Telarah, coronavirus payment: Woman allegedly kidnapped and raped after failing to repay drug debt
A couple will front court accused of kidnapping and raping a woman after she failed to repay a $750 drug debt she had racked up while waiting for a COVID-19 stimulus payment.
Newcastle
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A couple stand accused of kidnapping, raping and bashing a woman for two days after the alleged victim failed to repay a $750 drug debt she had racked up while waiting for a coronavirus stimulus package payment.
Police will allege the victim, who had suffered a fractured eye socket, punctured lung and extensive bruising, was able to yell for help out of the window of a room in a house she had been kept hostage in.
Maitland police were called to a home on Capper Street, Telarah, last Tuesday following reports of concerns for welfare. There they found the 28-year-old woman locked in a room.
She was rushed to John Hunter Hospital for treatment.
A crime scene was set up and detectives began an investigation, which culminated in a raid on a Rutherford home on Friday.
A man, 30, and woman, 21, were arrested at the Rutherford property.
Police will allege they kidnapped the woman and held her captive inside the Telarah premises for two days where she was bashed and sexually assaulted.
She had been kidnapped because of the drug debt she had acquired while waiting for a $750 government payout initiated as part of the COVID-19 stimulus payment, police will allege.
The man was charged with aggravated sexual assault in company inflict actual bodily harm, take/detain in company with intent to get advantage occasion actual bodily harm, and two counts of supply prohibited drug.
The woman was charged with aggravated sexual assault in company inflict actual bodily harm, take/detain with intent to obtain advantage occasion actual bodily harm, take/detain in company with intent to get advantage occasion actual bodily harm and possess prohibited drug.
Both were refused bail and were due to face Newcastle Local Court today.