The Australian jockey Wiseman attacked in a car by a gang – Corriere.it

by Guendalina Galdi

The 31-year-old woman suffered a trauma that she will hardly be able to forget: she was attacked in Darwin while she was stopped in her car by a group of 10-15 men. So reconstructs those minutes of absolute violence

An episode of extreme violence that could end in a dramatic way. It is what Sonja Wiseman, a 31-year-old Australian high-level jockey, saw as a victim (one who, to be clear, made her stables earn prizes of 3 million dollars, over 2 million and seven hundred thousand euros). A gang of men, about 10-15 people, surrounded her while she was in her car to take some things forgotten in the car. They were like a pack of cojotes hunting, Wiseman said. With the aim of raping and possibly killing. It all happened in Darwin, an Australian city in the north of the country overlooking the coast of the Timor Sea; a territory in which, according to local police statistics, violent attacks have increased as they have not happened for over 15 years (specifically by 88% compared to 2009 in the last 12 months).

The attack on Wiseman arrived a few days before the date on which he should have participated in the Darwin Cup – a race with 200,000 dollars (about 182,000 euros) up for grabs – and a few weeks before his wedding. Events for, which, once highly anticipated, have now slipped into the background. To find the strength to live, the jockey wanted to open up about what happened, finding the courage to tell every detail of the story.

It all happened like in a horror movie. Suddenly the window glass on the passenger side shattered. I looked to my left and there was a group of ten or fifteen men. I don’t know if they knew I was in the car, but as soon as I looked up they all started laughing. So I immediately closed the door and tried to start the car but I was so terrified that I didn’t understand anything and I didn’t realize that the car was actually already on while I continued to turn the key. A new car, and I forgot it had an automatic and I couldn’t put it into gear to get going. Then they came around and came to the side of my door and tried to open it. I was screaming, I knew something bad was going to happen. They smashed the glass and then smashed my nose with a stone, with another blow they cut my lip and broke some teeth. I tried to move by car but they blocked me. I was just screaming then I started honking the horn desperately. Inside I thought only of one thing: that they were going to kill me.

Fortunately for that horn, it was providential because it provoked the reactions of some soldiers on guard in a nearby barracks, who ran to Wiseman’s car and rescued her, making the attackers escape. the woman was saved. but she could have been much worse, the jockey knows it well who admitted: I consider myself lucky to still be alive, I feared the worst when I got trapped in my car. However, there remains the terror of what has been experienced and the aftermath – such as recurring panic attacks – of a trauma that will hardly abandon Wiseman, the protagonist of a story that could take on the contours of feminicide. But even though she ended up doing better than she could possibly go, a single thought keeps spinning in her head: It’s crazy to know now that you’re no longer safe while sitting in your own car.

August 2, 2023 (change August 2, 2023 | 19:33)

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2023-08-02 17:29:38
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