By Emily Saul May 22, 2018
A woman who accused a millionaire tech exec she met on a “sugar daddy” website of beating and sexually assaulting her offered to demonstrate suggestive sexual rubbing Tuesday in the middle of her court testimony.
The bizarre exchange in Manhattan Supreme Court came as the accuser was questioned by defense attorney Frank Rothman regarding whether she’d been massaging the genitals of his client, Sanjay Tripathy, while the two canoodled in a DJ booth in the W Hotel during a June 2016 date.
Tripathy is on trial for allegedly attacking the 38-year-old in his hotel room later that night, spraying the walls with her blood, forcing his fingers inside her body, demanding fellatio and threatening to kill her. Jurors Tuesday watched surveillance footage of the two, who connected over the website SeekingArrangement, sit together and kiss in the secluded area of the hotel bar.
Rothman continued to insist that the woman was rubbing his client’s “crotch,” while she maintained her hand was on the 48-year-old’s thigh.
“I don’t really want to demonstrate this on myself,” Rothman joked, prompting Manhattan Supreme Court judge Erika Edwards to respond, “Well, you can’t demonstrate on anyone else.”
“Do you want me to do it?” the woman, whose name is being withheld due to the nature of the charges, offered wide-eyed. Her surprise suggestion led to an outburst of giggling from the gallery — and an alarmed judge.
“Please, no in-court demonstrations,” Edwards interjected quickly.
Tripathy, a married father-of-two, faces counts of sex abuse, strangulation, assault and other charges for the alleged attack.
Tripathy, whose “sugar daddy” profile says he’s worth $10 million, claims the bloodbath was all part of a pre-arranged and consensual sexual encounter.
But the woman says they never discussed choking, BDSM or sex at all and that Tripathy punched her in the face some 20 times after threatening to anally rape and kill her.
The accuser, who runs a skin care company, stepped down from the stand Tuesday following two days of testimony. Jurors yesterday saw photos of her battered face — which was so swollen she appeared unrecognizable.
If convicted, Tripathy faces up to 25 years behind bars.
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