A woman who survived being enslaved by Islamic State terrorists will testify against the two Australian ISIS brides accused of slavery and crimes against humanity.

The woman – who is still believed to be in Iraq and cannot be identified for legal reasons – will appear by videolink to give evidence against the Australian women.

Grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, remain in jail after a brief court appearance on Tuesday when they appeared by videolink from prison.

Held in separate rooms at the maximum security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, the pair smiled and waved at supporters during a brief hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

The former slave’s links with the Australian women have yet to be revealed in court, but she has previously spoken of her harrowing experiences at the mercy of ISIS.

The court heard the Yazidi woman remained traumatised by her ordeal.

Daily Mail can reveal the woman was captured by ISIS fighters when she was just a young pre-teen girl in 2014.

She has told authorities she was snatched from her home and sold into slavery to the families of ISIS fighters in both Iraq and Syria.

Zeinab Ahmad, 31, (pictured) will apply for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court next month
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Zeinab Ahmad, 31, (pictured) will apply for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court next month

Detectives allege grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 53, travelled to the region with her husband and children in 2014 (She is pictured on Monday ahead of their abandoned bail application hearing)
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Detectives allege grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 53, travelled to the region with her husband and children in 2014 (She is pictured on Monday ahead of their abandoned bail application hearing)

Kawsar Abbas and Zeinab Ahmad are accused of being slavers
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Kawsar Abbas and Zeinab Ahmad are accused of being slavers

For five years she lived in fear and misery as she endured the full brutality of her ISIS captors.

While she was later freed and returned to her own family, the mental anguish of what she endured remains today.

Thousands of women and children were enslaved by the extremists, who targeted Yazidis, Christians, Shiite Turkmen and Shiite Shabak communities.

ISIS took thousands of Yazidis captive from their ancestral homeland of Sinjar, near the Syrian border, and surrounding areas and proceeded to kill many others.

Thousands of young women were forced into sexual slavery by the extremists while mass graves containing the bodies of thousands of victims are still being uncovered.

Victorian Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan was told the ISIS brides’ lawyers did not oppose a prosecution application to allow the former slave to appear by video.

Witnesses in criminal proceedings are often required to appear in court in person unless they are the actual victim of the alleged crime.

Abbas has been charged with enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave and slave trading. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail if convicted.

A woman holds her baby as civilians fleeing the Islamic State's group embattled holdout of Baghouz walk in a field on February 13, 2019 during an operation by US forces
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A woman holds her baby as civilians fleeing the Islamic State’s group embattled holdout of Baghouz walk in a field on February 13, 2019 during an operation by US forces

Charge sheets released by the court allege the 53-year-old enslaved, possessed and used the slave in Mayadin, Hajin, Gharanji, Bahra, Abu Hamam, Walaa and other places in the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria between June 2017 and November 2018.

Detectives allege Abbas travelled to the region with her husband and children in 2014.

They allege she was complicit in buying a female slave for US$10,000, and knowingly kept the woman in her home.

It is alleged Ahmad had also knowingly kept a female slave in her Syrian home, with police charging her with enslavement and using a slave over the same period.

The document stated the pair’s conduct was ‘committed intentionally or knowingly as part of a widespread or systemic attack directed against a civilian population’.

Police said the pair were detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and held with other family members in the Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp.

The mother and daughter were among a group of women and children who returned to Australia amid chaotic airport scenes on Thursday after years of living in a Syrian refugee camp.

They will remain behind bars until next month when they are expected to make an application for bail.

Zeinab's sister, Zahra Ahmad, 33, returned with the group but was released without charge.
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Zeinab’s sister, Zahra Ahmad, 33, returned with the group but was released without charge.


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A media pack welcomed Zahra Ahmad home at Melbourne Airport last week

Abbas is being represented by Melbourne barrister Peter Morrissey, SC, who represented Bali 9 members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran during their appeals in Indonesia.

Ahmad is being represented by barrister Grace Morgan, who is expected to run the first bail application.

They are among three returnees charged following a decade-long investigation, which began after the women travelled to the Middle East with their partners, who allegedly intended to fight for Islamic State.

A third woman, 32-year-old Janai Safar, who flew into Sydney, was arrested and charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation.

She was denied bail due to the seriousness of the charges and will return before Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on July 15.

A fourth woman, Zeinab’s sister, Zahra Ahmad, 33, returned with the group but was released without charge.