The victim, a 22-year-old new mother, was on her way home to her seven-week-old baby in June 2013 after a night out with friends.

Zynal Javid Khan, 34, denies he was the man who followed the woman for more than a kilometre before grabbing her in a "bear hug", dragging her into Browns Lane in North Melbourne, and raping her.

It's claimed Khan had approached the woman and asked if she wanted to go home with him, but she rejected his advances.

The woman was left seriously injured after allegedly being struck over the head, punched, and had a hand wrapped around her throat to prevent her screaming.

Acting Sergeant Ashlie Patterson told a pre-trial committal hearing at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday that she arrived to find the young woman "seriously assaulted" with severe facial injuries and sitting in a pool of blood.

"She was very upset. She was crying. She was badly injured," Sgt Patterson told the court.

"It was probably the worst assault that I'd seen."

According to court documents, the victim was bleeding from her nose and mouth, had cuts to her mouth and lip, had her whole face bruised and had both eyes and cheeks swollen, with her left eye nearly completely closed up.

But when Sgt Patterson arrived, the alleged offender was nowhere to be seen.

"(The victim) believed the male was spooked by a noise nearby and he moved away from her before grabbing her handbag and decamping on foot," she said in a statement.

Charges were not laid against Khan until 2018. Police had offered a $500,000 reward for information in August last year.

Khan, who has been charged with rape, five assault-related charges, and one charge of theft, applied for bail in January but was refused by magistrate Johanna Metcalf.

The committal hearing continues on Tuesday.

Australian Associated Press