A 26-year-old foreign woman was rescued from outside a house in Geduld after apparently being kept captive for seven years.
Tereasa Ferrari of The Lowvelder, Springs Advertiser’s sister newspaper, wrote on their website the woman escaped on Wednesday when a Springs man driving past spotted her being manhandled by an aggressive man.
He drove around the block, stopped at the house in Geduld to ask if everyone was ok. The man ran away and he noticed the woman was crying.
She then poured her heart out to her rescuer, telling him she was from England and was called Anna Kreller.
She told him she had been lured to South Africa under false pretenses. She also didn’t know where she was, as it was the first time she had managed to escape her circumstances.
She explained to him she had met a man from Cape Town over the Internet that seven years ago who tricked her into believing he wanted to marry her. The man travelled to England to fetch her and brought her back with him to South Africa. Upon arrival the man immediately took her passport and assaulted her severely, forcing her into a life of prostitution.
The woman also relayed to her rescuer she was given to people who had held her captive in the house in Geduld. These people had tried to force her to take drugs over the years. Although she didn’t take drugs, she got addicted to alcohol.
Capt Doniah Mothutsane of Gauteng provincial SAPS, speaking to the Addie this morning (Friday) said the police could not confirm allegations of her being kidnapped or being a victim of human trafficking. The woman was detained at the Springs Police Station on Thursday morning and may be charged with being an illegal immigrant. The case has not been registered yet, as an inquiry had been launched.
He confirmed that it was alleged that the woman came to South African with an unknown man whom she said was her boyfriend.
“It is also unknown how she entered the country, as she had no visa. It is alleged that she left the UK when she was 19 years old.
“The police are working with other departments since the woman is not South African,” Mothutsane said.
Springs police spokesman, Capt Johannes Ramphora has confirmed that the woman is in custody is in Springs. He says that the local police are working with national police and several government departments in their investigation.
The Addie will update this information as it becomes available.
If this is true I think it must have been terrible to be somewhere or with somebody that you do not know at all………..AGAIN never trust ANYBODY on the internet then you are STUPID!