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.