A Moroccan national named Abdelali Nachet, living in the UK, allegedly subjected a woman to a “degrading, humiliating and prolonged sex ordeal” after he offered his flat as a place to sleep for travellers on CouchSurfing.com.
The website allows somewhat adventurous travelers to find a free place to stay during a cheap road trip. Essentially a social network that connects members who have a couch (or floor space) with members looking for a place to sleep on a cheap road trip.
Prosecutor Simon Phillips said the 29-year-old victim was from Hong Kong and was travelling in Europe when she got in touch with Nachet, looking for a place to stay.
After an exchange of emails, the pair went back to his flat, where he allegedly made sexual advances after putting on music and asking her to dance.
She told Nachet, a Moroccan, she was not interested but he went on to rape her twice in an ordeal which lasted until the morning, Leeds Crown Court heard.
It is claimed Nachet made the woman have a bath after the alleged rapes to get rid of incriminating forensic evidence. She got on a bus back to the West Midlands and alerted police after telling a male friend she had met on couchsurfing.com what had happened.
Nachet denies two counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
The trial continues.
What a terrible thing for that poor woman! But then again, when has it ever been a smart idea for a single female to stay the night at a strangers house? It’s always sound to practice common sense, even if the person sounds nice online. Lots of people sound nice online =)
Yes, these allegations should be tried in court, not on the Interwebs. Do the right thing and remove his name and picture. Also, his nationality is probably of no relevance.
Why post the picture of this guy? Isn’t he innocent untill proven guilty.
(Not defending his alleged acts ofcourse)
Just wanting to point out that CouchSurfing is not about the free place to stay – hosting through home hospitality is a wonderful opportunity to encounter locals in a genuine and warm manner. it is the opportunity to open yourself up to new and wonderful experiences making friends with people who might be polar opposite from you in belief, custom, etc.
It’s a shame that someone abused our trust by using the website to commit rape.
for me money is not the main reason to use couchsurfing, it is much more about people.
Couchsurfing makes the difference between wandering around as a tourist with a camera or getting to know a place through the eyes of locals.
This seems like a bad idea for everyone involved. The girl put herself in a vulnerable position. If the man is innocent, he also put himself in a bad position. Neither one should have agreed to the arrangement w/o other people present.
Looks like a rapist to me!
Couchsurfing.com has been going for nearly 5 years making millions of connections between like-minded travelers. The site has nearly 1.5 million members and so one should always look at stories like this in context.
ANYONE traveling solo needs to do so with a degree of caution, but so far this is the first reported incident of its kind from the service. I think that shows that while some might think people who use it are foolish, on the whole its a service that works well.
I’ve used couchsurfing for a year now and I have enjoyed some truly wonderful travel experiences both as a guest and a host. Experiences that I most certainty wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have if I had decided to stay in some run-of-the-mill hostel or hotel.
Life is fraught with danger, and while I share some concern about the fact that as the site becomes more well known so will it become more noticed by creeps, I also think that in order to get more out of life you need to be prepared to invest more into it. If you want to play it safe and tread the well trodden tourist path, then choose a hotel. If you want a more social and genuine feel for a place, then meeting locals is the only way.
As one person pointed out to me, the mass murderer Dr Harold Shipman was a registered Doctor who looked after many people for years. In that time he was also killing old ladies. Does this mean we should all stop using doctors?
The fact is, meeting people can be sketchy and everyone (especially girls) should know what they are getting into before they throw themselves into a bad situation.
CS is a good site, but has no safety program or anything that stops bad people from using the site other then references. The unfortunate part is that, people do not leave bad comments all the time because they are fearful…so yeah….bad people continue to use Couchsurfing b/c their system is not perfect.
Until recently, I thought there was no solution out there until I found https://www.tripping.com . It is like couchsurfing, but much better.
They have a solid safety program and the ratings people leave are anonymous!!! to me, that says people will be more honest if they have a bad experience!
Can we stop vicitim blaming here? Just because she went to his house doesn’t mean she deserved to be raped. No on ever has the right to rape someone. Let’s blame the person who committed the crime instead of the survivor of it. The only person who can prevent rape is a rapist.
This must be why asian women have such troubles with those tentacle monsters. They always seem to be walking doe-eyed into trouble. :(