A Swedish rape victim has expressed anger that a Syrian migrant who raped her has been given £70k ($96k) in damages by the Swedish state, while she has received just £250 ($340).
The victim, a 42-year-old woman named Petra, was one of the victims of a Syrian migrant and his brother, who abducted and raped two women in the spring of 2017 in the city of Malmo.
She told the newspaper Expressen that the two men had entered her apartment in central Malmo during the middle of the day on March 19th of 2017 as she was resting in bed.
“Suddenly I had both men in the bedroom. I was woken by one of them screaming that I should lie down while the other spread my legs,” she said. Prosecutors say that the two Syrians raped her multiple times and beat her with punches and kicks to keep her quiet.
“They clearly threatened to kill me,” she said. “I ended up on the floor and there the violence continued. One of them also pointed some kind of gun at my head.”
After a time, both of the men left Petra’s apartment — but not before stealing her bank cards, her passport, and other belongings.
Following the arrest of the two Syrians, who had also locked up another woman in a basement for over 24 hours, Petra said she had to face them in a Swedish courtroom, where she says they laughed at her.
“I’m still going to a psychologist. I feel scared, don’t want to go out when it’s dark and cry a lot,” she said.
While Petra was awarded 225,000 Swedish kronor (£18,757/$25,552) in damages, she said she has only received 3,000 (£250/$340) so far.
One of the rapists, the younger of the brothers, was recently awarded 840,000 kronor by the Swedish state (£70,000/$96,000) after complaining that he had been tried as an adult but had supposedly been a minor at the time of the rapes.
His initial sentences for the crimes did not even amount to five years in prison, even after being slightly increased at an appeal.