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I was arrested at home together with a childhood friend who they’d gone to pick up first. My family thought he’d stitched me up, which was not true.

My friend had nothing to do with politics, he just wanted peace and freedom. He was a hippie and very committed to helping those in need.

The two of us were held in the Silva Palma barracks, but the interrogations and torture sessions were at the Naval War Academy in Valparaíso.

There I could hear the women held in the cell in front of ours (they were almost certainly much worse off than we were), singing a song that has stuck in my mind ever since. It was the one that says 'Usted no es ná, no es chicha ni limoná' (You’re nothing, you're neither fish nor fowl). This example of fortitude and commitment helped me to get back on my feet, forget the physical pain and try to help those comrades who were worse off than me.

To me, that song sung by many female comrades from university, by housewives and female workers, epitomises Chilean women: strong, feisty, committed, rebellious, but also coquettish, feminine and affectionate.

I realised over time that it was a way to provoke the guards, who sometimes seemed to suffer the same as the prisoners, even though they did nothing about it.

• Jara, Víctor