More than a month after Grammy award winner Duffy revealed that she was drugged, held captive, and raped for days by an undisclosed person, the singer gave a detailed account of the harrowing experience through a post on her website.
In February, Duffy had opened up about the reason behind her long disappearance soon after the launch of debut album Rockferry, which went on to become a superhit.
Kidnapped and raped for four weeks
Detailing her ordeal which lasted for a month, the 35-year-old singer stated that it started after she was drugged and kidnapped from a restaurant on her birthday.
"It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant. I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country. I can't remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle. I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me," revealed the singer, without naming the rapist.
"I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened. I was stuck with him for another day, he didn't look at me, I was to walk behind him, I was somewhat conscious and withdrawn. I could have been disposed of by him," she went on.
Stating that she was scared to escape the clutches of her preparator, the Mercy singer said: "I contemplated running away to the neighbouring city or town, as he slept, but had no cash and I was afraid he would call the police on me, for running away, and maybe they would track me down as a missing person.
"I knew my life was in immediate danger, he made veiled confessions of wanting to kill me. With what little strength I had, my instinct was to then run, to run and find somewhere to live that he could not find," said the singer.
"The perpetrator drugged me in my own home in the four weeks, I do not know if he raped me there during that time, I only remember coming round in the car in the foreign country and the escape that would happen by me fleeing in the days following that. I do not know why I was not drugged overseas; it leads me to think I was given a class A drug and he could not travel with it."
Duffy suffered from suicidal thoughts after the incident
Duffy who disappeared from the scene following the release of her second album Endlessly in 2010 said that she refused to meet people after escaping her rapist. "After it happened, someone, I knew came to my house and saw me on my balcony staring into space, wrapped in a blanket. The person said I was yellow in colour and I was like a dead person. They were obviously frightened but did not want to interfere, they had never seen anything like it."
Duffy, who hails from Nefyn in Gwynedd, said that she finally sought professional help to recover from her suicidal thoughts. "The first person I ever told was a psychologist, a leading expert in the UK in complex trauma and sexual violence. Without her I may not have made it through. I was high risk of suicide in the aftermath. I could not look her in the eyes for the first eight or so sessions. The thought of recovering was almost impossible."
Duffy, The Fifth House, and freedom
Duffy, who moved five times in the immediate three years after the incident fearing her safety, said she finally found solace in her fifth house, where she is presently staying. "I found somewhere to live, the fifth house, it was not as confined as the other houses, where I grieved silently. This place I would spend solitary years to find the stability to recover, I had stopped running and relocating. I felt he could not find me in the fifth house, I felt safe. I feel safe now."
Duffy said she distanced herself from her family including parents Joyce and John. However, now the singer has reunited with her family members. Indicating that she will be coming out with new music someday, the singer said, "I can now leave this decade behind, where the past belongs. Hopefully no more 'What happened to Duffy?' questions. Now you know . . . and I am free."
