Jury hears Melbourne flatmate rape case

A man allegedly raped his new Melbourne flatmate, then told her she was being too emotional when she started to cry.

The woman, 24, had only been living in the city apartment for a fortnight when the assault allegedly happened in May 2015.

After sending a series of phone messages in their native Mandarin the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, asked "If I do rape you, will you hate me?", a County Court jury was told on Wednesday.

The woman replied that she was stronger than the accused and would defend herself.

He then said he was kidding, but added: "If I do force you, you won't leave me."

Four days after the message exchange, the woman woke to find the accused, then also aged 24, sitting on her bed wearing only his bathrobe, prosecutor Peter Chadwick QC said.

"I really like you, why don't you like me?" he allegedly asked, grabbing her wrists and forcing her to stay in the bed.

She managed to break free and run to the nearby bathroom but claims the taunts continued.

"If I wanted to rape you, to force you to have sex with me, do you think the toilet door would force me out?" he is alleged to have said.

Mr Chadwick said the accused man then grabbed the victim and raped her multiple times, at one point covering her nostrils with his fingers so she couldn't breathe.

The woman was shouting, crying and struggling to get away, he added.

The man then tried to comfort her, allegedly saying: "Why are you crying? Don't be so emotional."

Mr Chadwick said the woman told a friend what happened and contacted police.

When interviewed, the man told investigators he had romantic feelings for his flatmate and had kissed her and she touched his chest, but he forgot how they ended up in the bedroom.

He told police they had sex, but she was crying and complaining of pain so he stopped.

Defence counsel Daniel Gurvich QC said his client disputed the victim's version of events and while there was sexual activity between them, it was consensual.

The texts he sent her were a joke and he denied using the word "rape", Mr Gurvich said.

The man is charged with four counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape.