Syrian refugee 'allows smugglers to rape his wife as payment for trafficking family to Europe'

The husband, who had run out of money, reportedly volunteered his wife for payment and apparently started participating in the daily rapes

Asylum seekers sleep in a tent as they wait to register at the State Office of Health and Social Affairs registration centre in Berlin (KAY NIETFELD/AFP/Getty Images)

A Syrian refugee reportedly allowed smugglers to rape his wife as payment for his family being trafficked to Europe.

The husband, who had run out of money, allegedly volunteered his wife for payment and apparently started participating in the daily rapes.

The unidentified woman, a mother-of-four, now lives in Berlin and has placed a restraining order on her husband, according to the New York Times.

The woman remains in fear of being killed by her estranged husband or another relative for bringing "dishonour" to the family.

Speaking to the New York Times, Susanne Höhne, the lead psychotherapist at a centre in West Berlin that treats traumatized female migrants said the woman displays all the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including flashbacks, insomnia and trouble concentrating.

"One moment she will seem perfectly healthy, the next she is in her chair opposite you dodging bullets in Damascus or reliving her abuse in Bulgaria," she said.

Ms Höhne also claims that almost all of the 44 women in her care have experienced sexual violence.

The incident is one of thousands unreported cases of sexual assaults on migrant women as they travel to Europe.