Backpacker tortured and raped

FOUR men were charged yesterday with torturing and raping a New Zealand man for almost 16 hours at a warehouse in the Australian city of Brisbane, police said.

Detective Inspector Ben Hanbridge said the 19-year-old backpacker, who had recently arrived in Australia, suffered broken bones, burns, cuts and bruises from the assault, which began on Friday night and ended on Saturday.

The man, from the Otago region of New Zealand’s south island, was being treated at a Brisbane hospital.

Police arrested three men, one aged 28 and two aged 26 on Saturday, and charged them yesterday with attempted murder, torture, rape, assault, armed robbery and burglary.

A fourth man in his 30s was arrested yesterday and charged with the same offences, and police were looking for a fifth man, they said.

The four already charged are to appear in Brisbane Magistrates’ Court today. It was unknown what maximum penalty they could face if convicted.