A Ghanaian asylum seeker accused of raping a German woman while forcing her boyfriend to watch called his victim 'a prostitute' in court.

The man - only identified as Eric X - is accused of raping a 23-year-old woman after spotting the couple camping in a nature reserve near Bonn, west Germany in April.

Appearing in a Bonn district court today, Eric X, 32, defied his lawyers' advice to stay silent and after insulting his alleged victim, he added that anyone who believed her were 'filthy'.

Accused: Asylum seeker Eric X, 32, from Ghana,appeared in court today in Bonn, Germany

The attack took place on April 2, shortly after midnight. The couple were already asleep when Eric X allegedly cut through the tarpaulin, threatened them with a tree saw and ordered them to hand over their valuables - six euros (£5.35) and a music box.

After robbing them he is said to have dragged the 23-year-old woman outside, where he raped her and forced her boyfriend, 26, to watch.

German media have reported that the boyfriend's call to police was initially considered a joke.

The suspect was arrested soon after in nearby Siegburg after a man recognised him from a composite picture of the sex attacker.

Today, Eric X.'s lawyers ordered the accused to remain silent, but according to local media his responded by shouting in court: 'Why should I remain silent, about a case where I don't know anything about?'

Defiant: Despite being asked to stay quiet by his lawyers, the defendant called the 23-year-old woman who he allegedly raped a 'prostitute'

Eric X. said: 'If the girl claims she has been raped, she must be a prostitute.

'All who help her in the lie are filthy people.'

Lawyer Gudrun Roth, who represents the 23-year-old student, said that it is 'always a slap in the face, if someone who has experienced such a thing is mocked even further.'

Both of the victims, from Stuttgart, south-west Germany are currently undergoing psychological care as according to local media they are still heavily traumatised.

Following his arrest it emerged that the man had been served notice by the German authorities ten days before the attack, informing him he would face deportation to Italy as his asylum application had been rejected.

An e-fit of the accused which was put out by the police. He was captured after a passer-by recognised him from the e-fit. Pictured right: The Siegaue Nature Reserve

The refugee was arrested after being accused of dragging a young woman from her tent and raping her while she was on camping with her boyfriend at in the Siegaue Nature Reserve (pictured)

He arrived in Italy in January and his asylum application was immediately rejected but by then he had made the journey to Kassel in Germany.

The suspect lived for a time in asylum seeker housing accommodation in the town of Sankt Augustin, near Bonn.

But local media have questioned why he was not immediately deported.

Vanessa Nolte, of the Cologne district authorities, said: 'On 23 March he received the order, on 24th March he appealed it.'

Bonn police spokesman Robert Scholten said: 'As well as from the rape, we found a lot of DNA samples at the crime scene, which are clearly from the arrested man.'

The trial is expected to last eight days.