A woman who was drugged and raped by three men in Korea said she has felt trapped in a ‘never ending nightmare’ since having to start an online campaign to push police to take her case seriously.
Aidre Mattner, from Adelaide, was alone on a pub crawl in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, when a stranger spiked her drink, piled her into a taxi and took her back to a seedy hotel where he and two other men forced themselves on her in September last year.
Security footage from the hotel, in an area known to locals as ‘hookers hill’, show two men in white leading a disoriented Ms Mattner inside before they took turns violating her on the bed.
Aidre Mattner was alone on a pub crawl in South Korea when a stranger spiked her drink, piled her into a taxi and took her back to a seedy hotel where he and two other men forced themselves on her last year
Security footage from the hotel, in an area known to locals as ‘hookers hill’, show two men in white leading a disoriented Ms Mattner inside before they took turns violating her on the bed
‘I was completely naked on my back on the bed and the man was on top of me trying to force himself inside me,’ she told 60 Minutes on Sunday night.
‘I struggled as much as I could… I tried to push him off and just wasn’t strong enough,’ she added.
The 25-year-old, who was on holiday from her teaching job in Japan, reported the crime to police but was confronted with numerous invasive physical exams and an ‘insulting’ line of questioning from local officers.
She said the officers did not seem overly concerned with tracking down the men who preyed on her and seemed to blame the situation on what she was wearing, how much she drank and the fact that she was alone.
The police had DNA evidence and security footage of Ms Mattner’s alleged attackers but closed her case despite the active leads.
Ms Mattner said she was ‘dumbfounded’ by their approach to such a serious crime.
‘I just didn’t understand. I felt as if they abandoned me,’ she told 60 Minutes.
‘I struggled as much as I could… I tried to push him off and just wasn’t strong enough,’ she told 60 Minutes
The police had DNA evidence and security footage of Ms Mattner’s alleged attackers (pictured) but closed her case despite the fresh leads
Ms Mattner was drugged and taken to the View Motel in Seoul where three men raped her
Frustrated and humiliated, Ms Mattner and her mother set up a GoFundMe page to raise money so they could pursue legal action against her attackers which shone a spotlight on the investigation and sparked international outcry from women’s rights groups.
Korean authorities re-opened the case and within weeks were able to track down a Nigerian man whose DNA matched that taken from Ms Mattner on the night of her attack.
He was arrested but in another devastating blow to Ms Mattner, he was only charged with sexual harassment as the 25-year-old was not awake during the assault, 60 Minutes reported.
She had been falling in and out of consciousness as her drink was spiked, something she said hit her like a ton of bricks once leaving the club.
‘It was not a realisation that something felt strange – it was a black out and being aware that I was in the back of a taxi being taken somewhere,’ she said on Sunday.
Ms Mattner and her mother set up a GoFundMe page to raise money so they could pursue legal action against her attackers which pointed a spotlight on the investigation and sparked international outcry.
After numerous painful exams at a hospital and hours of ‘insulting’ questioning by police, Ms Mattner said she found out the Korean police records had been ‘falsified’ and the investigation went nowhere
She said she begged and pleaded with the taxi driver to take her home, but he ignored her requests and instead chose to listen to the predator who loaded her into the cab.
‘I was terrified, I didn’t know what else I could do other than beg the man to take me back to my hostel,’ Ms Mattner said.
The English teacher said handfuls of women from all over the world reached out to her after she made her plight for justice public, many with a similar tale of being drugged and taken advantage of in a foreign city.
‘That’s when I really understood how big the problems is – its an epidemic,’ she said.
That’s when I really understood how big the problems is – its an epidemic,’ she said on Sunday
Ms Mattner joined a pub crawl in Seoul, South Korea, (pictured) with the hope of meeting new people when she said she was abducted and taken to a hotel room in the middle of nowhere and assaulted
She said the prevalence of sexual assault among tourists in Seoul was ‘sickening’ and demanded police stand up for the gross breach of human rights.
‘It is horrifying how easy it is to fall victim to men like this who specialise in preying on women in such a calculated and targeted manner,’ she said.
Ms Mattner said she still has trouble sleeping when she thinks back on her time in Seoul.
She said when she closes her eyes she is confronted with images of her attackers which leaves her in a state of panic.
‘I have survived on a cocktail of anti-depressants, anxiety medication, sleeping tablets and thankfully, the love and support of those around me.’
Ms Mattner said she still has trouble sleeping when she thinks back on her time in Seoul (pictured)
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