An Indian mother and son accused of assaulting and inducing her son's bride to abort deny all the charges against them, a court has been told.
The Te Puke pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are appearing in the High Court at Rotorua where the trial entered its third week today.
The woman, in her 70s, is jointly charged with her son with attempting to procure an abortion, to being a party to his assault on his wife and a separate assault charge involving her daughter-in-law.
As well as the abortion charge, the son, 33, is charged with two counts of threatening to kill his wife, two of raping her, one of assaulting her with a knife, three of assaulting her and three of sexually violating her.
The complainant spent several days on the witness stand blocked from the accused pair's line of vision by a wooden screen.
Opening the defence case on Monday, counsel Frank Deliu said the two accused would give evidence proving the Crown's case against them was a fabrication.
He said the son would tell of enormous pressure being placed on him to stay in the relationship by the man who arranged his marriage, so his wife could get permanent New Zealand residency and of being offered a $30,000 bribe to do so.
He asked the jury to consider how an elderly woman with arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure could engage in the hundreds of beatings she was accused of inflicting on a tall, in-shape young woman.
Mr Deliu said a witness who had been outside the court throughout the trial would tell of the complainant laughing and smiling as she left court, actions very different from the way she had presented herself on the stand.
NZN