The 'Mercy' singer says that she was drugged for four weeks, kidnapped and raped

A few weeks ago, Welsh pop singer Duffy emerged from obscurity to explain why she had been absent from the music scene for so long.

The 'Warwick Avenue' singer revealed that she had been through a very traumatic experience some years ago, and found it difficult to talk about. However, she promised to reveal more of her story to fans.

Now, having released her 'comeback' song 'Something Beautiful' recently, she has shared a lengthy message about the harrowing ordeal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-nNtaCBYR6/

The 35-year-old singer says that she was drugged in a restaurant, kidnapped and taken to a foreign country, where she was repeatedly raped.

She began by saying "It troubles me that this story contains sorrow, when so many need the opposite of that at this time" but went on to explain that she felt it was important to share the burden of her experience as part of her healing process.

She also said that she had even considered changing her name and "disappear to another country and maybe become a florist or something, so that I could put the past behind with a new life."

She went on to describe the details of what happened.

"It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant, I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country," she said. "I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle. I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me."

She said that she had "contemplated running away to the neighbouring city or town, as he slept, but had no cash and I was afraid he would call the police on me, for running away, and maybe they would track me down as a missing person."

"I knew my life was in immediate danger, he made veiled confessions of wanting to kill me," she added. "With what little strength I had, my instinct was to then run, to run and find somewhere to live that he could not find."

She continued to explain why she did not report the incident to the police, saying "I felt if anything went wrong, I would be dead, and he would have killed me. I could not risk being mishandled or it being all over the news during my danger."

She has become estranged from her family because of the trauma, she said, because of the 'toll of [her] hiding, this last decade.'

Duffy ended by saying that she had no plans to release any more music at present, and "will now return to quietness".

"I know this much though," she added, "I owe it to myself to release a body of work someday, though I very much doubt I will ever be the person people once knew. My music will be measured on the merit of its quality and this story will be something I experienced and not something that describes me."

"I can now leave this decade behind. Where the past belongs. Hopefully no more “what happened to Duffy questions”, now you know … and I am free."

Read the full post here.

If you have been affected by any element of Duffy's story, you can reach the Samaritans at this link or contact the Rape Crisis Network here.