Sex slave Sydney: Woman used burner phone to escape her controlling husband who repeatedly raped her

A woman who was raped by her husband up to four times a day escaped his clutches after a case officer secretly gave her a burner phone.

The unnamed woman fled Afghanistan when the Taliban resumed control in 2021 and settled in Sydney with her husband, a man who helped the Australian military during the war.

She had no access to the internet, money or phones while under his control, and he refused to let her leave the house or even leave his side for a while.

Under the Australian entry resettlement scheme, she was assigned a case manager who eventually found out what she was going through.

After the woman made a statement about her abusive husband, he was immediately arrested and charged with assault the next day.

The woman, who had fled Afghanistan before the Taliban retook control, was given a burner phone by her case officer that helped her escape

Sergeant Lisa Clemence of the Domestic and Family Violence Registry said the case was one of the worst she had ever seen.

“This woman was so beat down, she had no family, no support system and within her culture to stand up to a man and say, ‘No, what you’re doing is wrong,’ that’s a very hard thing to do,” Sergeant Clemence told the Daily Telegraph.

“This is one of the most horrific cases I’ve ever seen, not only the physical abuse but also the coercive control. She literally couldn’t scratch herself without his permission.”

During her stay in Afghanistan, the woman had lived in the same house as her husband’s mother and father, another married brother and sister, and five children.

She had approached his mother about the incessant sex, but was told by the eldest that it was a man’s right to demand it and that it was her duty to provide for his needs.

However, police in Sydney are now treating the woman as a modern-day slave, who was allegedly held against her will and subjected to horrific violence.

The woman had tried to escape from her husband’s clutches once before, when her case officer told police she was being abused several times a day.

She and her two children were taken to a shelter where the case “fell between two stools,” said Sergeant Clemence.

Eventually, the trio returned to her husband’s house, where he became furious that she had tried to leave in the first place.

The restrictions on her freedom of movement were tightened and she was not allowed to leave her husband’s side for a moment.

However, her agent kept in touch and was somehow able to get the woman a burner phone to use when her husband was at work.

“Her agent managed to get her a burner phone so she could hide it from him. The social worker would then call her to see if she was still alive,’ Sergeant Clemence said.

After two weeks, her husband went back to work and she texted her case officer, who then sent a taxi to take the family to the nearest police station.

Her husband was arrested the same day and taken to prison, while she and her two mentally challenged children were re-homed.

Sergeant Lisa Clemence (pictured) of the DV unit said it was one of the worst cases of serial abuse she had ever seen

The woman was not allowed access to the internet, money or a telephone by her oppressive husband (stock image)

When he appeared in court, the man claimed he did not speak English before police told the court that he had worked as an interpreter for the Australian Army during the war.

The man was charged with four counts of assault and two counts of violating an AVO.

He was denied bail and is now in jail awaiting his next trial.

In Afghanistan, women are often oppressed because of the culture in which men are seen as the leaders of the house and the writers of the rules.

When the Taliban regained control during the catastrophic withdrawal of international forces, millions of Afghans fled to escape the infamous group’s return.

Fear of retaliation and stigma prevents many women from reporting the crime to the police, said Sergeant Clemence.

“The system missed her in New South Wales because she wasn’t covered in bruises, bleeding and screaming. She lived under a government that made it a criminal offense to accuse your husband of partner violence or rape. Understanding how the system has failed her is the only way her case has been solved through the good work of our team,” she said.

“If we can solve such a difficult complex case, then we have a blueprint for the future and how to approach victims when the circumstances are too difficult.”