A YOUNG woman from Elche lured into a dangerous cult in Perú has said she can 'now get on with her life' after hearing her captor has been jailed for 20 years.
Patricia Aguilar Poveda has heard from authorities in the South American country and has been assured the so-called 'guru' who kept her and other women captive, raped them and forced them to bear his children, was now behind bars and would not be out again until she was in her 40s.
Her father says the youngster, who will be 21 in January, is still in contact with her counsellor but is 'recovering well' from the mental and physical damage caused by her ordeal, and has gone back to college.
Patricia was 'groomed' by Steven Manrique, now 35, when she was an emotionally-vulnerable teen grieving over the sudden death of her uncle.
Manrique claimed to be a 'guru', heading up a sect which called itself 'Gnosis', and who told Patricia online that he had been chosen by God to help repopulate the earth and needed her to join him in his 'mission'.
On her 18th birthday in January 2017, Patricia stole the family savings and fled to Lima, where she spent months living in semi-captivity in a flat with other women who had been 'seduced' by Manrique.
They were all repeatedly beaten and raped and bore Manrique's children, whom neighbours described as 'unusually and extremely aggressive' towards other kids, and who did not go to school.
By the time Manrique had moved the women to primitive huts in a hazardous part of the Peruvian Amazon, Patricia was also pregnant by her captor.
When she was rescued 18 months after leaving Elche – an operation which was successful largely thanks to family funding and her father's having flown out to Perú to oversee the process – Patricia was extremely malnourished and covered in insect bites, as was her month-old baby daughter whom she had given birth to in one of the huts with only a local tribeswoman to help her and no medical assistance – despite having a congenital heart condition that meant her labour could have been fatal.
Her father Albert paid for his daughter, granddaughter, and all the other women and their children to be flown to Lima, where they were taken to a women's shelter for care and medical treatment.
Patricia, speaking to the media weeks after her return, admitted she still had some of the original 'Stockholm Syndrome' when authorities found her in the jungle, but that 'deep down' she was 'relieved' to be rescued.
Whilst in Lima, she had repeatedly told the Spanish embassy in person that she was in the country of her own free will and had not been kidnapped.
She later said she had believed that she was in a long-distance 'relationship' with Manrique and that he was her 'boyfriend'.
Now, with family support and a healthy 17-month-old daughter, Patricia has spent the last year taking an access course to make up for her lack of sixth-form studies, and has started a Formación Profesional (FP) course – the equivalent of the UK's BTEC route - at the Victoria Kent High School in Elche.
She hopes her FP qualification will get her into university afterwards, and will buy her exemptions from various modules so she can fast-track her degree.
It is not known what she is studying, but she wants to continue with the same subject matter at university as for her FP.
Patricia is also taking driving lessons 'so she can have a more independent life' and, as her parents say, 'live the life of a normal 20-year-old girl'.
Her counsellor is based in Málaga, and her parents take her there in person on occasion, but otherwise, Patricia talks to him 'for a couple of hours a week' and thinks of him 'as a friend rather than a therapist'.
Manrique had appealed his 20-year sentence, imposed in March, for his treatment of the five women – including Patricia – whom he considered to be his 'wives' and kept in a type of harem whose 'job' it was to satisfy him sexually, carry out all his domestic chores and work to earn money to support him.
He tried to claim all five were with him voluntarily, but lost the appeal and his sentence is now confirmed.
Although Patricia's parents still have a case open against Manrique via a court in Elche for Patricia's kidnap and abuse, including when she was still a minor – although it was all online until she came of age and set off for Perú – the fact that he is now in jail means the family feels it has 'closure'.
They are waiting for more evidence to come from Perú and Patricia has supplied as many online conversations and emails as she can find to show how Manrique influenced her and convinced her to travel across the Atlantic and steal her parents' money when she turned 18.
And despite his sentence, Manrique is said to still be active on various social media sites in an attempt to lure more victims.
One of the women rescued is said to still be linked to him, and Patricia's family suspects it is she who is keeping his cause going online.
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