Posted on November 4, 2004

Voodoo ‘Snared Girl As Sex Slave’

BBC News, Nov. 2

A teenager was turned into a “sex slave” by two sisters who threatened her with voodoo, a court has heard.

For three months the 18-year-old was kept locked up in an east London flat, beaten and made to have sex with three men, said Mark Gadsden, prosecuting.

The Old Bailey heard on Tuesday how she finally escaped after a severe beating.

Negi Dule, 37, of Stepney denies false imprisonment, procuring a girl under 21, assault and theft. Her sister Yasmin is thought to have fled the UK.

Prosecutor Mark Gadsden told the court the girl had made friends with one of the sisters and agreed to stay at the flat for a couple of days.

“The sisters stopped her from leaving. That was the beginning of the period of enslavement.” he said.

“She was forced by the sisters, particularly Negi, to do menial tasks around the house, she was assaulted so that her will was subjugated, money was taken out of her bank account.”

The jury heard that she was hired out as a prostitute by the sisters who kept the money for themselves.

‘Chained and manacled’

Mr Gadsen explained that “she believed Negi, through her aunt, was capable of exerting some voodoo influence over her which stopped her from leaving the house.

“It was just as effective as if she had been chained and manacled.

“That is why she stayed as long as she did, enduring the beatings and sexual indignities.”

She finally gave her captors the slip in the London Underground while going to hospital with Negi and asked for help from a woman at a bus stop, said Mr Gadsden.

Police allegedly found evidence of the abuse when a local chemist reported pornographic pictures had been left for developing.

Yasmin Dule was arrested but has since disappeared.

The case continues.