Tourist Held Hostage And Raped By Meth Addict

A Dutch tourist on holiday in Australia was held hostage in a Melbourne hotel room for six weeks, tied up and repeatedly raped.

The 21-year-old backpacker suffered physical assaults, death threats, sexual abuse and mental trauma at the hands of 47-year-old Alfio Anthony Granata.

She was told that if she moved, spoke or complained she would be beaten, Victoria's state court has heard.

During her ordeal, she was beaten with a meat tenderiser, cut with a knife, kicked in the head and forced to live and sleep undressed for days on end, according to the Herald Sun newspaper.

She was also burnt with a gas torch light and assaulted, ABC reported.

Granata warned the 21-year-old she would be killed if she tried to escape.

He told his victim her parents in the Netherlands would also be killed, telling her he had a network of mafia contacts around the world.

He claimed he had killed 248 people but had not been caught because he was "very clean and precise".

Police attended Granata's room at the Rydges Bell City hotel twice during the time she was held but the alarm was not raised.

On the first occasion the terrified victim told officers there had been a fight but that everything had calmed down.

When police attended the room in the smart hotel for a second time, Granata spoke to them in the corridor after she was ordered to stay inside.

On several occasions during the six weeks, Granata used a network of secret cameras to film his victim being allegedly forced to take part in sex acts.

She was finally rescued by paramedics after she managed to stab Granata while he was sleeping and then attempted to kill herself.

The court had earlier heard that the victim met her abuser at a party in St Kilda and, not realising he was dangerous, willingly went with him and his then girlfriend Jennifer Peaston to the hotel in Preston.

Granata subsequently became obsessed with the idea that Peaston and the victim were having a secret affair and started to beat them both.

Peaston, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of intentionally causing injury because of her role in the victim's ordeal.

She avoided jail because the judge ruled that she had also been a victim of Granata's sustained abuse.

Granata was originally charged with more than 100 offences, including 62 counts of rape, but agreed to plead guilty to 14 charges including nine counts of rape, one of intentionally causing serious injury and two of making threats to kill, said the Herald Sun.

The woman said in a pre-recorded impact statement she could not believe she had survived and could not grasp the injustice carried out against her.

Peter Chadwick, counsel for Granata, blamed his client's "copious" use of the drug methamphetamine (crystal meth) for his offending.

Granata will be sentenced at a later date.