Welsh singer Duffy speaks out about rape ordeal 'to help others who have suffered'

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Welsh singer Duffy has spoken out about being "raped, drugged and held captive for weeks".

Duffy, 35, has shared her account of what happened on her verified Instagram page and her website. She said she decided to tell her story, "for my life, and for the life of others, whom have suffered the same."

The singer, from Bangor, said, "I am sharing this because we are living in a hurting world and I am no longer ashamed that something deeply hurt me, anymore. I believe that if you speak from the heart within you, the heart within others will answer."

Duffy, whose full name is Aimee Duffy, said that she was drugged at a restaurant on her birthday before being held captive in her own home and taken to a foreign country.

In a long post written on a web page that she shared a link to via Instagram, Duffy added: "I hope it comforts you to feel less ashamed if you feel alone."

The singer first revealed her ordeal via an Instagram post in February, and revealed more details of being kidnapped on her webpage.

She said: "I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country.

"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.

"I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened.

"I was stuck with him for another day, he didn't look at me, I was to walk behind him, I was somewhat conscious and withdrawn.

"I could have been disposed of by him."

Duffy received an Honorary Fellowship at Bangor University. Credit: PA Images

Duffy said that she escaped by "fleeing", adding she "cannot remember getting home".

Following the ordeal, she said she has spent "almost 10 years completely alone".

She said that her family and those who wanted to help were "too far away". She added, "the toll of me hiding, this last decade, also meant I was estranged from all."

She said that she initially feared going to the police, but eventually told a female officer what happened after someone threatened to "out her story".

Duffy shared a link to her account on her Instagram page. Credit: Duffy/Instagram

Duffy said she now feels she can "leave this decade behind" and is now "free", thanking her psychologist for helping her through the trauma.

She said, "I owe it to myself to release a body of work some day", but added: "I very much doubt I will ever be the person people once knew."

Duffy's last album, Endlessly, came out in 2010.

Last month her new song, 'Something Beautiful' played on Jo Whiley’s BBC Radio 2 show.

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