Video of girl’s rape dismissed by her peers as misinterpretation of what happened

Following the rape of a 16-year-old Canadian teenager at a rave party by a group of men, a video of which was subsequently posted online (see WVoN story), the Vancouver Sun says many of her peers are dismissive of the incident.

Mariah Schultz, 17, a student at Garibaldi Secondary School in neighbouring Maple Ridge, said it was terrible that photographs of the incident were posted online. But, she said, the police and the media have completely misinterpreted what took place that night.

In her opinion, the embarrassment of seeing the photos plastered all over Facebook prompted the girl to allege assault.

“It makes me angry. She’s ruining these other people’s lives,” she said, referring to the alleged perpetrators.

The insinuations drew an angry response from the girl’s father.

“Absolutely stupid,” he told Postmedia News, saying that his daughter had essentially been re-victimized after the photos went viral.

“The Internet has added insult to injury tenfold,” he said. “People need privacy to heal.”

His daughter – whom he described as witty and beautiful and having a strong personality – is receiving counselling.

He said he was pleased that police were pursuing the case aggressively and had announced a second arrest.