Pakistani authorities are investigating a shocking case after a 35-year-old woman from the Netherlands reported that she and her friend — a woman of the same age from Venezuela — were abducted, tortured and gang-raped after traveling to the country to meet cryptocurrency investors.

According to De Telegraaf, the woman from Zaanstad in the Netherlands claimed she had been invited to Pakistan by the grandson of a senior politician, who had promised her professional networking opportunities with crypto investors for her company. The man has been arrested along with three other suspects, while according to Dutch media a fifth person is being sought.

Arrival in Pakistan and alleged abduction

According to the 35-year-old’s complaint, the two women arrived in Pakistan on 26 June and were collected from the airport by the politician’s grandson, who is also alleged to have arranged their entry visas into the country.

After a few days in Islamabad, the women say they were taken to an abandoned house in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, near the border with India.

There, according to the Dutch woman’s account given to De Telegraaf, the situation changed dramatically.

“After fifteen minutes, four men entered aggressively, with guns and ropes, and tied my hands behind my back. They were shouting, hitting me and my friend,” she said in her testimony.

She also claims that the man who had invited them pretended to be a victim himself.

“They demanded up to two million dollars”

According to the 35-year-old, the perpetrators beat them and then demanded large sums of money.

“At first they asked for 200,000 dollars, then 700,000, then one million, and finally up to two million. I told them I had no money, but they insisted and threatened to kill me,” she said.

The woman stated that they remained captive inside the house, where the threats continued.

She also alleged that she was forced to send a voice message to her family asking for money, but managed to use a pre-agreed code word she had arranged with her relatives in case of danger.

“They immediately understood that we were not safe and alerted the police,” she said.

Money transferred from her phone into crypto wallet

According to De Telegraaf, the perpetrators are believed to have transferred around 17,000 dollars via the woman’s phone into their own digital cryptocurrency wallet.

The 35-year-old further alleged that threats continued, as did sexual assaults, while the perpetrators are also said to have threatened to sell their organs if the ransom was not paid.

Escape after a traffic accident

At some point, according to the complaint, the perpetrators told them that enough money had been paid and the politician’s grandson offered to take them to the airport.

However, during the journey, the vehicle collided with another car, giving the two women an opportunity to escape.

“We ran screaming into a workshop. My friend had taken our passports and I had the mobile phones,” the Dutch woman said.

The women contacted their families, and shortly afterwards police arrived at the scene.

Initially, according to the 35-year-old, they struggled even to trust the officers and jumped out of the police vehicle, until a female officer managed to calm them down and took them to the station, where they gave statements.

Pakistani authorities have stated that the case is being thoroughly investigated, while the route of the stolen cryptocurrency is also being examined.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that consular assistance is being provided to the two women, adding that for “data protection reasons” no further comments can be made on the case.