AFP reports that 25-year-old Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, widow of the late Daesh financial leader Abu Sayyaf, has been charged for her role in the death of Kayla Mueller, a 26-year-old US aid worker purportedly killed in a coalition airstrike last year.
Bahar, also known as Umm Sayyaf has been formally accused of conspiracy by providing support to violent extremists and forcibly detaining captives in her home.
The captives included Mueller who was sexually assaulted by Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of Daesh, who claimed to “own” Mueller, prompting federal prosecutors to say that “owning” someone is tantamount to slavery, according to AFP.
In May 2015, Bahar was captured during a US commando raid in Syria that also killed her husband.
According to a complaint filed in the US District Court of Virginia, Mueller and other female "captives were at various times handcuffed, held in locked rooms and given orders on a daily basis with respect to their activities, movements and liberty," AFP also reported.
The complaint also stated that Baher threatened the captives with death if they didn’t follow her orders, and that she was well aware that “Kayla Jean Mueller was sexually abused by Baghdadi, who forced her to have sex with him” while she was held hostage in Bahar’s home, AFP stated.
Bahar does not refute the charges, saying that she was solely responsible for watching over the captives while her husband was away on business for Daesh.
She also acknowledged she would let other members of the militant group, including Baghdadi, stay at her residence.
AFP also quoted Assistant Attorney General John Carlin as saying, "We fully support the Iraqi prosecution of Sayyaf and will continue to work with the authorities there to pursue our shared goal of holding Sayyaf accountable for her crimes. We will continue to pursue justice for Kayla and for all American victims of terrorism."
Currently in Iraqi custody, Bahar is looking at life in prison for the charges against her.
