Moroccan Teen’s Harrowing Escape from Jungle Captivity Sparks Hope

Nada was 9 years old when she was kidnapped by a neighbor in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) and taken to Bolivia. She was forced to behave as the man’s wife and made to work on coca plantations. She secretly wrote her story in a notebook, nourishing the hope of one day resuming her studies. "I came to believe that I did not deserve a better life. That I mattered to no one and that I was doomed to the deepest darkness," she recounts to La Vanguardia.

The young Moroccan woman was able to survive the beatings, mistreatment, abuse and assaults she endured daily from this neighbor, a member of a sect, who had reduced her to slavery after kidnapping her. The minor at the time lived in extremely harsh conditions in the jungle. She no longer remembers what happened. "I was not aware of what had happened. I had become accustomed to minimizing and even idealizing those moments in my life. I understand that this is how I managed to survive."

After her liberation by the Guardia Civil in Bolivia and her return to Spain, Nada was admitted to juvenile centers under the General Directorate of Attention to Childhood and Adolescence (DGAIA). In these places, the young woman felt abandoned and unprotected again. She did not receive any psychological assistance to recall the circumstances of her kidnapping in Barcelona and the suffering she endured in Bolivia. Today, thanks to journalist Neus Sala, she is being followed by specialists who are helping her rebuild her life.

Subsequently, Nada was returned to her parents, who had been convicted of child abandonment following her kidnapping. Despite the difficult conditions in the family home, where there was neither water nor electricity, the young woman clung to her dream of pursuing her studies and contributing to the defense of the rights of children who are victims of trafficking and violence. Today, Nada is a student of law and international relations. Neus and Nada have co-written a book recounting the Moroccan woman’s story, a document of over 300 pages. The two women are looking for a publisher.