Photos of Women Believed to Be Syrian Christians Emerge With Ransom Demand and Threat That They'll Become Islamic State Sex Slaves

The Islamic State group has reportedly posted online photos of women believed to be Syrian Christians, with notes threatening that they will be used as sex slaves if a ransom is not paid for their release.

Britain’s Daily Mail reported Saturday that the three women pictured may be among a group of Assyrian Christians who were abducted in February.

The photos, taken separately, show each woman holding up a piece of paper handwritten with their name and the date of July 27, 2015, the Daily Mail reported.

Two of the women were pictured with small children.

The Assyrian Federation of Sweden told the Daily Mail that while it could not confirm the women were Christian, their last names are like those of Christian family names from the region.

“The names resemble the family names of people in a nearby village - Tel Jazire - so it is possible that these women could be from Assyrian villages but we cannot confirm that,” a source from the Assyrian Federation of Sweden told the British newspaper.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Islamic State is using the Koran to justify the rape of women and girls captured in Iraq and Syria.

A top United Nations official earlier this month confirmed a document showing the monetary amount the jihadist group has set for Christian and Yazidi sex slaves, including for children under the age of 10.

According to the document, girls between the age of 1 and 9 are priced at around $170, with the price decreasing with age. Women between 40 and 50 years old go for as little as $40.

Before her death, U.S. hostage Kayla Mueller was repeatedly forced to have sex with self-proclaimed caliph and head of the Islamic State Abu Bakr Baghdadi, U.S. intelligence officials told her family in June.