A British backpacker who police say was repeatedly raped, bashed and choked during a two-month hostage ordeal in Outback Queensland has been saved by a routine traffic stop.
The 22-year-old woman had serious facial injuries and was extremely distressed when police pulled over a 4WD on the Warrego Highway at Mitchell on Sunday afternoon.
It was immediately clear to officers that something was very wrong and they soon found her alleged attacker, also 22, hiding in a storage alcove that had been built into the back of the vehicle.
Police will allege the woman met the Cairns man three months ago and they agreed to go on a road trip. But it quickly turned into a long, violent nightmare.
The man, from the Cairns suburb of Manunda, has already faced a Roma court on charges including four counts of rape, eight counts of assault, four counts of strangulation, and two of deprivation of liberty.
It's alleged he held the woman against her will and assaulted her at various locations across Queensland between January 2 and March 5.He's also facing drug charges.
Police pulled over the 4WD at about 5pm local time on Sunday, in what's been described as a random traffic stop.
When they approached the vehicle, they found the injured woman at the wheel.
"It appears she was terrified and not able to hide that," police said.
The woman has been treated for facial fractures, bruises and cuts to her body.
Her alleged attacker was remanded in custody after facing court yesterday.
A police investigation is continuing and AAP is seeking comment from the British High Commission.
Australia has seen a number of horrific attacks on foreign tourists in recent times.
Tomorrow, a 60-year-old man will stand trial over an alleged sex attack on two female backpackers at a remote beach southeast of Adelaide.
The man, who denies the charges including attempted murder and indecent assault, is accused of attacking the women at remote Salt Creek, in the Coorong National Park, in February last year.
And just last week, Queensland police revealed a 24-year-old Polish nanny, who was violently raped while working at Petrie north of Brisbane last year, as killed in a car crash back in her homeland.
She died just days before a 28-year-old man was charged over the vicious attack in a council car park, that saw her undergo facial surgery for injuries including a broken nose.
But one of the worst cases in recent years involved the rape of 21-year-old French student Sophie Collombet, who was left to die on a Brisbane park bench in March, 2014.
In October last year, Benjamin James Milward was jailed for life for raping the student while he was high on ice, and then leaving her covered in nothing but a jacket and a newspaper.
Milward was high on ice when he attacked the young traveller, and she remained alive for several hours as passers-by thought she was a sleeping homeless person.
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