Feb 12, 2009 6:29 am US/Eastern
Woman Sues N.Y. Over 2005 Subway Rape
Claims MTA Worker Witness Did Nothing To Stop Violent Early Morning Hours Attack On Queens Platform
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
A rape victim tells CBS 2 HD exclusively she was victimized not only by the rapist, but by the system that failed to protect her. And she is determined to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.
Maria Besedina, 25, says the pain of being raped never goes away. But now, four years later, despite the difficultly, she is telling her story to warn others.
"It's taken away every opportunity I ever had in my life," Besedina said.
It happened in June 2005 on the "G" line. Besedina fled the train in a panic at the Van Alst station in Queens, terrified after a man on the train had approached her and touched her. But he followed out Besedina out.
"And I was like you creep what are you doing? I was running for my life," she said.
Frantic, she ran up some stairs. It was 2 a.m., but she was relieved to see a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee inside a token booth.
"I was so happy. I was like thank God, I'm saved," Besedina said. "I was crying, screaming, help me, please. There were tears in my eyes. I remember looking in his eyes, pleading."
But she said he simply looked on as the man dragged her back down the stairs and repeatedly raped her on the deserted platform.
"I was thinking ... 'God, how can this happen? Someone please save me. Why isn't the guy upstairs doing anything?" she said.
The MTA refused to do an on-camera interview, but told CBS 2 HD the employee in the booth did exactly what he is supposed to do. He hit a button that connected him to a command center, who then called the police. Following procedure, he did not leave the booth.
"He continued to rape me and violate me in so many ways," Besedina said. "I was praying to God, please come help me and I really thought I was going to die."
By the time police arrived 10 minutes later the rapist had gotten away.
Attorney Marc Albert filed a lawsuit on behalf of Besedina, insisting that the transit authority employee could have -- and should have -- helped her.
"They don't care about safety," Albert said. "All he had to do … he had short-range speakers … was yell 'I've called the police' or 'I've seen you! What are you doing??'"
Beyond that, Albert said there was no way for the employee to alert others in the station of the danger.
"It's totally inadequate," Albert said.
New York City Councilmember John Liu agrees. He said the vast majority of stations, including Van Alst, do not have simple public address systems. For years, he's been fighting for the MTA to install them.
"Why is it that there's no way to alert the entire station, the platform, the upstairs level that an attack is occurring," Liu said. "If people had known that something like this was happening something awful like this, people would come to the rescue."
And Besedina said she hopes her lawsuit can prevent another horrific crime from happening to another woman.
"I want them to be safe," she said. "This kind of thing should never happen again."
According to the NYPD overall, violent crime in the subway is down. Rape, however, did increase though the numbers are still small. There were two rapes in 2007 compared to one in 2008.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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