A British beauty queen has revealed how she was 'raped every single day' after her parents took her to Bangladesh and forced her t...
A British beauty queen has revealed how she was 'raped every single day' after her parents took her to Bangladesh and forced her to marry a man twice her age.
Rubie Marie was just 15 when she married the man, against her will, and he tried to get her pregnant so he could move to the UK.
Ms Marie, now 35 and living in Birmingham, eventually had a daughter but she was born prematurely and 'handicapped' - because her husband had herpes and gave it to her without her knowledge.
She only managed to escape her horrific situation when she returned to her home in Wales to give birth.
Ms Marie was crowned Ms Galaxy UK in 2016, after taking part in the over 30s category and went on to win the international title of Ms Galaxy 2017.
She opened up about her terrible ordeal to raise awareness of an issue she said is affecting many young girls.
She told the BBC: 'It's like your worst nightmare - the worst horror movie you've ever seen and you are just stuck in that scene forever.'
She said: 'I was 15, I couldn't understand why they'd do this to me. It was horrible. I was treated like a slave.'
The 35-year-old then recalled the moment her 'heartbroken' mother pointed out her new husband.
She said: 'I just looked at her, I was numb. I didn't have any emotions, no tears came out of my eyes. I didn't know what to think.'
Ms Marie said she was 'dressed up like a doll' at her wedding, covered in gold jewellery and the object of fascination for many of the guests.
Speaking about the aftermath of her wedding, she revealed her horror when she realised her husband wanted to get her pregnant.
She said: 'He [her husband] tried to be nice to me. But then again, he wasn't because he raped me every single night.
Now 35, she talked about how she was treated like a slave and an object by her husband's family
She also revealed how her husband gave her a virus which she, unknowingly, passed on to her daughter when she eventually got pregnant
Ms Marie had the CMV virus. If a pregnant woman has active CMV the virus can be passed to her unborn baby, causing problems such as hearing loss and learning difficulties
'He knew I wanted to get home. He knew everything.'
In her desperation to avoid getting pregnant, she took some contraceptive pills given to her by her cousin.
But her husband's family realised what she was doing and took them away from her.
Ms Marie's daughter was born three weeks early and taken to a special care unit where doctors told her she was 'handicapped'.
She said: 'He passed a virus onto me and that's what made it happen.'
Ms Maries was found to have cytomegalovirus (CMV), which belongs to the herpes family of viruses.
It is spread through saliva and bodily fluids, and can be contracted by kissing or through sex.
If a pregnant woman has active CMV the virus can be passed to her unborn baby, causing problems such as hearing loss and learning difficulties.
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