Warning: This story contains disturbing details.
Afraid and broken.
That is how a young Indigenous woman with a developmental disability felt after she said she was sexually assaulted.
“I’m still scared. It hurts that I feel unsafe still to go to the mall by myself,” said the woman, who we are only identifying as “Sarah.”
Sarah, who is from B.C.’s Fraser Valley, is sharing her story for the first time in the hopes it will serve as a warning to other women.
CTV News first reported on Sarah last year, when her parents said their daughter, who was born with a brain injury, was lured online, driven to another community hours away, then sexually assaulted. A man has since been charged, but the family fears he may never face justice.
“I hold a lot of anger of what he’s done to my daughter. He took her innocence away,” said Sarah’s mom.
Sarah said a man reached out to her on social media, telling her they had a mutual friend.
Sarah and the man communicated online, including through FaceTime, for about two months before he convinced her to leave her parents home to live with him in Kamloops. She’d never had a boyfriend before.
Her parents shared a video they said shows the man’s vehicle arriving in the middle of the night and their daughter leaving to meet him. Sarah said he gave her specific instructions for sneaking out.
“He told me to take off my shoes so I won’t make any sounds,” she said.
She also said he told her what to write in a note she left her parents, who had never met or even heard of the man, who she said was an international student.
“He told me to tell them you’re moving with your boyfriend,” Sarah recalled.
Once in his car, she said he made a phone call.
“And he was talking to his friend and saying, ‘I have her, I have her,’” she said.
In Hope, she said he took her phone from her so she couldn’t be tracked.
She said that after they got to his Kamloops home, she was sexually assaulted.
“I couldn’t stop him. I was scared,” said Sarah. “I just froze.”
When her parents woke the next morning to find Sarah missing, they were frantic. Her mom posted an anguished plea on social media, saying she just wanted her daughter back.
The parents said they reported their daughter missing to police, but that the officers didn’t initially understand the urgency of the situation.
Sarah did get her phone back, and the family said about 24 hours after going missing, they were able to bring her home.
Jogeshwarjeet Malhotra, 24, has been charged with sex assault. The charge against him has not been proven in court.
A spokesperson with RCMP “E” Division said Malhotra is currently wanted on an outstanding warrant.
“Kamloops RCMP is actively attempting to locate him but believe he is no longer in Canada,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“If the public has any information regarding his whereabout please contact us.”
Meanwhile, Sarah’s parents said what happened to their daughter still haunts their entire family.
“What’s unfair is that these individuals target vulnerable people like our daughter,” said her dad.
“She’s got a lot of PTSD, she’s got nightmares. She’s got insecurities,” explained her mom.
Sarah’s mom wants to organize education sessions about online safety for young women, emphasizing anyone can be a target.
As for Sarah, her hope is that she can help others.
“I just want girls and women…to be safe online,” she said.
