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British backpacker rescued from two-month hostage ordeal in Australia

Police, who found the young woman during a random traffic stop, say she was beaten, raped and choked.

A BRITISH BACKPACKER who was repeatedly raped, beaten and choked during a two-month hostage ordeal in Australia was rescued during a random traffic stop by police.

The 22-year-old, who court officials said was British, was visibly distressed and had injuries to her face when police pulled over the car she was driving yesterday near Mitchell in outback Queensland, 560 kilometres (350 miles) west of Brisbane.

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”.

Police said the pair met three months ago and agreed to go on a road trip, but it all went horribly wrong with the woman repeatedly attacked between 2 January and 5 March at various locations.

The man has been charged with a string of offences including four counts of rape, eight of assault, four of strangulation, and two of deprivation of liberty.

“The victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries including facial fractures, bruising and cuts to her body,” police said, with the man remanded in custody to appear in court at a later date.

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.

Milat is serving consecutive life sentences after the remains of two Britons, three Germans and two Australians were found buried in a forest southwest of Sydney.

- © AFP, 2017

Read: Iraqi forces retake Mosul government headquarters from Islamic State>

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    Mute Eamonn Ó'Tíghearnáin
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    Feb 18th 2013, 8:07 AM

    Ironically, this has also made the news on bbc.co.uk

    55
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    Mute Ciaran Morgan
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    Feb 18th 2013, 8:25 AM

    Meanwhile back in rte the gravy train rolls on!

    48
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    Mute Slap'stick Ireland
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    Feb 18th 2013, 9:56 AM

    Any chance RTE journalists might go on strik, for a few years.

    34
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    Mute mattoid
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    Feb 18th 2013, 8:24 AM

    @Eamonn & Paddy
    I’m confused now – is it on the BBC website or not? ;-)

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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Feb 18th 2013, 8:43 AM

    OK it’s there now, but I wasn’t when I checked half an hour ago http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21495821

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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Feb 18th 2013, 8:03 AM

    Unsurprisingly this story doesn’t appear on Auntie’s own website.

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    Mute Republic Of Zen
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    Feb 18th 2013, 9:24 AM

    Fire the ones that strike. Bam. Problem solved.

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    Mute Strongbow63
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    Feb 18th 2013, 1:24 PM

    Spoken like a true capitalist.

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    Mute bacoxy
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    Feb 18th 2013, 8:07 AM

    No news is good news they say…

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    Mute David Walls
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    Mar 20th 2013, 2:21 AM

    Well it seems you got there before me, only because I read it later!!

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    Mute Waffler Towers
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    Feb 18th 2013, 9:46 AM

    Redeploy them to RTE

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    Mute Joe O Connor
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    Feb 18th 2013, 10:40 AM

    It’s not like we’re talking Gardai or Nurses here is it? Journalists I’m afraid will never get my sympathy vote.

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Feb 18th 2013, 10:50 AM

    Thanks a lot Joe :)

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    Mute Joe O Connor
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    Feb 18th 2013, 10:56 AM

    Sorry Michelle. Nothing personal. And if I really did have a downer on journalists I’d hardly be reading this page now would I? God bless and Good luck!

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Feb 18th 2013, 11:08 AM

    No worries, we know you love us really.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Feb 18th 2013, 11:53 AM

    Let’s all hope the BBC Asian Network survives this calamity. Imagine a world without it!

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    Mute Gary Mason™
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    Feb 18th 2013, 12:19 PM

    Anyone with a twitter account seems to think they are a journalist these days, copy & paste

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    Mute David Walls
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    Mar 20th 2013, 2:19 AM

    No news is good news!!

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