A Maryland woman traveling in Tunisia says she was drugged adn kidnapped, narrowly escaping an assault before returning to the United States. Meka,whose last name has not been publicly released,recounted the terrifying ordeal to Fox 5 DC,detailing a harrowing experience that began with a seemingly innocuous encounter and escalated into a violent struggle for her life. The incident highlights the potential dangers faced by tourists, particularly women, traveling abroad and raises questions about the responsibility of hotels to ensure guest safety.
Meka was traveling with a friend, identified as Queen, when the incident occurred. After informing hotel staff she was going out, Meka met a man and accepted a drink. “The next thing I remember, I’m in the back of a car, and I just start opening doors, I start panicking,” Meka said. She described being pulled back into the vehicle by the driver, who then punched her repeatedly in the face and forehead while attempting to silence her screams. ”It’s a grown man. He’s punching me in my face or my forehead and both of my eyes,” Meka recounted, adding, “So I’m like I just keep thinking I got to get back home to my kids.”
While Meka was being attacked, Queen was back at the Penthouse Suites Hotel in Tunis, searching for her friend. Hotel staff reportedly told Queen that Meka had “made a friend” and left, despite Queen’s insistence that Meka did not speak the local languages. meka ultimately fought her way free from her attacker and returned to the hotel, where she and Queen found hotel staff unresponsive to thier pleas for help. “I have videos, they’re like walking away. They’re like, ‘This didn’t happen here. We don’t know what you’re talking about,'” Queen said.
The two women contacted the U.S. Embassy in Tunis and met with embassy staff and local police. FOX 5 DC has reached out to the State Department, the Embassy of Tunisia in Washington, D.C.,and the Penthouse Suites in Tunis for comment but has not yet received a response. The incident serves as a stark reminder for travelers to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant about their surroundings while abroad.
