The committal hearing in the rape case against Victorian MP Theo Theophanous began today in Melbourne’s Magistrate Court.

A woman who now lives permanently in Greece accuses Mr Theophanous of raping her in his Parliament office more than ten years ago.

In the days leading up to the hearing the defence team of the former Minister appeared in court to challenge the woman’s claims while requesting the subpoena of legal notes and medical records.

The woman had claimed that she was hospitalised in 2003 for a nervous breakdown as a result of the alleged rape.

Mr Theophanous’ lawyer, Amanda Fox questioned the woman’s credibility and argued that the woman had lied about the fact to her friends.

Ms Fox suggested that the nervous breakdown was the aftermath of a relationship failure she had with a married man.

Friends of the embattled MP who spoke to Neos Kosmos English Edition (NKEE), on the condition of anonymity, are standing by his side and express their confidence that justice will be served.

Mr Theophanous vehemently denies the allegations against him and has been vehementinhis public statements that the “truth will come out in the court”.

Legal experts suggested to NKEE that “arguably most committal hearings end up with the setting of a trial date, since magistrates tend to prefer that a panel of jurors renders a final judgement on controversial cases such as this.”