Belgian mom recalls life under IS, says she feared her son would become terrorist
Charleroi, Belgium: A Belgian woman who fled to Syria to join ISIS after falling in love with a Muslim man has revealed how difficult life is under the terror group. After having faced several hardships, she escaped and returned to Europe, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Identified as Laura Passoni, 30, the woman said that she had met Osama Rayan while she was working in a supermarket in Belgium. Passoni fell in love with Rayan who convinced her to move to Tunisia after marriage.
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On pretext of moving to Tunisia, he took Passoni to the Syrian city of al-Bab, a place ruled by the dreaded Islamic State group. While moving in with her new husband, she brought her two kids along.
Expressing her sorrow, Passoni said that she also converted to Islam to marry Rayan and had no idea about the 'hell' she would have to live in after entering ISIS territory.
Members of the Islamic State group distribute niqabs, enveloping black robes and veils that leave only the eyes visible, to women in Mosul. (Photo: AP)
Only after she reached Syria, she came to know how life is under ISIS. She was not forced to become a Muslim, but she was in fact persuaded to become one. "I was not forced, I was persuaded. You just get washed away, like trying to stand against a waterfall," Passoni was quoted as saying.
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Describing her one-year torment in al-Bab, Passoni said that she was confined to the house and was not allowed to go out anywhere, except for the time when her husband accompanied her and she wore a burqa. All that she could do the entire day was cooking and cleaning the house.
"I started to become very afraid that they might take my children away. It was just the opposite of what they promised in the propaganda of the Caliphate. I decided I wanted to escape when I realised there was a very real risk my son might end up a terrorist," said Passoni.
Read: Islamic State’s unborn army: Women used to breed ‘future terrorists’
She somehow managed to get hold of a mobile phone and contacted her family through a text message. With her family's support, she managed to flee Syria through Turkey and was united with her children and parents only after rigorous questioning by Belgian authorities.
While being held captive, many women are raped, beaten and forced to convert to Islam. (Photo: AP)
Although Passoni was among the very few lucky women to escape ISIS, many other still await freedom.
Reports by the United Nations in the past have also revealed the inhuman treatment to girls in the ISIS held territories, where girls are stripped and paraded in slave markets, and sold for sex by ISIS terrorists.
In one horrific instance, one girl had been temporarily married over 20 times, and after each occasion was forced to undergo surgery to repair her virginity.
