PIN Numbers

“Man gang-raped, tortured for his bank PIN
Backpacking tourist, 19, suffers burns, broken bones in 16-hour ordeal

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Posted: June 23, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

A 19-year-old New Zealand man traveling in Australia on a backpacking trip was raped and tortured over the weekend by a gang of men trying to get his personal bank PIN number, reports Down Under.

The victim was admitted to the Royal Brisbane Hospital for treatment for a broken nose, cheek and fingers. The man was blindfolded and his legs and feet burned with a flame. Many of the other injuries were inflicted with home-made weapons, reports the New Zealand Herald.

The victim had only arrived in Australia on Thursday and was staying at a Brisbane backpackers' hostel. Police say he went to a park Friday evening and befriended the five men. They invited him back to their place, which turned out to be a warehouse occupied by squatters on the outskirts of Brisbane, and held him there against his will for 16 hours.

The gang of five men allegedly tied the victim to a chair and assaulted him throughout the night in an attempt to persuade him to give them his bank PIN number.

Police don't know why the man was sexually attacked.

''The use of a sexual assault was another means by which they tried to extract this information, and I can't really say why they used such severe sort of tactics,'' Detective Inspector Ben Hanbidge told the Herald.

Police found the teenage tourist, and three other men, locked in a dark, urine-soaked room strewn with garbage and drug paraphernalia, after receiving a tip he was being held captive.

Hanbidge said telling the attackers his PIN probably saved the New Zealander's life.

''If it had progressed further it could have resulted in his death,'' Hanbidge said.

Hanbidge, who described the assault as one of the worst he'd seen in his 24 years on the force, said the man's injuries were not life-threatening, but they ''were certainly substantial.''

''His whole body has copped it,'' Hanbridge told the paper.

Police arrested three men, one aged 28 and two aged 26 on Saturday, and charged them today with attempted murder, torture, rape, assault, armed robbery and burglary.

A fourth man in his thirties was arrested Sunday and police say they know the identity of the fifth suspect.

The men in custody are scheduled to appear in court today.

The victim is expected to remain hospitalized for a few more days.”

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