An Australian woman who was lured to Pakistan with a false promise to live a luxurious life with a dreamer was locked up, beaten and treated as a sex slave for months.
According to the Daily Mail, 30-year-old Lara Hall was rape several times in a few months and locked up in a dirty place.
When she managed to reach out to the Australian consulate in Pakistan, she claimed that she had only received a "cold" response and offered only limited advice.
Hall told the Australian version of the Daily Mail that a man named Sajjad promised her that the two would lead a luxurious life in Lahore's Spanish-style villa.
The promise of Spanish-style villas
Her nightmarish experience began with a casual encounter in 2013.
Hall finished law academic degree, at University of Notre Dame and had a great job. In 2013, she met and became friends with a Pakistani woman named Rhianna on train.
Hall offered to teach her English and became friends with Rhianna's family, thus meeting Sajjad,Sajjad as a relative of Rhianna.
The two men connected on fb and spoke intermittently over the next few years. Sajjad claimed that he was also a lawer.
Sajjad appeared in her life at a time when she was very vulnerable, Hall said.
Sajjad said he had five house and showed off a contract to buy a Spanish-style real estate, telling Hall, they could live in the house, decorate it as they wanted, and even send Hall house's photo. Sajjad even keeps in touch with Hall's family.
Dirty house.
In early 2018, Sajjad invited Hall to join his brother in wedding, Pakistan. She sees this as an excellent opportunity for online relationships to become real-life love.
Intoxicated by the promise of a better life and determined by the dream lover, temptation, Hall took an 18-hour flight to Lahore. on April 23 last year.
As soon as she arrived at Lahore, Hall said, she was dumbfounded. House was not the house of photo, and 20 people lived in four bedrooms.
(photo source: daily Mail)
But Sajjad says these are just people who come to wedding, but house is too dirty. Over the next few weeks, Sajjad pleaded guilty to lying, without a Spanish villa.
"all the feelings of love disappeared," Hall said. "then the abuse started with, Sajjad rape, and his brother tried to rape me many times. I was imprisoned. I didn't even have female hygiene products. I went hungry for a long time, once for 14 hours. "
Hall's incessant rejection of Sajjad's proposal and her refusal to convert to Islam fuelled his anger.
"after taking a bath, I was forced to be naked. Once, after taking a bath, there was still a little shampoo in my hair, and Sajjad grabbed me and told me it was an idiot and slammed my head into the basin. "
"once I was forced to lie naked in bed with my legs spread out."
"I came to Pakistan to be a prisoner."
Hall's 30-day visa has expired, and Sajjad said he had contacts in the process of applying for a new visa, but told her she could not leave her home or she would be in danger of being arrested.
She managed to reach out to the Australian consulate and the High Commissioner, who thought the sexual invasion report would trigger an emergency response and was disappointed by their "cold" attitude.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to the Daily Mail that it provided consular assistance to an Australian woman last year but would not disclose details due to "privacy obligations".
Hall made his own escape plan. She contacted Dr. Kaiser Rafiq, CEO of the Elite AFOHS Club, a well-known membership club for armed forces officers, diplomats and prominent businessmen.
"Hall contacted me through fb and she really needed help," Rafiq told the Daily Mail.
One night, Hall locked himself up in the bedroom, plucking up the courage to call the police.
When the police arrived, Sajjad pleaded with her, but Rafiq made the call and Hall was escorted to the local station.
At first, Hall received detain's threat for visa expiration, but after several pleas, she was fined $400 and instructed to leave within 10 days.
Hall said she didn't have enough money to feed herself, let alone buy an international ticket, and she tried to contact the embassy again.
"I pleaded with the embassy to ask me if I could take safe refuge," she said. "they said no. I said I was the victim of abuse, but once again I got a cold answer. "
There was no other place to turn, and Hall raised money on GoFundMe and contacted the UK Pakistan Christian Association.
The organization's head, Wilson Chowdry, responded to her request. The group paid her fine and arranged access to Australia, while criticising the weak consular officer of Australia's government. Chowdry said the Australian consulate and the High Commissioner had provided no help. Nor did she seem to take seriously the plight in which she was in.