UK: Two arrested over Australian woman's seven-hour rape ordeal
18 Feb 2009 7:44 PM
LONDON, Feb 18 AAP - Scottish police have arrested two men over the abduction and rape of an Australian woman, who was subjected to a seven-hour ordeal after being dragged from an Edinburgh street in broad daylight.
A police spokesman said the two men were due to appear in Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday.
"We've arrested and charged two men," the spokesman said.
So far the accused had been charged with abduction and rape.
The 24-year-old woman was attacked by two men as she walked through a subway underpass near a busy supermarket on Monday afternoon.
She was sprayed in the face with some form of noxious substance and dragged to nearby undergrowth, where she was subjected to a protracted sexual assault lasting about seven hours, police said.
"This young woman has been subjected to a terrifying ordeal at the hands of these two men - the trauma she has experienced cannot be underestimated," a spokeswoman for the Lothian and Borders Police said in a statement.
Detective Superintendent Allan Jones, who was investigating the case, said the woman had displayed unbelievable resilience during the attack.
"The trauma she went through was unbelievable," Det Supt Jones was quoted as saying in a BBC report.
"Despite this protracted series of attacks in a makeshift den she has maintained a form of dialogue which allowed her to be in the position where she has contributed to her release.
"It is very commendable the way she has behaved during this traumatic set of circumstances."
Det Supt Jones told The Scotsman website: "It is very rare for an incident like this to happen at this time of day."
The area where the incident occurred, the Telfer subway, is regularly used by people making their way from Fountainbridge towards Dairy, police said.
