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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Reality bites contestants
Source: Agencies |
September 11, 2009, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TURKISH military police said yesterday they had stormed an Istanbul villa to rescue nine women held captive after being tricked into believing they were reality show contestants.
The women were rescued on Monday in the villa in Riva, a summer resort on the outskirts of Istanbul, a spokesman for the military police in the region who carried out the raid said. He said the women were held captive for around two months but refused to provide further details.
The women were made to believe they were being filmed for a Big Brother-type television show, the private Dogan news agency and other news reports said, without citing sources. Instead, their naked images were sold on the Internet, the reports said.
The women had responded to an ad searching for contestants for a reality show that would be aired on a major Turkish television station, Dogan said. The nine, including a teenager, were selected among several applicants following an interview, it said.
They were made to sign a contract that stipulated that they could have no contact with their families or the outside world and would have to pay a 50,000 Turkish Lira fine (US$33,000) if they left the show before two months, the agency reported.
Dogan and HaberTurk daily said the women soon realized they were being duped and asked to leave the villa. The women were told they could not leave unless they paid the fine and those who insisted were threatened, Dogan said.
There were conflicting reports as to how the raid occurred. Dogan said police stormed the villa after some family members complained to police that they were being prevented from contacting the women. The women cried for help when the military police arrived at the villa, it said.
The women were rescued on Monday in the villa in Riva, a summer resort on the outskirts of Istanbul, a spokesman for the military police in the region who carried out the raid said. He said the women were held captive for around two months but refused to provide further details.
The women were made to believe they were being filmed for a Big Brother-type television show, the private Dogan news agency and other news reports said, without citing sources. Instead, their naked images were sold on the Internet, the reports said.
The women had responded to an ad searching for contestants for a reality show that would be aired on a major Turkish television station, Dogan said. The nine, including a teenager, were selected among several applicants following an interview, it said.
They were made to sign a contract that stipulated that they could have no contact with their families or the outside world and would have to pay a 50,000 Turkish Lira fine (US$33,000) if they left the show before two months, the agency reported.
Dogan and HaberTurk daily said the women soon realized they were being duped and asked to leave the villa. The women were told they could not leave unless they paid the fine and those who insisted were threatened, Dogan said.
There were conflicting reports as to how the raid occurred. Dogan said police stormed the villa after some family members complained to police that they were being prevented from contacting the women. The women cried for help when the military police arrived at the villa, it said.
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