US kidnap victim, 21, says she was raped daily during nine-month captivity
Washington, Oct 2 : A 21-year-old American student has opened up about her rape ordeal seven years ago when she was kidnapped by a man and held captive as one of his wives.
Elizabeth Smart, who was 14-year-old at the time, was kidnapped by suspect Brian David Mitchell from her Utah home and raped repeatedly during nine months of her captivity.
She told the court that 55-year-old Mitchell raped her for the first time right after her June 2002 abduction.
He continued to rape her three to four times a day for nine months, and told her she would be killed if she yelled or tried to escape.
Smart described Mitchell as "evil, wicked, manipulative, stinky, slimy, selfish, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."
She said Mitchell abducted her in her bedroom at knifepoint in the middle of the night, took her to a mountain camp and performed a ceremony she said was intended to "marry" the two.
"After that, he proceeded to rape me," Fox News quoted Smart as saying.
Mitchell is said to have made Smart his "wife" to fulfill a religious prophecy.
Smart revealed that she was held captive with a cable attached to her leg that had a 10-foot reach. She said the line was attached to another cable strung between two trees.
Smart said Mitchell plied her with alcohol and drugs to lower her resistance.
The court is conducting a competency hearing for Mitchell, who has twice before been deemed mentally unfit for trial.
A judge ruled earlier this week that Smart''s testimony is relevant to determining Mitchell''s mental competency.
Mitchell and his estranged wife were found with Smart in March 2003, nine months after her abduction.
She was rescued after a motorist spotted her walking through a suburb with Mitchell and his estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee. (ANI)