INDIANAPOLIS -- A 19-year-old Indianapolis woman told police she was held against her will, beaten and forced into prostitution to pay off the drug debt of her mother's boyfriend.

Chris Smiley, 27, and Ayannah Wills, 26, were charged with human trafficking, battery and promoting prostitution, while Latoya Harlin, 21, was charged with battery, promoting prostitution and criminal confinement, 6News' Renee Jameson reported.

The woman told police she was taken hostage in February, when she was 18 years old, and forced to strip at a west side show club after her mother's boyfriend did not pay Smiley for crack cocaine.

She said a few days later, when the club's manager wouldn't let her dance because she had a black eye, Willis threatened to kill her and rape her with a knife, police said.

Police said that the woman told them that on March 1, Smiley pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her if she ever tried to escape.

"The victim's in a position where they actually believe it is in their best interest to stay where they are, that, if they try to leave or to escape, things will actually go worse for them," said Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Jodi Hilger.

Police said the woman told them she was then forced to have sex for money at three east side hotels, and that Smiley once tried to strangle her.

Police said the woman told officers what had happened to her when they responded to a call for help at one of the motels on March 19.

"It's just terrible to think that, in effect, modern day slavery is taking place, and it's taking place in this type of a context, where somebody is being forced to do what they do not want to do, and forced to do in such an awful way," Hilger said. "Statistically, very, very few of these crimes get reported because they're preying on a vulnerable population."

Smiley, Wills and Harlin were being held at the Marion County Jail on Thursday. They are set to appear in court on Oct. 27.

Hilger said the woman has been reunited with some family members and is doing better. Her mother and her mother's boyfriend have not been charged in the case.

Indiana is one of 42 states that have a special task force established by the U.S. Department of Justice to address the growing trend of human trafficking.

IPATH, or Indiana Protection of Abused and Trafficked Humans, addresses both sex and labor trafficking.

Anyone who suspects someone is being held against their will or is being forced to work jobs without pay is asked to call the agency's hot line at 800-928-6403.