KATHMANDU: Australian police have literally rescued a Nepali student based in Melbourne from the ‘pit of death’, according to media reports.
Darren Saltmarsh (35), an alleged Australian kidnapper, took the girl (identity withheld) ‘on a date’ after chatting her up online, offering to marry the girl and get her Permanent Residency in Australia if she pays him Australian $ 20,000.
The man bundled the girl onto the boot of his van and drove around 45 minutes, ultimately forcing the girl to call up her mother in Nepal for ransom payment of Australian $20,000 for her release.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard that the girl’s family in Nepal alerted Victoria Police through the Nepali Embassy after receiving threats from the kidnapper that he will kill the girl if it does not deposit the money in the girl’s account. After receiving information about the abduction and hostage-taking that took place on October 18-20, police rushed to a house in Pakenham and found that the kidnapper had pushed the girl into a shallow grave with her hands tied. The court denied bail to Saltmarsh today.
Saltmarsh faces charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment and making a threat to kill.