SYDNEY: A backpacker was repeatedly raped, beaten and choked during a two-month hostage ordeal in Australia, police alleged Tuesday after she was rescued during a random traffic stop. A 22-year-old man was found hiding in the back of the vehicle. Authorities say she had been “held against her will and seriously assaulted over a period of several weeks”. Australia is a popular destination for young backpackers, with around 600,000 touring the country every year. They occasionally run into trouble, most famously in the early 1990s when seven were murdered by Ivan Milat in a series of killings that terrified Australia.

Source: The Star March 07, 2017 01:07 UTC