent circumstances while being aware the victim was not consenting and unlawful assault.The three boys, aged 14, 16 and 17, are facing the same 17 charges. The 16-year-old was last week refused bail after a children’s court was told he played a leading role in the attack.The other two will learn their immediate fate on Friday. None of the accused have entered a plea.The prosecution yesterday opposed Zaoli’s application for bail, saying the 21-year-old was an unacceptable risk of interfering with witnesses, associating with the co-accused and reoffending.Detective Senior Constable Christopher Reed of the sexual crimes squad told the court he had viewed mobile phone footage that showed Zaoli and a co-accused attempt to shove the woman into the laundry where the rape is alleged to have occurred.Zaoli had denied entering the laundry, but his driver’s licence was found on its floor, the court was told.He is alleged to have driven the co-accused to the woman’s house after she invited one of their female friends for drinks.Defence lawyer Julien Lowy said Zaoli denied involvement in the incident and had been asleep in his car when police arrived.Detective Senior Constable Reed said Zaoli had warned the woman’s babysitter to stay away from the laundry by saying, “I wouldn’t go in there, unless you want to see something disgusting’’.Zaoli was granted bail with strict conditions.The four men will next face the Bendigo Magistrates Court on March 30.

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