Turkish women lured to take part in fake TV show

Istanbul – Turkish paramilitary police have rescued nine young women held for two months in a villa in Istanbul after being duped with the promise of taking part in a reality television show, a security source said Thursday.

Police raided the house in the suburb of Riva, on Istanbul’s Asian side, earlier this week reportedly after family members became concerned they were being prevented from contacting the women.

The police stormed the building after receiving a tip-off that the women were being held there against their will, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The women, aged between 16 and 24, had been selected from among participants who had answered an advertisement looking for contestants for a reality television show.

But there was no such programme. Instead naked pictures of the women were put on the internet, the source explained.

The women were not locked up in the villa and they did not face violence, but they were threatened that they would have to pay TRY 50,000 (EUR 22,850, CHF 34,614) for breaching their contract if they left the house.

A suspect was taken into custody during the raid on the house, but was later released, the source added.

AFP / Expatica