Sunday, April 27, 2008

Father Held Daughter Captive in Cellar for 24 Years

Okay this the most disturbing story I have read in ages. This is honestly some of the most sick and sinister behaviour I have read learned about in a while and though I can admit that I have become sadly desensitized towards many tragic and sad situations, this one was hard to not feel empathy for.
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Austrian police have arrested an elderly man after he was accused of locking his daughter in a basement for more than two decades and fathering seven children with her.

Police said the 73-year-old man, identified as Josef F., is in custody following a statement by his daughter, Elisabeth F, 42. She alleged in a police statement that he locked her in the basement of a home in the Austrian Alps town of Amstetten, and repeatedly abused her sexually. She said she had given birth to seven children including twins, one of whom died.

Police picked up the two on Saturday following a tip near the town's hospital, where one of the surviving children was rushed unconscious with an undisclosed serious illness.

In her statement, Elisabeth F. said her father began sexually abusing her when she was 11. Her father allegedly sedated, handcuffed and locked her in a room in the cellar on Aug. 28, 1984. She was reported missing a day later, and a month later a letter surfaced, allegedly written by her, saying she didn't want to be found.

Over 24 years, Elisabeth F. had seven children. She gave birth to twins in 1996, but one died several days later because of inappropriate care. The father allegedly removed the body from the cellar and burned it.

The latest case reminded Austrians of Natascha Kampusch, who was 10 years old when she was kidnapped in 1998 on her way to school in Vienna. She was held by Wolfgang Priklopil for nearly nine years in a small dungeon in his home in the suburbs. Hours after Kampusch escaped in August 2006, Priklopil killed himself by jumping in front of a train.

Police in Elisabeth F.'s case said DNA tests will be conducted to determine whether Josef F. is the children's father.

--SOURCE CBC.CA

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