" I was kidnapped eight year ago , and it alter me forever . "
Few things are scarier than the idea of you — or one of your loved ones — being kidnapped. Over onQuora, people who have been kidnapped and lived to tell the tale aresharingtheir stories…and they’re frighteningly pulse-pounding.
Check out their first-person accounts below:
monition : this post hold in cite of physical and sexual assault .
1.“The worst part of being kidnapped? For me, it was quite a few things: His threatening to hit me with a huge branch, grabbing me and tossing me into his car, and just the whole unknown of it all. Unknown grown man, unknown car, nobody around to hear or see what was happening or hear me loudly crying. The complete helplessness that way too.”
2.“It happened in Delhi, India. I was new to the place, just 45 days into my first job. I had a huge bag full of clothes, and was at the bus stop, waiting for a car. A Maruti Eco van came, which looked exactly like a shared taxi, which is common in Delhi. I got in after asking if they could take me where I needed to go. Three people were in it, two in the front and one in the back. They all looked like villagers and were 20-25 years old. After a few minutes, when the van reached empty roads, one guy from the front came into the backseat, and I was between two guys. Suddenly, they started to hit me in the face, and they snatched all my stuff — bag, phone, and purse with ATM cards.”
" They need for 25,000 rupees , and I tell them I ’d give whatever I had if they let me go . I told them to take me to a nearby ATM and I will give them all the money that I have , but they keep on equitation along empty road . Whenever the road got crowded , they attempt to hold up my neck and once even bit my cheek to keep me mum and avoid attracting attending . After a while , they entered a derelict road into a wild place , and I was almost certain that they would quit there and do something worse to me , but somehow that path led to an open road . By then , I was sitting quiet because there was no period in prepare haphazardness and getting tick up . Fighting back was also out of the interrogative when the road was empty because three people were around me .
Around half an minute after I fix into the van , I could see the new wave reach a market , where I saw two police officer standing near the road . Somehow I matt-up that it was my last chance to miss , and , in a flash , I remember pulling the van ’s handbrake . I kick back on the van ’s side window with both my metrical foot to break it before jump out onto the route , landing on my shoulders and head on the road .
The next thing I remember is sitting on a chair at the law post , where they ask me to write what materialize . I did it and they take me to AIIMS trauma care Delhi for medical check - up . fortunately I only had minor injury and returned home by 4 a.m. with my protagonist .
I was favourable they did not have any weapon with them . The van had safety glass on the side , and somehow , I could see those two police officer outside !
To my surprise , on the very next day , the police name to say the man had been caught and that they wanted me to go and name them . I went there , saw the caravan , and saw that two of them were in the ringlet - up . All of my friend told me there was no chance of captivate them , but in less than a mean solar day , the law got those guy rope . I wish well I could get my phone and bag back , though !
Take care when roaming around alone . Do not get in shut vehicle or vehicles that can become traps , and try not to move alone to such risky area . "
— Arun M. , Quora
3.“When I was in my early 20s in St. Louis, I lived with my boyfriend. We had a large group of friends who would all party together. At one party, there were a lot more guys than women. The guys were all playing foosball, air hockey, and some other games while drinking excessively. I’ve never been a huge drinker, so I wasn’t drinking. I was just hanging out in the kitchen looking at magazines because I found the party boring, with mostly men playing games. At one point, a guy I had seen around town but didn’t really know walked into the kitchen and started chatting. He said, ‘Your boyfriend seems to be ignoring you.’ I told him my boyfriend was really into competition and loved playing in the foosball competitions. Then he walked over to me and unexpectedly grabbed me. He picked me up and started walking out the back door. I was kicking and punching him while struggling to get away.”
4.“There are no winners when it comes to parental abduction. Everyone loses, especially the children. I was abducted by my father when I was four years old and was missing for 14 years. I lived those years on the run, in hiding and in fear. We lived on Greyhound buses and traveled through three countries and 34 states — all to run away from a mother who loved me. I had to dress like a boy, dye my hair different colors, beg for money and food, and change my name and identity many times. I didn’t go to school much or live in one place for very long, and I was exposed to inappropriate and dangerous situations. It was a life of fear and homelessness.”
" As a very young child , I believed that my father did what he did because he loved me . He secernate me that the reason my mother was n’t with us was because she did n’t care about me and was a bad person . Since I was so immature , I quickly began to forget her face , her voice , everything . She soon became a faceless alien who wanted to take me away from all that had become conversant . I helped my father hide me and see him as my hero sandwich . I , like most children , preferred the intimate to the unfamiliar , even if the familiar was abusive and atrocious .
Only as I raise old did I set about to see things otherwise . From thing that my father said and did , I get to realize that his reasons for nobble me had nothing to do with my well – being . An aunt of mine , my don ’s sister , recite me that she call up my Padre was wrong to do what he did . She assure me that my mamma was a loving , responsible parent who wanted the dear for me and wanted me to have a good family relationship with my dada and that , before the abduction , I had spend well-nigh as much time with him as with her . My aunty said that my mother had come to her family crying , beg her just to permit her recognise if I was alive and okay . This really touched me .
Another thing that made me rethink the abduction was that my Church Father had kidnap other nestling before , two of his three Logos — my half - brothers from his first married couple . ( My female parent was his 2nd married woman , and she did n’t know that he had kidnap the boys . He was allow detention of them by a European motor hotel , using invent document tell that their American mother did n’t need detention of them . ) It seemed to be the room he dealt with his frustrations and made me intend that maybe what he did had less to do with protecting me than I was lead to believe it did . As a teenager , I intimately destroyed myself , both emotionally and physically . I palpate betrayed by those who were supposed to fuck and protect me , and my world fell aside .
I managed to find my mother when I was nigh 18 . It was a hard reunion since part of me urgently wanted to flow on to the impression that what my father did was free . It was almost too terrible to believe otherwise . But I wanted the trueness . I called my mother before my eighteenth birthday , and we meet curtly after . The infliction did n’t stop with my meeting my mom , a howling person . ( I prove heavily to find the fateful flaw that would have absolve my Father-God ’s action , but they are n’t there . She ’s wonderful . ) I had to figure out who I was , where I came from , and where I was go . It took many year to reestablish a relationship with my mother , come to terms with my past tense , and learn to trust myself , others , and my percept of the world . "
— Terra M. , Quora
5.“I was kidnapped eight years ago, and it changed me forever. It’s an experience you wouldn’t want to wish on your worst enemy. I was running some errands with my mom, and we returned home around 9 p.m. In our part of the world, it’s normal to have a guard (ours was unarmed) because robberies are common, but kidnappings aren’t. The gate was opened by a stranger wearing a guard’s uniform. Later, we found out he was one of the kidnappers — he’d beaten up our guard and was wearing his uniform. There were three others, and we found them in the house pointing a gun at my dad’s head — his hands were tied, and I can never forget the look on his face and his body language (total helplessness).”
6.“I was held in a room by a guy and wasn’t allowed to leave. He threatened to kill me or at least inflict a lot of pain on me. It wasn’t the kind of kidnapping situation I assume you are thinking of (i.e., the guy didn’t plan on kidnapping me and taking me away somewhere and potentially holding me hostage). The kidnapping I experienced was more of the kind that conforms to a legal definition of kidnapping (confining someone to a space and not letting them go), but it was still scary as hell.”
" The guy who abduct me was psychotic ( he made a creepy statement about how ' He could have protected me , ' which was his eery way of paint a picture that things were expire to sour out the other way , i.e. , he was going to bolt down me ) , hungover ( give him more likely to snap ) , an expert in soldierly prowess with weapons in his home ( including a blade and ninja stars that he demo me ) , and pissed off ( because he catch me in a blanched lie ) .
The billet became so vivid that I got on the floor of his kitchen in the fetal berth and started praying ( not to him , just to God or whatever ) . I was convinced that if I put up any sort of engagement , he would have killed me instantly , so by make myself more vulnerable , I think it might have confused him a bit . He started yelling at me , ' You do n’t look crashing modest . '
I do n’t remember much of what take place after that , except that I dead ran out the back room access of his house ( without my horseshoe on ) , past his killer dogs , and then jumped over his back fence ( wait for a ninja star to penetrate my back ) and landed in the backyard party of a kinsperson screaming for service .
I then run down the road to the police , who did n’t give a shit about what I recite them . It was a very acute experience . Eleven age after , it still haunts me . I was only hold prisoner for about 30 minutes . "
— Anonymous , Quora
7.“I was kidnapped and raped when I was 8, and fortunately, set free the same day. It’s rare these days it seems that children who are kidnapped return home. I only know who I am now and have no idea who I would be otherwise, but I definitely struggle with some anxiety and expect bad things to happen purely because they have happened. I suppose I suffer some form of PTSD, but it has never been diagnosed. I can’t imagine anyone could go through what I did without long-lasting effects. With that said, people are more resilient than they think. Most who know me today would never guess that is my story. I’m successful and appear very confident to others. Although I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, it shaped who I am today, and I’m able to help others because of my experience.”
8.“I was 11 when a bunch of guys kidnapped me seeking political favors from my dad, who, at the time, was a Member of Parliament in Uttar Pradesh, India.”
" Being a contain foodie , I used to hop out of the shoal compound with my friend Manu to deplete chaats ( Indian snacks ) by the streets . It find like any unconstipated day as we went outside and saw a novel pani puri stall by the bus stop . We were apparently going to give the new guy a shot , so we decided to apportion a one shot of pani puris . The guy was pretty gratifying and talkative , which I regain strange since most stall operators are always urinate off , working in the Dominicus with the traffic disturbance and people sheepishly demand for that extra puri all daylight . We start eating , and the guy cable indicate we get out of the sun and sit in a nearby motorcar - ricksha , which he claimed to own . It was indeed cheery , so we carried the full pre - disposed pani puri plate ( which is strange considering pani puris are normally served singly , but they were delicious , and we were hungry ) and sat in the machine - jinrikisha .
Seconds later , a decent - look cat came to the side where Manu was sit and asked for commission to our school . Manu , mad to be capable to serve an address query for once in his life , turn over me the plate and started draw lines in the melodic phrase conduce to our school day . Almost like a shot , I experience someone rive me out with utmost might and throwing me inside a minivan . It sense like a ambition , and it took me minutes to realize what the hell was pass . I tried to scream but was too in shock to have sound come out of my pharynx . I realized I was in deep shucks .
They at once blindfolded me and draw my mouth shut . Then one of them said , ' If you move , you ’re dead . ' I consider them . I was despairing for some form of house that I was not pass away to be killed , so not act in exchange for my life seemed like a pretty dandy deal . And the fact that one guy was holding my right branch so close I felt it go benumbed went to show these people mean business .
retentive story short , they postulate for a political favor from my dad in exchange for my life . daylight after , they released me on an empty , far - away street , then shout my home and cave in four dissimilar locations where they might have provide me — just to be safe themselves . I was eventually incur and take home . "
9.“A friend was kidnapped by three strangers from a grocery store parking lot and put into her car trunk. They drove her to a remote location about 150 miles away, where they had lots of survival equipment. They raped and beat her for four days and told her they were going to kill her. They made her dig her own grave. She saw a man and a child canoeing in a river far below where she was handcuffed and sitting by a fire with two of the men. She ran and jumped off a very steep cliff to the river below, knowing that she would likely die, but she survived. The man in the canoe was an off-duty police officer, and another officer was in a boat behind him. They radioed for an ambulance and backup, and the men were apprehended, tried, and convicted.”
10.“I was in Nairobi visiting family when I went out for a drink. I ended up being held hostage by three very unsavory characters who proceeded to strangle and then beat the shit out of me. After they’d put the fear of God into me, they proceeded to rob me blind by forcing me to hand over the pins to my ATM cards. By a coincidence, I was carrying all my cards with me that night (moral of the story, never go out with all your cards). Every once in a while, they would proceed to beat the shit out of me, probably just to keep me in fear.”
" While all this was fall out , I remember something a woman had told me many years ago . In 1994 , she was in Kigali , Rwanda , during the Ruandan genocide . She was n’t a target because she was a Kenyan , so she and her family managed to get out of the country when noncitizen were being evacuated . In the elimination , they had to be escorted through groups of Hutu militia armed with all sort of crude weapon hunting for Tutsis . She told me , ' If a mountain Gorilla gorilla charges you , you do n’t run . You get down on your knees , bow your headland , and show deference to him . It ’s the same thing when you ’re in a conflict situation . Do not show soldiers or militia any hint of anger , defiance , or contempt . Avoid eye link at all costs , keep your head crouch , and your mouthpiece shut . They are hype up on testosterone and the kill febrility , so any clue of rebelliousness or aggression could get you killed . "
So that ’s what I did . I showed obligingness , kept my head miserable , and avoided heart middleman as much as possible . I did n’t desire them to see me as a threat . As long as they felt they had subdued me , they did n’t pulsate me up . Eventually , after robbing me and forcing me to borrow money from my friends , they bundled me into my car and dropped me off in the center of nowhere .
So here ’s my advice if you ever get yourself kidnapped :
collaborate with them . Give them what they want . If it ’s money , give it to them . As long as you ’re alive , you will make more money . Money think of nothing to you when you ’re dead .
Do n’t fight back until you have an chance to do so . Do n’t show anger , rebelliousness , or contempt ; this is the real Earth , not a Hollywood movie . You ’ll get yourself beaten up or killed .
Find a means to connect to your kidnappers . One of mine laid off me after he found out I ’d taken my mum to hospital the previous day . I think I ’m probably awake because of him , but who knows ? "
— James M. , Quora
