Ezidi girl who escaped IS recounts experience in captivity as sex-slave
A Kurdish Yazidi (Ezidi) girl who was kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) and forced into sex slavery recently shared her horrific experiences.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish Yazidi (Ezidi) girl who was kidnapped by the Islamic State (IS) and forced into sex slavery recently opened up about her horrific experiences.
Ekhlas was only 14-years-old when the militant group attacked her town in northern Iraq and abducted her.
The Ezidi girl was taken from her home along with thousands of other women and children when IS stormed areas near the Ezidi-majority city of Sinjar (Shingal) after their emergence in 2014.
Over 50,000 members of the religious and ethnic minority group were trapped on Mount Shingal when IS besieged the area.
Ekhlas said she was held as a sex slave by the group and had tried to escape on several occasions.
She spoke to the BBC about her horrible experience in captivity where she said suicide crossed her mind.
“Every day for six months he raped me,” she told the BBC. “I tried to kill myself.”
“[The IS militant] picked me out of 150 girls by drawing lots,” the Ezidi girl revealed
Ekhlas said she was disturbed by the militant’s appearance who she described looked “like a beast, with his long hair.”
“He smelt so bad, I was so frightened I couldn’t look at him,” she added.
The Ezidi girl eventually managed to escape while the IS militant was out fighting and was taken to a refugee camp.
In August 2014, IS launched a genocidal campaign against Ezidis in Shingal carrying out mass executions, kidnappings, and rape.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, over 1,600 women and girls remain in IS captivity. Ezidi activists have called on the international community to do more to hold the perpetrators of these inhumane crimes to account.
Editing by G.H. Renaud