Woman who alleges man assaulted her says relationship has 23-year history
Canadian Press NewsWire
August 9, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) – A 39-year-old Ottawa woman who said she feared for her
life after ending a relationship with her lover told court Tuesday
the man had tried to pursue a romantic relationship with her 23 years
earlier when she was a teenager growing up in Armenia.
During her second day of testimony, Lillian Arakelyan said she was
16 when Gagik Artsrunyan began stalking and harassing her after she
rejected his advances.
Artsrunyan, who lives in Portland, Ore., is charged with assault,
two counts of criminal harassment, three counts of uttering threats
and forcible confinement.
Arakelyan disputed a suggestion by defence lawyer Rosalind Conway
that she initiated romantic involvement with the accused at any time.
But Arakelyan, who arrived in Canada in 1998 to study at the University
of Ottawa, admitted to Conway that she met with Artsrunyan for coffee
on at least one occasion when they lived in Armenia.
“He was obsessed with me and harassed me,” Arakelyan said. “He would
wait outside of home and work and wait for me.”
Arakelyan has told the court she was viciously beaten by the accused
in her building’s underground parking lot after being dragged from
her car and thrown in the back seat of Artsrunyan’s vehicle.
She said the assault came three months after she had ended their
relationship.
The trial continues in November.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress