22-year-old flees Mexico City dry cleaners, where she was held as slave for two years

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Tuesday, April 28, 2015, 2:44 PM

Updated: Tuesday, April 28, 2015, 5:24 PM

A 22-year-old woman managed to escape from a Mexico City dry cleaning shop where she was being held as a slave for two years, authorities said.

The unidentified victim told police she was held in brutal captivity and chained by the neck to an ironing station. If she dared to stop working for even a moment, she was beaten with a wrench and rope, and burned with an iron, prosecutors said.

She finally got herself free and went to the police, who raided the business and arrested four women and a man, all of whom ran the shop.

The woman's neck was disfigured from the chains eating into her skin. When the wounds would begin to heal, the owners would scratch off the scabs and replace the chains, according to prosecutor Juana Camila Bautista.

"When she leaned on the ironing board a little to rest, she was beaten," Bautista said.

"They had her like this for two years."

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She had applied for a job at the business and initially was treated well and given a place to stay, authorities said. Then at some point, the owners accused her of stealing from them, and stopped paying her.

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Then the torture began. The woman told police she received one small meal per day. She sometimes chewed on plastic dry cleaning bags to stave off the hunger pains, she said.

Her body is covered with scars and she suffers a severe form of anemia that could be life-threatening, the prosecutor said. She is now staying in a women's shelter.

With News Wire Services