Female British Sailor Feared Rape

Apr 09, 10:43 AM

Current Headlines: The only woman among the 15 British naval personnel held captive by Iran says her first impulse was to hide the fact she was female out of fear of being raped.

Faye Turney told The Sun in an interview that she tucked her blond ponytail down the back of her uniform as members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard boarded her patrol boat on March 20.

Are they going to rape me? Turney says she asked her commanding officer several times without getting an answer.

Turney, a 25-year-old mother of a young daughter, says one of the Iranians apparently suspected she was a woman and tried to pull off her helmet.

I had tears welling up in my eyes because I knew this was the point where they would discover for sure I was female, Turney said.

Turney was among eight British sailors and seven marines taken captive after Iran said they trespassed into Iranian territorial waters.