A builder accused of kidnapping, raping and slashing two young women has blamed one of his alleged victims of killing the other in a fit of jealousy.
Mujahid Arshid, 33, is on trial at the Old Bailey for the murder of 20-year-old Barclays bank worker Celine Dookhran and the attempted murder of her friend in July last year.
The surviving woman, who needed surgery for cuts to her neck and wrists, has told jurors how the pair were snatched by Arshid and labourer Vincent Tappu and taken to a disused house bound and gagged.
While there, she said Arshid raped them both before slitting Ms Dookhran’s throat and stuffing her body into a freezer.
The woman texted her boyfriend that she had been “kidnapped” and messaged her mother saying: “He’s going to kill me.”
She told jurors how she managed to escape by persuading Arshid she loved him and they could be together, after he attacked her too with a knife.
The prosecution alleges Arshid was obsessed with the women and abducted them to satisfy his own sexual fantasies.
But a defence barrister asserted the women willingly went to the house in Kingston, south west London, where they both had consensual sex with Arshid.
She said the defendant claims the witness attacked Ms Dookhran with a knife because she was “jealous” at finding them together in a bedroom.
Weeping in the witness box, the young woman repeatedly disagreed with his account of how they both came to suffer cuts, saying: “Why would I do it to myself?”
Judith Khan QC said: “Is the true situation you had gone into that address of your own free will and you were not being restrained there?”
The witness insisted she had been taken into a utility room and her hands were tied around a pipe.
The lawyer continued: “You went upstairs to have a chat with him.
“When you were on the bed you were kissing consensually and there was foreplay between you. You had purchased the vibrator. You had sex with him consensually.”
The woman said: “He forced me upstairs. I completely disagree.”
Outlining how Arshid claims Ms Dookhran died, Ms Khan said: “You heard the sound of the defendant having sex with Celine.
“You went up, you saw them both getting dressed and you were upset and jealous at what you saw and you started to shout abuse. You punched the defendant in his chest and Celine was crying.
“The defendant then at this point went outside for 15 to 20 minutes and when he came back inside and came back upstairs everything was silent.”
The woman said: “I completely disagree, what’s being said is not the truth.”
Ms Khan went on: “When he went upstairs you were in the bathroom with a knife in your hand and Celine was in the bath and she was bleeding.
“The defendant in fact checked to see whether there was a pulse on Celine and he could not find a pulse and he tried to stem the bleeding from her neck and it was obvious at that point she was dead and closed her eyes and held her hand for a few minutes.”
The woman repeated: “I completely disagree.”
The lawyer suggested Arshid had confronted her saying: “What the hell’s happened, what have you done.”
She continued: “He told you to wash your hands and put the knife down and get out of his sight.
“You suggested that Celine be put in the freezer. And Celine was wrapped up in dust sheets and you both take her downstairs.”
The witness, who gave evidence behind a screen, said: “He dragged her himself.”
She also disputed the claim of the defendant that it was she who put a sock in Ms Dookhran’s mouth and taped it up.
Ms Khan alleged that neither woman was kidnapped, raped or molested and they had sex with him consensually.
The witness, who cannot be identified, wholly rejected Ms Khan’s version of events.
Arshid, of no fixed address, denies murder, attempted murder, rape of both women and the previous sexual assault and assault by penetration of the surviving woman when she was about 13.
Together with labourer Vincent Tappu, 28, from Acton, west London, he has also pleaded not guilty to the women’s kidnap and false imprisonment, and possession of a firearm with intent.