Yazidi woman seeks to testify in Australia over alleged abuse by Islamic State member
A Yazidi woman has asked Australian authorities to let her give evidence in court about alleged abuse by Hodan Abby, an Australian who joined Islamic State in Syria. The woman, identified by a changed name, says she was enslaved as a child and that Abby beat and mistreated her; the allegations have not been tested in court.
Aisha says she was nine when she was kidnapped from Iraq and sold at an Islamic State slave market, and that Abby’s husband raped her. She contacted the Australian Federal Police in July, while a counter-terrorism team is working through legal steps to obtain information that could be used in court. Abby has permission to return to Australia and would face extensive monitoring; authorities have not announced charges against her.
In short
- A Yazidi woman seeks to testify about alleged abuse by Hodan Abby.
- She says she was enslaved at nine and suffered beatings and rape.
- Australian authorities are working on legal steps to gather evidence.
Explained simply
The Yazidis are a religious minority from Iraq, and Islamic State is an armed extremist group that seized territory in Iraq and Syria. During its rule, the group kidnapped Yazidis and forced some into slavery. Children were among those taken.
Hodan Abby is an Australian who travelled to Syria and joined Islamic State. Australian authorities are considering how evidence from the Yazidi woman, whose name has been changed, could be used in court; the claims about Abby have not been tested there. Abby has permission to return to Australia, where authorities say she would be closely monitored, and no charges have been announced.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Young woman claims she was beaten by an Australian ISIS bride and raped by her husband while being kept as a slave”.