Samantha tells her harrowing story

REBUILDING her life ... Samantha Roberts.

‘Everyone blames themselves at first, but then you realise it’s not your fault’
THINGS are looking bright for Samantha who after years of mental torture has turned a corner.

Blissfully engaged to Steven Walker and making steps to achieve a career in teaching youngsters with disabilities, 2012 seems a world away from the dark days following the attack.

“I knew I couldn’t let this, let them, beat me. I don’t feel like that was me anymore, but it feels a relief to finally speak about it,” she said.

The five and a half years since the terrifying ordeal have been a rollercoaster for the girl, now 18.

She said: “Everyone feels ashamed and everyone blames themselves at first but then you realise it’s not your fault.”

She says she will never forget the day she was picked up in a car in Werneth and driven by Chowdhury to a house in Chadderton.

After the ordeal she struggled to concentrate at school and became a pent-up prisoner in her home.

While others were out with friends and having fun, Samantha was struggling to get back to some sort of reality.

“I didn’t deal with it — I got to the point where I self harmed. I hit rock bottom,” she admits.

As part of her mission to face up to what had happened, Samantha even went back to the house where she was attacked.

“it wasn’t as scary as I thought, but that was an important moment for me,” she confessed.

Now she is studying for her GCSEs, is planning her future and says she wants nothing more than to make a difference in her fight for tougher sentences.


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