A Calgary woman, now 34, took the stand this week in a harrowing sexual assault case, telling the court she has no memory of the violent incident that left her unconscious for more than a week and erased nearly a month of her life.
Traumatic Memory Loss Described in Court
The woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, testified at the Calgary Court of Justice on Tuesday. She described waking up in the hospital with such severe memory impairment that she did not recognize her own mother, who was at her bedside.
"I'm missing like almost just under a month of time from when I went to the hospital to when I remember," she told Crown prosecutor Peter Mackenzie. Her last memory before the hospitalization was "sitting in the basement at a friend's house" using drugs. She said she recalled being in that basement, and then her next memory was being in the hospital.
Her mother had earlier testified that her daughter was unconscious for approximately eight days following the incident on July 14, 2019.
Defence Suggests Consensual Encounter
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Gunntas Sidhu suggested the complainant had met with the accused, Kepra Udup Bang, two to three weeks before she was hospitalized and had been in regular communication with him.
Sidhu asked the woman if it was possible she had met with Bang and had consensual sex. "No," she responded firmly. She further stated, "There's no way I would be near anyone that was Black," explaining to the court that she was afraid of Black people at the time due to an ongoing threat related to a drug debt.
The woman testified she was heavily addicted to methamphetamine and fentanyl in the summer of 2019 and was staying at a friend's residence near Marlborough Mall.
The Alleged Attack and DNA Evidence
Court heard that a witness called 911 after hearing screaming outside her home near 44th Street and 7th Avenue S.E. and seeing a woman being sexually assaulted. When police arrived, they found the complainant beaten beyond recognition and naked from the waist down.
Swabs taken from the victim were submitted for DNA analysis. In late 2024, that analysis reportedly returned a positive match to the accused, Kepra Udup Bang, now 26. Bang is charged with aggravated sexual assault.
The defence lawyers, Sidhu and David Nguyen, are expected to decide on Wednesday whether they will call any evidence. The trial continues.
