Danguolė Rasalaitė
Danguolė Rasalaitė | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 May 1983 |
| Died | 10 January 2000 (aged 16) |
| Other names | Kristina (what she called herself during her time in Sweden) |
| Known for | Victim of human trafficking, inspiration for the film Lilya 4-ever |
Danguolė Rasalaitė (19 May 1983 – 10 January 2000) was a Lithuanian girl who came to Sweden on November 17, 1999, with the belief she would work as a berry picker. However, she was forced into prostitution and held captive in Malmö, Sweden where in 2000 she took her own life by jumping off of a bridge.
Sold into prostitution
When Rasalaitė was 14, her mother moved to the United States with a man she met, whilst her biological father was serving a lifetime prison sentence, abandoning the child in Lithuania. Eventually, Rasalaitė was contacted by a man who offered to arrange work for her. The man gave her a forged passport and put her on a flight for Sweden with a different man who manipulated her into thinking they were a couple. On November 17, 1999, Rasalaitė arrived in Kristianstad, then was driven to Arlöv and confined in an apartment. The man traveling with her told her she owed him 20,000 Swedish kronor for her passport and the transportation from Lithuania to Sweden; she soon realized she had been trafficked to work as a prostitute.
After working in prostitution for a month, Rasalaitė managed to escape from the apartment through a window and fled to Malmö where she met a man from Skopje, Macedonia who offered her accommodation. During the evening of January 6, 2000, she was gang raped by this man and a group of his friends. The next day, Rasalaitė jumped from a motorway bridge, intending to commit suicide. She was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness and died on January 10.[1]
Aftermath
Rasalaitė possessed no passport or other identification, but the police found a piece of paper with two handwritten telephone numbers in one of her pockets. The numbers helped Malmö police find the apartment in Arlöv where she had been confined. Rasalaitė's belongings and three farewell letters to her friends in Lithuania were found in the apartment. The letters indicated she had been betrayed by a man referred to as "the Russian. On April 6, the police questioned this man, Giedrius, who was later described in a radio documentary as being around 30 years old, around 6 ft 5 in (196 cm), muscular, and from Lithuania. On April 13, 2000 he fled Sweden for Lithuania. On May 31, 2000, Giedrius was reported as a suspect in pimping.[2]
Movie
Lukas Moodysson directed the Swedish movie Lilya 4-ever starring the Russian actress Oksana Akinshina, which is based on the fate of Danguolė Rasalaitė.[3]
References
- ^ Josefsson, Janne. "Info om Danguole". svt.se. Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on September 20, 2003.
- ^ "Flickan som gav traffickingoffren ett ansikte". Sveriges radio p3 dokumentär. 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ Christina Larsson (28 December 2002). "Lilja hade kastats ut". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
External links
- ”Här dog Lilja - i verkligheten” Aftonbladet 26 August 2002