Young woman who told police she was raped , killed herself after she was put on trial accused of making up the ordeal

The father of young woman who told police she was raped but killed herself after she was put on trial accused of making up the ordeal says she was hounded to death.

Eleanor de Freitas, 23, was charged with perverting the course of justice after the man who allegedly attacked her spent £200,000 on bringing a private prosecution.

Police believed the vulnerable A-grade student, who suffered from a psychiatric illness, had told the truth about the rape when she reported it, but decided there was not enough evidence to bring a successful conviction, so closed the case.

But the Crown Prosecution Service put Miss de Freitas, who had bipolar disorder, on trial after the alleged perpetrator spent vast sums of money pursuing the matter.  

She was so terrified of giving evidence she took her own life on April 7 this year, three days before the trial was to start at Southwark Crown Court, South East London.  

Now her family are urging the coroner at her inquest, due to begin today, to carry out a wider inquiry into whether the CPS breached her human rights by pressing ahead with the court case. 

David de Freitas, the victim’s father, said today: 'Police believed her but decided not to prosecute because of evidence that was inconsistent. They didn’t want Eleanor to have to go on trial herself.

‘When the man she alleged raped her took out prosecution against her she was shocked and in dismay. She had been very happy at that time.

‘When she got her prosecution summons it was on the morning of a financial exam and she was in such a state of panic she had to leave during the exam.

‘Police told her they weren’t going to prosecute her but then the CPS said they’d support a private prosecution.

‘We were utterly amazed and flabbergasted that they decided to continue with the prosecution. It put her in a very low place.

‘It was soul-destroying and just ground her down. She masked what she was going through and seemed on the surface to be coping well.

‘If only she had communicated we could have been in a position to support her.

‘But she feared that by telling people what she was going through she would be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

‘In the end she couldn't cope with it

You should have fought back by living well. Rest in peace