A man who is alleged to have kidnapped a 22-year-old and held her hostage for sexual reasons changed his Facebook relationship status to ‘married’ just a week after meeting her.
According to the PUNCH, police reports indicate that the 22-year-old woman from Liverpool had been “raped four times, bashed and held captive” by a man, also 22 years old, who regarded himself as her boyfriend, an ordeal lasted for two months.
The woman’s friend who wished to remain anonymous disclosed that the suspected attacker, who is accused of a string of crimes against the lady, was ‘really clingy’ and “just blew into town and latched on to the first single girl” he saw.
As reported by the MailOnline, the victim finally regained her freedom when she shouted for help at a petrol station when the man stopped to buy fuel during a botched outing.
The lady was a British tourist visiting the Australian outback.
CCTV footage shows the moment the lady walked into a petrol station, prompting the cashier to call the police and save her.
She appeared distressed on Sunday as she pulled up in a white SUV to fill up the tank.
But as she wandered into the station crying, ‘shaking uncontrollably’ and ‘in a trance-like state’, the injured woman told the female owner behind the counter she was unable to pay for the petrol.
Moments later, she was rescued after being pulled over near Mitchell in Queensland after police received a tip-off from the owner of petrol station.
The woman’s friend believes she faked not being able to pay for the petrol in order to indirectly alert police to her plight.
Talking of the alleged attacker, the victim’s friend said: “He was really clingy; it was like he just blew into town and latched on to the first single girl.
“When he changed his relationship status on Facebook, I thought it was too fast — she never changed hers.”
The victim’s friend met the man through his British friend a handful of times and even had him over to their place.