Coronation Street's Bethany Platt raped by Nathan's sick friend as sex ring storyline gets darker

The past few months have been a whirlwind of terror for schoolgirl Bethany Platt on Coronation Street as viewers have watched her be groomed by her evil boyfriend Nathan Curtis.

The youngster, played by Lucy Fallon in the ITV soap, has been manipulated over the past few months and will be raped in an upcoming episode by Nathan's sick friend Neil.

The horrifying scene unfolds after Bethany goes on a date with her boyfriend's pal and is taken into the bedroom by him as Nathan watches and refuses to help her. The crime comes after Bethany has been groomed by Nathan and introduced to a sex ring, and is the first time she is rented out for sex.

In further disturbing scenes, Bethany will be shown sobbing on the bed following the attack and is unable to understand how Nathan allowed it to happen.

Fallon said of the upcoming episode to The Sun: "She does end up with sleeping with Neil and it's more because she is saying no, I'm not that kind of girl and he just lays her on the bed and then she's crying.

"She goes out for a drink with him and thinks he's really nice, and they come back and then she's sat with Neil and he keeps trying to put her on his knee and she's a bit like, 'Ooh, this is really weird'.

"And then he says let's go into the bedroom. He picks her up and takes her into the bedroom.

"She's looking at Nathan and they've planned that if she feels like she's unsafe or she wants to get away from Neil then she'll rub her ear and as she walks passed [Nathan] she's rubbing her ear but Nathan just turns away from her."

"She's saying no to him, she's saying, 'I've got a boyfriend' but I think that because she's so in love with Nathan she just does what he wants her to do," she continued.

Bethany's ordeal is based on the events of a real person, and there are some 2,500 cases of this kind of abuse every year in the UK.

The storyline has shocked the nation since it began, with many viewers taking to Twitter to express their opinions.

Some have praised the soap for raising awareness about the subject, with one person writing: "Very good that @itvcorrie have done such a delicate storyline and #bethanyplatt and all of the writers are amazing for doing a great story," as another put it: "I wish I could run onto #Corrie set and stop Bethany from seeing Nathan".

Coronation Street continues tomorrow (19 April) at 7.30pm on ITV.