A St Andrews University student told a jury she was terrified when a man pushed her to the ground and whispered “pretty lady” in her ear.
She was giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow during the trial of Pasquale Galianni, 31, who denies sexually assaulting her with intent to rape in North Haugh, St Andrews, on November 28 last year.
Galianni also denies raping a woman at Double Dykes Road, St Andrews, on April 9 and sexually assaulting another woman at the town’s North Haugh on April 10.
He has lodged a special defence of consent to the rape charge.
The 19-year-old said she was walking from her halls of residence towards a bus stop when she was grabbed.
She claimed she was dragged on to a grassy area, only getting a brief glimpse of her attacker because she was looking at her phone.
The teenager said: “He was holding me down and trying to take my tights down. I just remember him saying ‘pretty lady’.
“I thought he sounded foreign. It wasn’t a British accent.”
When asked how she felt the woman replied: “Terrified. He was very strong and I didn’t think I would be able to push him off.”
After she screamed the attacker ran off, the woman said.
She said she later called her boyfriend, who alerted police.
The court heard she told police the man had an Eastern European or Indian accent.
The trial before Lord Burns continues.