Dating app rape trial: Two accused men tell court sex with Canberra woman was consensual (ABC)

Two men accused of raping a woman they met through a dating app say they did not make threats towards her and the sex was consensual, their defence lawyers have told the ACT Supreme Court.

Evidence has wrapped up in the trial of two Indian nationals accused of raping a woman at a Belconnen apartment last September.

It is alleged Randhir Singh, 31, lured the 39-year-old mother of two to the Kippax Shopping Centre at Holt using the dating app Tango.

The pair had exchanged messages and agreed to have sex.

The alleged victim told the court she had changed her mind when a second man Adjitpal Singh, 31, also turned up at the shopping centre.

But she said she eventually went with them after Adjitpal Singh threatened to show her husband the messages and also mentioned knowing where her son went to school.

The court heard the woman agreed to go to a Belconnen apartment to have sex with Randhir Singh in exchange for a promise the Tango messages would be deleted.

It is alleged she was then raped by both men at the apartment.

Defendants said no threats made, sex was consensual

Randhir Singh's lawyer, James Sabharwal, told the court there was no evidence his client had threatened the woman.

He said all the sexual acts with the woman were consensual.

"She was a willing participant, she came into the flat," he told the court.

Mr Sabharwal also told the court his client had sent her a text message afterwards which read: "I'm so sorry for everything. I didn't think this was going to happen."

He said this suggested his client was not party to any threats.

Adjitpal Singh's lawyer, Theresa Warwick, also denied claims her client had blackmailed the woman into having sex with him.

Ajitpal Singh gave evidence saying he had comforted the alleged victim after a third man, known as Gora, had taken a picture of her while she was having sex with Randhir Singh.

He told the court in the end she initiated sex with him and told him she preferred him.

Ms Warwick told the court Adjitpal Singh had not raped the woman.

"Mr Adjitpal Singh has not denied he went to Kippax, he has not denied he was at the apartments, he has not denied he had intercourse with her," she said.

"What he denies is that it was without consent."

Prosecution described devious plot and blackmail

After the incident the woman returned home in a distressed state, telling her family she had been abducted and raped, before telling police the next day about the meeting she had set up.

Prosecutor Margaret Jones told the court she had a reason to lie to her family and had felt ashamed of what had happened.

"She had been through the ordeal to protect her family," Ms Jones said.

But she told the jury it had been a devious plot by the two men.

"They callously played on her naivety and desperation revealed in her Tango messages," Ms Jones said.

"They cornered her into a position where they could blackmail her into coming to the apartment when Randhir Singh and Adjipal Singh sexually assaulted her."

The two Indian nationals have been helped throughout the trial by interpreters.

The jury will begin its deliberations on Monday.

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