TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After being released from Bali's Kerobokan prison, English woman Rachel Dougall, 40, could finally breath the fresh air again in May 2013. She was sentenced to one year in prison for a £1.6 million (Rp25 billion) cocaine smuggling case.
In July 2013, for the first time ever since she was deported to her native England, Dougall recounted her miserable life in the notorious Bali prison dubbed as 'Hotel K'.
As reported by DailyMail, during her time prison, Dougall often became the target of beatings from her cellmate. Cowering on a wafer-thin floor mat, she could do little but cover her face with her hands against the beating that she suffered from.
She also revealed she suffered a nervous breakdown after being locked up with drug addicts, HIV-positive inmates and sexually aggressive lesbians.
She even developed scabies and said she nearly died of pneumonia, spending a week in hospital.
It's no wonder that the British media dubbed the prison as one of the dirtiest prison in the world.
It may be hard to sympathize with a woman who was accused of trying to smuggle just over 4.7 kilograms of cocaine from Bangkok to Bali. However, she claimed that she was being set up. Along with her, Lindsay Sandiford, was sentenced to death for smuggling, Anthony Ponder was sentenced to six years in prison and Paul Beales was sentenced to four years in prison. The three of them, however, were arrested long before the police arrested Dougall.
"I was totally innocent. They're lying and caged me up like an animal," Dougall said.
She also criticized the hypocrisy of Indonesia that will put people to death by firing squad for using or selling drugs, yet allows substances such as crystal meth and crack cocaine to be freely used inside the prison system. "Most of the women were on drugs virtually every day. If you had money the guards would get you anything you wanted. Inmates in the men's prison next door even paid prostitutes for overnight visits," she claimed.
Dougall said her life has been shattered and even claimed that she lived in fear after receiving death threats from other female inmates. Life in the notorious Hotel K, she said, was so appalling that she even thought of ending her life because of the pressures she received there.
She also claimed that an aggressive lesbian often sexually harassed her. "Because I rebuffed her, she would force me to dress up in leather or other fancy clothes and dance like a stripper while the other women laughed and pushed me around. I was humiliated," she said.
Dougall, one of six Caucasian women in a prison population of 286, said "I did what I had to do in order to stay alive. It's hard for me to end my dream of living in Bali. I really love Bali, but I'll never set foot there again after this nightmare."
DAILYMAIL | ANINDYA LEGIA PUTRI
