Summary: A USC student accused of raping a fellow student was cleared of all charges when security footage showed the accuser was the one instigating their relationship.
A University of Southern California student who had been charged with the rape of a fellow student had the charges dropped by a judge. The security camera footage just released shows the accuser leading Premjee around a nightclub before taking him back to her place.
Twenty-year-old Arman Karim Premjee was charged in May of sexual penetration by a foreign object and rape by use of drugs. At his arraignment in May, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors were seeking a $1-million bail but the judge denied their request and released Premjee on $100,000 bond.
A 19-year-old female USC student had accused Premjee of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room on April 1 around 1 a.m. The district attorney’s office explained, “The victim’s roommate walked in when the alleged crime occurred. Premjee went into the bathroom and when he returned, the roommate confronted him and he left.” The incident was reported immediately to the Department of Public Safety at USC. Premjee had no idea that things were amiss until officers arrived at his door several hours later to bring him into custody. He told Inside Edition, “They handcuffed me, took me away and put me in a cell.”
Premjee met the alleged victim at Banditos Taco & Tequila in Los Angeles on the night of the encounter. Security camera footage was released showing the two inside and then outside together. The footage shows the girl making sexually suggestive gestures to Premjee and then leading him to her dorm room.
The two left Banditos with a female friend of the accuser. The footage shows the accuser repeatedly pulling on his hand and dragging him around the nightclub while he messes around on his phone. She can be seen kissing Premjee in one moment and then making the widely-understood gesture for sex, a finger going into a hole made from the opposite hand. She makes the gesture to her friend when Premjee’s back is turned.
More security camera footage from the accuser’s dormitory shows her signing Premjee in while a security guard was watching inside a well-lit lobby.
The district attorney’s office alleged that the accuser was too drunk to consent but Premjee told CBS News, “She was the initiator, she was the aggressor. She knew what she was doing, she was able to stand on her own two feet, she led the way.” He explained to Inside Edition that she was the one wanting to leave to have sex. He said, “She put her arms around my neck, she started kissing me within two minutes of meeting me for the first time.”
The Los Angeles Superior Court judge who oversaw the case and viewed the security camera footage agreed that the accuser knew what she was doing. Premjee was cleared of all charges. He could have faced up to ten years if he had been convicted. USC is conducting their own investigation and may still expel Premjee.
He said, “If it weren’t for these videos I don’t know what I would have done. I’m very grateful for these surveillance tapes.” However, Premjee indicated that he fears retaliation from USC. He said, “My life will be ruined if I get kicked out of school.”
Do you think rape accusations are more often like this instance where women get persuaded to cry rape or are so drunk that they think it is rape, even though, like the footage showed, the woman was the instigator? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
To learn more about rape accusations, read these articles:
- Derrick Rose Found Not Guilty in Gang-Rape Case
- Defense Lawyer Argues Women Are “The Weaker Sex” in Rape Case
- Sweden Drops Julian Assange Rape Inquiry
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
Video: Youtube.com
