A woman has escaped after being tortured by dry cleaners for two years.

For two years Zunduri was held as a hostage and a slave in a Mexican dry cleaning store.

Trigger warning: This post deals with violence and torture and may be distressing to some readers. 

She worked 17 hours ever day, shackled by a three-metre chain secured around her neck.

The 22-year-old was starved on a regular basis — once, after not being fed for five days, she ate polythene wrapping for the clothes she cleaned and pressed.

Always dehydrated, she once scalded her mouth trying to drink water from an iron.

Not only was she deprived of basic human needs, Zunduri was horrifically frequently physically tortured, beaten and burned by her enslavers.

“If I made a mistake with my ironing, which I often did due to the exhaustion of having to sleep standing up, they would torture me. I went three days without drinking water,” Zunduri told MailOnline in an exclusive interview.

Now in hospital, Zunduri has the body of an 80 year old. She is covered in third degree burns, scabs, scars and her teeth are broken at the root.

She doesn’t know how she managed to survive the life-threatening torture.

For more: Four terrified women have spoken about being enslaved by Australian jihadists.

Zunduri started working at the dry cleaners in Mexico City five years ago. It was a live-in job with a minimum wage.

But three years into the job, the behaviour of her employers escalated into cruelty and violence.

The owner,  Leticia Molina Ochoa, accused Zunduri of burning clothes, and told her she would go to the police and accuse her of stealing if Zunduri didn’t repay her debt.

“They called me ‘animal’ and said that they wished I was dead,” Zunduri told MailOnline. 

“My family were worried and came to the shop many times because that was the last place I had been seen. But that woman played mind games with them and told them I hated them and never wanted to see them again.

“She told them that I was now a prostitute and that they should be ashamed and glad I had disappeared, rather than searching for me.”

The owner Ms Ochoa is now facing cruelty charges and faces up to 50 years in prison.

Zunduri finally escaped on April 25, when one of the employer’s daughters allowed her to use the toilet. 

“I knew I had a chance to escape and I just ran for my life,” Zunduri said. “I have to thank God that my two years of hell have come to an end.”

Related content: Every two seconds, a child is forced into marriage.

Zunduri hopes her former employers and torturers will suffer for their crimes.

She has been reunited with her family and hopes to campaign against slavery so that no one will  have to endure the same experience.

According to the Daily Mail, there are nearly 300,000 slaves held in Mexico.

Do you have a news tip? Email news@mamamia.com.au.