A man who raped and tortured a 21-year old backpacker over a 6-week period has been jailed.

A Melbourne man has been jailed after he imprisoned, tortured and raped a young backpacker over a six-week period. Her life has been unimaginably changed. He got 17 years.

Warning: This item deals with a violent rape and contains distressing details. Some readers may find it distressing.

For the Dutch backpacker life will never be the same.

For six-weeks she was held fearing for her life. The victim of brutal rapes, violent attacks. Unimaginable torture.

Her life is forever changed. She can no longer live in the town she was raised. She can no longer go out at night. She doesn’t study any more and is scarred for life.

Yesterday her sadistic rapist was finally jailed for 17-years after a judge said he was vile and repulsive, and had dehumanised his victim.

“Yours was a brutality which transgressed all community standards of behaviour,” Judge Gucciardo told Alfio Granata.

The 21-year old backpacker, travelling in Australia from Holland, met Granata, a 46-year old father-of-three and his partner, Jennifer Mary Peaston at a mutual friend’s birthday party in St Kilda in November 2012. The three soon began a consensual sexual relationship.

The young backpacker returned to the Preston hotel room in Melbourne where he lived several times over the next week. Together the three took drugs and had consensual sex.

However Granata, a regular user of the drug ice became paranoid that his girlfriend and the young victim were going to run off together and he assaulted the victim with a knife.

He scratched an ‘X’ into her forehead and told her she was ‘marked for death’ for betraying him.

Over the next six weeks the life of this young woman turned into a living hell.

Granata told the young woman he would kill her if she tried to leave.

She was imprisoned in the room by Granata.

He repeatedly beat her, raped her, stomped on her, and told her she would die.

He threatened to kill her family and said he had connections with security guards at the hotel so she could not leave. He told her he had killed 248 people and she was number 249.

Police said that along with his then partner, Jennifer Mary Peaston, Granata assaulted the woman with a range of items including a meat tenderiser, a rolling pin, a vacuum cleaner and a jet lighter.

The victim was drugged and videoed engaged in sex acts with the couple who had an elaborate camera set up in the hotel room.

She was forced to sleep naked on the shower floor and was at time unable to eat or drink due to her injuries.

According to The Herald Sun police attended the premises twice during the six-week period. On the first occasion they spoke to the victim who told them there had been a fight but that everything was okay.

On another occasion she was forced to hide while police questioned Granata, and Peaston about a car accident.

In a bizarre ritual the ABC reports that Granata terrified the victim by claiming he was possessed by the devil. He put the young woman’s nail cuttings, hair and blood in an envelope along with her passport photos as part of a supposed ritual to destroy her soul.

She thanked the paramedics. She was now safe.

Finally on Christmas Eve 2012 the victim attempted suicide after she had stabbed Granata in his sleep. Granata panicked and called paramedics saying that he was the victim of a drugging and attack.

Paramedics who rescued her reported that she thanked them. She was now safe.

Earlier this year 34-year-old Jennifer Mary Peaston, Granata’s partner pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally causing injury for her involvement in the six-week kidnapping and rapes.

The ABC reports that she avoided jail after the judge ruled that she had also been the victim of sustained abuse from Granata.

Granata sentenced: 17 years jail.

In a victim impact statement the 21-year old woman, who has now returned to Holland, said she could not believe she survived. She said that her scars remind her everyday of what a sick person Granata is.

She can no longer work in her chosen field of hospitality and she has had to move from the small town where she lived with her family.

The Judge said, “She does not go out at night and is fearful of being alone.”

Alfio Granata pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including multiple rapes, threats to kill, and intentionally causing serious injury.

Judge Frank Gucciardo in sentencing Granata said his “brutality transcended all community standards” and that the crimes had caused a “significant traumatic effect” on the victim.

“This is vile and repulsive behaviour which dehumanised your victim, rendered her little more than an object to serve your depravity and sexual gratification, an object to use and abuse at your will with complete disregard for her rights, her physical integrity and her humanity,”

“It is harrowing evidence of your inhumane behaviour,” Judge Gucciardo said.

Granata was sentenced to 17 years in jail. He will serve a minimum prison term of 13 years.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

For more news posts read:

The country that just legalised gay marriage still don’t allow women to have abortions.

Rachael is dying from anorexia nervosa. She needs our help.

A beautiful tribute to a Sydney Siege victim.