Accused rapist believed the act was “morally justified”

A man accused of raping a woman at knifepoint was so delusional at the time of his crime that he believed the alleged attack was morally justified, a court has been told.

Khateebulla Mirza is accused of breaking into an unidentified woman’s home in Auburn, a western Sydney suburb, and raping the resident at knifepoint while recording the encounter on his phone.

In the hours before the attack, Mirza is also said to have inappropriately touched a woman’s breast in the inner-western suburb of Marrickville.

A month earlier, the 38-year-old is said to have touched a woman on the buttocks in front of a building in Zetland in the inner south of the city.

Mirza pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including sexual contact without consent, forced sexual intercourse without consent and assault.

He faces a single judge trial in the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney after citing his intellectual disability.

On Wednesday, key witness and forensic psychiatrist David Greenberg, who met Mirza twice after the alleged crimes, told the court that the 38-year-old was genuinely convinced that he had been programmed to commit crimes.

“All three offenses were, in his opinion, morally justified because he participated in a programmed game and his behavior was controlled in such a way that it was justified, even if it was legally wrong,” he said.

Mirza had previously been involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he began taking antipsychotic medication.

He noticed side effects such as reduced sexual arousal and stopped taking the medication after a few months.

Mirza told the psychiatrist that the organization behind the video game he believed he was in had brought women into his life to restore his normal level of sexual arousal.

“His actions at the time of the crime in all three cases are directly related to a delusional belief system, a delusional belief system due to schizophrenia,” said Professor Greenberg.

Prosecutor Caroline Dobraszczyk pressed the expert with contradictions in his assessments of Mirza in the two sessions.

“You are firmly convinced… that he did not understand the crimes,” she asked.

“That’s right,” said Prof. Greenberg.

Another forensic psychiatrist, defense witness Adam Martin, had previously told the court that Mirza was mentally impaired at the time of the incidents.

Dr Martin said Mirza had “delusional beliefs” that he was trapped in a video game.

The defense and prosecution will make their closing arguments on Wednesday afternoon before Judge Ian Bourke announces his decision.

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