A TEENAGER recovering from a holiday rape ordeal has warned other young girls not to go out alone while enjoying trips abroad.

The 17-year-old Burnley girl was beaten and raped while on holiday in Turkey and Burnley MP Peter Pike has stepped in to ensure the case is fully investigated after she claimed police were unsympathetic.

Back home with her family in Burnley, the girl said: "I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else. It was a nightmare, I thought I was going to die.''

The college student and a girl friend went on a £242 holiday to Gumbet in south west Turkey, arriving on Monday, July 19.

After looking around the resort, the next night the girls went out on the town.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: "It was the real start to the holiday and we went around the pubs. We were both going to return to the hotel when my friend just happened to meet up with her brother who was also on holiday.

"I was tired and wanted to go back. My friend went with me to the taxi. We thought that would be safer because if I had gone on the bus I would have had to walk the last bit uphill on my own.''

The intended journey was only a short one but the driver took the girl to a deserted area and attacked her.

She said: "The next thing I knew I was being thrown to the ground. He was hitting me and I was shouting 'no' and 'stop'. "I tried to fight back and I hit him. But the more I resisted the more aggressive he became.''

The man carried out the rape with the attack lasting for up to an hour. She said: "I tried to run off but he put me back in the taxi and drove me back into the resort.''

It is possible the man was not a genuine taxi driver, as he stopped to ask someone where her hotel was.

The victim, with her skirt torn and hair full of dirt, jumped out of the vehicle and ran into a bar shouting for help.

She said: "There was an English woman in the bar and she called the police.''

Her nightmare didn't end there. She said the police were unsympathetic and she felt they didn't believe her story.

They told her it would take three men to rape a woman and that because she had been drinking she had been asking for trouble.

She was eventually given a cursory medical examination and allowed to ring her parents back home in Burnley.

The holiday firm helped her get a flight home the next day. She said: "It was terrifying, I was frightened out of my mind. I don't think Turkey is a good place for young girls to go. In the short time we were there we were constantly harassed by local lads.

"It is the first time I have been there and I will not be going back. Last year I went with a group of friends to Tenerife and everything was fine.''

Her advice to any young girl or woman on holiday is not to travel alone especially at night.

Her mum said the family had not realised that Turkey was top of a rape league of holiday destinations.

They were speaking out in the hope of saving other girls and families from a similar ordeal.

The victim has given a statement to Burnley police and the family has seen local MP Peter Pike who has contacted the Foreign Office and tour company.

He said: "It was an outrageous incident and underlines the fact that young people are at risk when on holiday.''

Mr Pike said he hoped the Turkish police would investigate the incident with vigour.

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