Abhishek Timalsina gives evidence in ACT Supreme Court rape trial

"You can fall in love with connecting," the married man said during cross-examination in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday.

Abhishek Timalsina, 29, is accused of raping and indecently assaulting a customer he had just met on November 3, 2022, in the back room of an art supply store in Westfield Belconnen.

He has pleaded not guilty to six charges which are two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and four counts of committing an act of indecency without consent.

During the jury trial on Friday, prosecutor Trent Hickey asked Timalsina multiple times to explain what he meant by "connecting".

"I don't know how to answer that in a courtroom, where that can be used against me," Timalsina responded at one point.

"When two people spend time together, they connect.

"I cannot put it in a definition."

In response to questions from his barrister, John Purnell SC, Timalsina told the court he believed the customer was flirting with him.

"I was always regarding her sentiments throughout the whole ordeal," Timalsina told the court.

"I was actually shocked by the allegations."

After discussing art, he took photographs of the woman, who "happily" posed for him near the back of the closed store, he said.

"When I was clicking the pictures, she was really enjoying [herself] and smiling about it.

"I asked her if she had a boyfriend. Her words were: 'If I had a boyfriend, I would not be here with you'.

"I could see it in her eyes and in her expression that she was aroused."

Timalsina said they shared a "passionate kiss", lasting two minutes, before things "escalated" and they had consensual sex twice in the staff room.

While Timalsina agreed he had not explicitly asked for the woman's consent, he said: "Everything that happened before the staffroom, before the kiss, made me believe that I had her consent."

He told the court the alleged victim had asked him if he had protection and said "alright" when he indicated he could pull out.

In a police interview, played to the court earlier this week, the alleged victim said she "stopped reacting completely".

"I thought he was just going to do it and, I guess, my main concern at the time was pregnancy and I asked him if he had protection at least," she said.

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After the first alleged rape, the woman claims she "didn't know if I had permission to stand up, so I just stayed there".

"So he said, 'oh, you want more' and [raped me again]," she claims.

The alleged victim said she "felt like everything was going wrong" and was "sick and disgusted".

The woman is said to have attended Canberra Hospital on the day in question and underwent a forensic and medical examination.

The trial, before Justice Verity McWilliam, is set to continue next week.

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