"Hours after this picture was taken, I was raped"
Brave rape survivor speaks out to warn against unlicensed cabs
Sarah Thompson, 21, has courageously waived her right to anonymity in the hopes of preventing other women from getting into unlicensed taxis, following a horrific rape two years ago.
After a night out with friends in Birmingham, Sarah headed to a taxi rank, thinking a cab would be her safest option of getting back to her hotel.
Sadly, the car Sarah caught a ride with wasn't a licensed taxi, and instead belonged to Shakeel Ahmed, 31 - who drove her to a quiet side-road and raped her.
Sarah told The Sun she was so terrified, she passed out during the assault. "When I came round he was still on top of me," she said. "I felt sick."
Thankfully, she managed to escape, and after running "for her life" down the road, a legitimate taxi pulled up to help. Initially, Sarah tried to continue running, until the driver sent two of his female passengers over to investigate and call the police.
"I was hysterical. I thought it [the second taxi] was my attacker coming to finish the job," says Sarah.
"It all felt surreal. I just wanted the nightmare to be over and for my life to return to what it was before – I was constantly on edge and suffered with anxiety."
Now, she's campaigning to raise awareness of the risks of unlicensed cabs.
"I want to get the message across that it's not worth risking your life getting in to an unmarked taxi," she says. "Out of all the 'taxis' to get into that night, I can't believe I was unlucky enough to pick that one. I assumed I'd be fine because it was parked in the correct taxi bay."
Luckily, the police were able to match Shakeel's DNA to that found on Sarah's clothing and found CCTV images of his car prowling the area.
He was jailed for five years on a charge of sexual assault by penetration, but for Sarah life still isn't the same – she hasn't been drunk since, and instead acts as the designated driver on nights out.
Sarah's warning comes following the suicide of Ceri Linden, who was kidnapped and raped after flagging down an unlicensed taxi.
Despite bravely giving evidence against her attacker via a video shown in court, she committed suicide a week after her horrific ordeal.
Sarah's advice is simple:
"You never think something like this could happen to you, but it did to me, and does to hundreds of others. Girls are going to want to party and have a drink, but I'd urge them to book taxis in advance. Never get in an unlicensed cab."
source:
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/n ... was-raped/
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