Maid didn’t know IMF chief - lawyer

New York - The hotel maid who IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of trying to rape has gone into hiding, and she was unaware of his identity until a day after the alleged attack, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Sofitel hotel maid is a widow with a 15-year-old daughter, said her lawyer Jeffrey Shapiro. They moved to New York from the West African nation of Guinea about seven years ago, he said.

“She didn't have any idea who he was or have any prior dealings with this guy,” Shapiro, a New York City personal injury lawyer, told Reuters.

The attack is alleged to have happened about 12pm on Saturday and the woman was unaware of Strauss-Kahn's identity until Sunday. “A friend called her and said 'do you have any idea who this guy is?’” Shapiro said.

Prosecutors have accused Strauss-Kahn, 62, of attacking the maid when she entered his suite, apparently unaware it was occupied, at the luxury Sofitel hotel near Times Square.

During Strauss-Kahn's first appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, prosecutors said he had sexually assaulted the maid, attempted to rape her and then, when unsuccessful, forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers denied the charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching. He was denied bail on Monday and is due to reappear in court on Friday.

He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Shapiro said that after the woman “escaped from the room she reported it to security, the New York City police were called, they interviewed her, they investigated the scene”.

“She is someone who respects the fact that the laws exist in this country. She came from a place where laws are few and far between and not readily enforced. She felt it was her obligation to report this,” he said.

“She has no agenda in this other than to answer the questions that are asked of her, to tell the truth.”

The woman, who is not a US citizen but says she has a visa to work in the United States, has a limited education and experience, but had worked hard to obtain her job as a maid at the Sofitel, Shapiro said.

Shapiro, who was introduced to the woman by a friend on Sunday, said that since the incident, she had not returned to her home in the New York City borough of the Bronx and saw her daughter for the first time only on Tuesday. - Reuters