A Sydney teen, 13, was kidnapped by her father, taken to Syria and forced to marry her cousin before escaping violent and terrifying ordeal on her 18th birthday

• Australian Rania Farrah was taken against her will to Syria while on holiday with her older brother in Egypt
• Her father’s family turned her into a child bride while she was trapped in the country’s capital, Damascus, for five years
• Forced to have a virginity test and was beaten by her father and brother
• Managed to escape on 18th birthday after contacting British Embassy
• Is still hiding from her father, who is also now allegedly back in Sydney

Ms Farrah, who grew up living in Sydney’s southwest and is the daughter of a Syrian Muslim and his Australian convert wife, was married off to her cousin who she had never met and endured terrible beatings after being taken to Syria’s capital Damascus from Egypt.

Her mother, who had previously fled Ms Farrah’s father after 20 years of violent marriage, knew about her daughter’s kidnapping but told her during phone calls from that she could not afford to bring her home to Australia.

Ms Farrah, who grew up living in Sydney’s southwest and is the daughter of a Syrian Muslim and his Australian convert wife, was married off to her cousin who she had never met and endured terrible beatings after being taken to Syria’s capital Damascus from Egypt.

Her mother, who had previously fled Ms Farrah’s father after 20 years of violent marriage, knew about her daughter’s kidnapping but told her during phone calls from that she could not afford to bring her home to Australia.

On arrival in Damascus, Ms Farrah was subjected to a virginity test because her father decided she had been under bad influences when in Year 7 at school, when she started smoking cigarettes and talking to boys.

‘They wanted to check for my virginity. They said to enroll in a school they needed to check I was a virgin,’ Ms Farrah explained.

She felt ‘confusion and fear’ as nurses came and held her down. After the virginity test – despite the results showing she was indeed a virgin – her father and brother beat her at her Auntie’s house. 

‘It’s quite a normal thing to kill your daughter for not being a virgin,’ she noted.

On Sunday, Ms Farrah described her father as ‘an evil person, he’s the most evil person you’ll ever meet’.

Opening up to Liz Hayes about the shocking crime of forced marriage that affects hundreds of Australian women every year, she explained that she shut off her emotions and played along with her family’s plan while dreaming of her escape.

Living in a strict Muslim world, she attended an Islamic school and learned Arabic. ‘I did all the things they asked me to do… I was taught how to pray and fast for Ramadan,’ she said.

  Reenactment: The 60 Minute show illustrated how Ms Farrah escaped Syria on her 18th birthday. She was driven to safety in Jordan by British Embassy officials before boarding a flight to Sydney

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