Laurence Dollimore
A BELGIAN expat has narrowly escaped death after being kidnapped and tortured by her boyfriend on the Costa del Sol.
The suspect, 28, also Belgian, allegedly kept his partner locked up in a cortijo in Mijas and repeatedly beat her.
When police found the victim, her body was covered in bruises, including her face, which had a swollen left eye.
It was a desperate call to her brother in Belgium which sounded the alarm on Wednesday last week.
While being held captive, the victim was left alone by a phone for long enough to call her sibling and tell him she was holed up in a house in Mijas.
The brother called Belgian police who immediately contacted the Guardia Civil, who launched joint investigation.
Investigators only knew that the pair were somewhere in Las Lagunas, five or six kilometres inland.
Local agents combed the area and visited all suspected properties in a race against time.
The brother had claimed the suspect used ‘a lot’ of drugs and likely suffered from a mental illness.
Police eventually tracked down the property and knocked on the door before being allowed by the alleged kidnapper. He did not put up a fight.
The girl was found inside a room, where she claims she was threatened with her life if she left. She was not bound.
The suspect is to face a judge this week.
