In Their Own Words - Treated with Respect

Crime is not a respecter of homes or people, but sometimes it can provide surprising ways of how those who commit the crimes deal with the situations that they come across. This week, In Their Own Words talks to some women who found the people who were robbing them had a surprisingly polite side.

Miriam is a twenty five year old woman, who now has a three year old daughter, but when she was six months pregnant found herself the host to two gentlemen in black…

I remember the day well – I had an appointment at the ante natal clinic, and was then meeting some of my friends to attend a fashion show, so I was determined that bump or no bump I was going to look my best. So I was wearing a long blue dress, with gathered cuffs and a split skirt that was tailored to cover the new life growing inside me. I do also like to dress fashionably, hence the thigh high snakeskin patterned books I had on, while I as always had my head covered, this time with a gold coloured scarf.

It was when I returned to my home that I discovered someone waiting for me – two men actually, both dressed in black, but one a good foot taller than the other. They both had balaclavas covering their heads, and were armed, but they both spoke softly, almost apologising for the fact they had broken into and were robbing my home.

They were most insistent, however, that they had to prevent me from raising the alarm – and at the same time, they saw my condition, and congratulated me on the upcoming event. They promised they were going to make sure I was comfortable, and I should remain calm, as one of them removed from a bag several lengths of white rope.

I took a seat on a long recline, and held my hands together in front of me in prayer, watching as the smaller of the two men took one of the lengths of the rope, and tied my wrists together in front of me. The rope was soft, and it did not hurt, but when he had finished I found it impossible to move my wrists apart.

The taller of the two men then took a length of rope and tied it round my upper arms and body, meaning I could not move them – and then the smaller man tied another length around my arms, but this time on top of my bump, so that my arms were even more secured – but there was no pressure, no distress on there.

I also have to admit something – both men had nice smiles, even as the smaller one took more of the rope and tied my ankles together. He then apologised as he folded my skirt back, and secured my legs together below my knees, before helping me to lie down and arranging me skirt so that band was covered.

So they had secured and tied me – then came the silencing. The taller man asked me to open my mouth, and as I did so he put something inside – something that expanded and pushed my tongue down, so I figured it was some sort of sponge, so that was going to keep me quiet. They then prevented me from pushing it out with white tape pressed gently, but firmly down over my lips.

And then they helped me to lie on my side, turned the radio on, and left me there. They did check me before they left – and then it was an hour or so before someone found me…

Scarlett was a recent convert to Islam, who embraced the dress code and combined it with her style – so when the masked men came into the office she was working in…

It was a Friday afternoon, and by tradition the office is lightly manned – specifically, one person while the partners go for lunch, and the other staff have the afternoon off. And on that particular week, the onus fell on me.

I was comfortable in conservative dress, but that day I reflected my name – a long sleeved burgundy sweater, a long pleated skirt, the matching hijab, and slouch boots in burgundy leather. Very Scarlett, as I sat at my desk typing up a report – and then they came in. A man and a woman, both in business dress – except for the stockings that had bene pulled down over their heads, and the fact the man was aiming a gun at me.

The woman smiled, and said so long as I did what they said, I would come to no harm, so I nodded as they closed the door, the woman locking it as the man told me to put my hands palm down on the armrests – I was sitting in a wooden chair that had those rests at the side. As I did this, the woman put her shoulder bag on the table, and took out a wide roll of black tape – tape she then used to make sure I could not lift my arms, bands round my wrists and below my elbows so that they were fixed in place.

As she did this, the man walked over to where the safe was, and knelt down, putting the earpieces of a stethoscope into his ears and the other end next to the dial as he started to turn the dials at the front.

Once my arms were fixed into place, she knelt down and put my ankles together, lifting my skirt up and smiling as she taped my ankles together, and then my legs below my knees – but at least she let my skirt fall back into place again before her partner could look. Finally, she wound the tape round my waist, so that it looked as if a wide black belt was holding my body to the chair back.

She smiled at me, and said sorry – then told me to put my lips together. And when I did this, she tore strips of the tape from the roll and pressed them down over my mouth, making it very difficult for me to talk. As she did this, the man opened the safe, and started to put some files into a bag.

It only took fifteen minutes from the time they walked in to the time they left, but when they left, I was only able to twist in the chair, the unplugged telephone on my table, the safe door open – but at least I was unhurt and my modesty reasonably preserved.

Until the police came to free me…

Been snatched from the street is, fortunately, a very rare occurrence – but for Shira, it became a reality…

It really was just an ordinary day – I was on my way to work, as usual, and not dressed in a strange way. The cream coat I was wearing covered a white jumper, my fawn coloured hijab round my head and neck and tucked into the front to keep my neck warm. The legs of my dark trousers were tucked into knee length silver grey Ugg boots, the silvered glasses keeping the bright winter sun from my eyes.

It meant I wasn’t really paying attention, especially to the traffic – so no, I didn’t see the van pulling up beside me, or the doors opening, or anything else. Quite honestly, the first I knew was when I was grabbed from behind, and a sweet smelling damp cloth was pressed over my nose and mouth.

And that was it – I tried to get free, but I soon fell unconscious. The last thing I was aware of was someone lifting my legs, and being carried…

When I came to, I found myself lying on a bed in – well, it resembled a hotel room, save for the fact the windows were very high up, and the door had no handle. That, however, was not my immediate concern.

My immediate concern was that I had my wrists tied together in front of me, and as my eyes focused I saw two strands running from my wrists – well, that wasn’t quite right. I had rope tied round my arms and chest, and then it had been used to secure my wrists together – then my legs, and my ankles. I also had something over my mouth – it was some sort of tape, which tugged on my skin, but wasn’t hurting. It was, however, very effective at keeping me quiet.

As I lay there, twisting round, feeling the ropes rubbing on me, saw the way my boots had compressed under the ankle binding, seeming to get even lighter – and then the door opened and two women walked in, wearing black clothing. One of them had red hair and was dark skinned, the other fair and blonde. The dark skinned ne told me I would not be harmed, and started to untie me as a third woman brought in a trolley with food and water.

I was untied, as the blonde said I would be staying a while until my father had “carried out a small task for Madame” as she put it. She also said that, so long as I promised to be calm and quiet, I would not be bound or silenced again – something I was glad to agree to, as I saw the gun in the holster on all three of them.

I did wonder who this “Madame” was, but I was hungry and thirsty, so I ate and drank, and then they left me – but they also left a prayer mat, a copy of the Koran, and some books and magazines, the dark skinned girl pointing to the door before they left and saying that was the direction for Mecca.

A most strange kidnapping – but somehow I sensed they meant me no real harm, so I ate the food, drank the water, and at the appropriate time they even said over some sort of intercom it was time.

Some hours later, the dark skinned woman came back into the room and gave me a drink – one which had some sort of sedative in it, because I fell asleep soon after. I then woke up in my own home…

Natasha had spent a long day at work, and just wanted a quiet night at home. She got her wish…

I like to dress casually, but modestly, and on the day this all happened I had been on a school trip, accompanying my class to a farm. So I was wearing a black jumper and leggings, a pair of tartan print wellington boots, and a matching hijab. I also had a black and white leopard print scarf tied to my handbag – a fact that was important later. Over the whole lot was a blue parka with a fur hood.

Anyway, I got back to my flat and let myself in – only to find someone else was there. It was a young man, wearing a bomber jacket and jeans, and he was almost as shocked as I was to see him there.

So I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was robbing me – and also that he would have to tie me up and gag me so that I could not stop him or raise the alarm. I should have been scared, and called for help, but something in the way he spoke took me in, and I slowly nodded as I asked him not to hurt me. So he told me to take the scarf off from my handbag, and then put it down on a chair where we could both see it.

When I had done that, he told me to roll my black and white scarf in a band, and them pull it between my lips and tie it round my head. He smiled as he apologised, and told me to make sure it was tight, as he didn’t want to hurt me if he did it.

As I say, he disarmed me with his manners, so I did as he said, the band pressing my tongue down as I tied it round my head, and then took my coat off. He then indicated the couch, and told me to lie on my back, with my wrists crossed in front of me. As I did this, he took a length of fishing line from his pocket, and made a loop in the end – a loop he put over one wrists, keeping it over the cuff of my jumper as he pulled it tight, and then secured my wrists together, before he played it out and secured my ankles in the same way. It was actually quite funny, the squeaks as I tried to move my legs, only for the wellington boots to rub against each other.

Anyway, he robbed me, and left me to be found by my husband when he got home –so why wasn’t I scared?

A different type of home invasion happened to a young wife named Sharia…

My husband is an assistant manager at a jewellery store, which I imagine is what first attracted the attention of that gang to us – but we had no warning of what was going to happen.

I had attended a small group of the wives in the area, and was dressed for the occasion – a pale grey cable knit sweater and ling skirt, white ankle boots, and a floral print scarf wrapped around my head and neck, then tucked into the sweater. I also wear glasses – which I had on as I was looking at my phone, sitting on the long seat in our main room.

The doorbell ringing took me a little by surprise, so I went to answer it – and walked back as two men came in, one holding a large bag, the other a gun. They were both wearing suits, shirts, ties, shoes – and stockings pulled down over their heads.

They spoke quietly, calmly, and told me to remain silent and do what they said – as one man pointed the gun at me, the other walked behind me and took my hands behind my back, before I felt him using some sort of rope to tie them together.

I asked him what they wanted, and the man looking at me smiled as he said it was my husband they wanted to do something for him – and that was when I saw the band of rope coming down over me, and then felt my arms been pulled into my sides as it was pulled tight. That took me by surprise, especially as the man behind me kept winding the rope round, forming two bands, and I was a little afraid of what may happen next.

The man pointing the gun at me must have seen the expression on my face, as he smiled and said I would not be harmed or maltreated – merely secured and silenced. I felt the ropes as they were tugged one more time, and then I was escorted back into the front room, sitting down as I saw the second man take a length of rope from the bag he had been carrying, and tie my ankles together. He doubled the rope over, pulled it tight, and then wound it round before separating the ends and taking them between my legs – apologising as he did so.

He then took more rope, and wound it round my legs – above my knees, over my skirt, so that it was pulled tight around them even as he secured them together. I could only move them from side to side, as the first man picked up the phone I had left on the coffee table, and scrolled through my contacts before he made a call.

I realised he was talking to my husband, and then he put the phone to my ear and I heard my husband ask what had happened. So I told him – two men had come into the house and were holding me hostage. He asked if they had hurt me, and I said they had not – but they had a gun, and they had tied me up. My husband then told me to stay calm, and he would talk to them.

The man took the phone back and told him to do exactly what their friend said, and I would be unharmed. He then put the phone on the far side of the room, before he said I now needed to be quiet and comfortable, and asked me to open my mouth.

The cloth he put in tasted clean, and was some sort of silk as it pushed my tongue down – he then peeled some white tape form a roll, which made a strange sound, and pressed it firmly over my chin and lips. It pulled slightly, but it did not hurt – and it certainly stopped me talking, as they gently lay me on my side, my head resting no a pillow on the armrest of the seat.

They then sat and waited, as the radio played, before one of them answered their phone – and then they left me there, alone, unable to move.

My phone rang twice, but I was in no position to answer – and two hours later, my husband came with the police. They had forced him to empty the safe at his place of business, and threatened to hurt me if he did not…

Finally today, a cautionary tale from a young student called Ayesha…

Well, I thought he was a student on my course – we got talking over lunch, about things, and somehow the conversation turned round to private fantasies, and I somehow let it slip that ever since my family had been robbed when I was a young girl, I had a fantasy of being tied up and gagged.

So when he offered to let me live out that fantasy, my brain just went into shutdown, and I agreed. We both seemed to have a free afternoon, so he took me shopping for a few things – to a hardware store, and a chemists.

I was dressed in a way I like to dress – a pink vest top with black side panels, a long sleeved black top under that, with a black leather belt loosely fastened round my waist. Leather leggings, and knee length purple suede boots – and a black hijab with a purple scarf underneath. He was wearing a white tunic and pants, with black shoes.

Anyway – we got back to my flat, and I admit I was excited at what he was going to do. He started by telling me to turn round, and put my hands behind my back, my palms together. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him cutting some of one of the white washing lines we had bought from the main part, and I thought her was going to start by tying my wrists together.

That was when he pulled his first surprise – he wound the rope round my arms at my elbows and pulled them together so that they almost touched, and then made sure they were really secured. It was a new feeling – as a girl, they’d tied my wrists together in front of me, then my legs and ankles, but this was – nice.

He then tied my wrists together, before holding my hands and asking if I was all right. I nodded, as he then wrapped more rope around my upper body, forcing my arms against me as they went above and below my chest.

Now, I am a believer, and despite the way I dress I want to preserve my modesty – and the way these tight bands of rope were starting to rub on me did give me cause for concern. Bu it said nothing, as he tied them off, and then asked me to sit on the floor. Something I achieved with his help, and then I crossed my ankles at his request, watching as he tied them together with more of the rope.

He then smiled at me, as he secured my legs together below my knees, and his hands stroked me as he did this. I was so glad I had my leggings on – but when he had finished, I thought I was fully secured.

A wrong assumption – but before he did that, he said I had to be quiet, as he compressed a sponge ball he had bought at the pharmacy and told me to open my mouth. It expanded as he pushed it in there, forcing my tongue down, and then he wrapped the white bandage tightly round my head, covering my mouth, making it impossible for me to talk clearly.

Or complain as he helped me to lie on my stomach, pulled my ankles back and then tied them to my chest ropes. I was immobilised, silenced, and it was a wonderful feeling.

Unlike that when I rolled over and saw him stealing the contents of my purse then heading to my bedroom…

This has been In Their Own Words – until next time…

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