Austrian hid daughter 24 y in cellar, fathered 7 children

A 73-year-old Austrian man has been arrested on suspicion of holding his daughter hostage in a cellar for 24 years and fathering seven children with her.


The arrested man was named by police as Josef F and his daughter as 42-year-old Elisabeth F, who had been "missing" since 1984.

The case came to light after Elisabeth F's eldest child fell ill and had to be taken to hospital and doctors appealed for the mother to come forward.


Police said Elisabeth F told authorities her father had abused her since she was 11, had lured her into the basement of the block where the family lived in Amstetten in 1984.

She said he had drugged and handcuffed her before locking her up in a windowless dungeon.

It was assumed she had disappeared voluntarily when her parents received a letter from her saying they should not search for her.

Elisabeth gave birth to seven children, one of whom died shortly after being born, police said.

They said three of her younger children were each left in the house, the first accompanied by a letter saying Elisabeth was unable to care for the baby herself. All were taken in by Josef and his wife as foster or adopted children.

"She had been abused continuously during the 24-year-long imprisonment," the police statement said.

The two oldest children, aged 18 and 19, as well as the youngest aged 5, had been locked up with their mother since birth and had never seen sunlight or received any education, police said.

"A 19-year-old girl was dropped off at the Amstetten hospital last weekend, she is seriously ill and is fighting for her life," a police spokesman said.

Doctors appealed for girl's mother to come forward to provide more details about the daughter's medical history.

Josef then brought Elisabeth and her remaining two children out of the dungeon, telling his wife that their "missing" daughter had chosen to return home.

After questioning and assurances that she would have no further contact with her father, Elisabeth agreed to make a "comprehensive statement".

Rosemarie, as well as Elisabeth and her children were receiving psychological counselling.

DNA samples of all those involved were taken and would be analysed to determine who the father of the children was, police added.

Police said Josef was in custody but refused to speak about the allegations. His wife Rosemarie had been unaware of what had happened.

The case is reminiscent of that of Natascha Kampusch, who spent eight years locked up in a windowless cell beneath 44-year-old Woldgang Priklopil's garage in the town of Strasshof, 15 miles outside Vienna, before dashing to freedom in August 2006.

Police said Elizabeth's mother was not suspected of involvement, having accepted that her daughter had run away. "As far as we've been able to ascertain, the wife of the accused had no contact with the 42-year-old woman and the other children," a local council official, Heinz Lenze said. The mother was also receiving counselling.

One neighbour said Josef had been "inconspicuous" and "always greeted us in a friendly way." Another said she had often seen Rosemarie with her grandchildren. "She is really very nice, taking the grandchildren to school -but we knew nothing of what was really going on."

The mother was probably of the mentality of many an abuse victim. Meekly followed along the same way they do, through weakness of character, fear to change the situation for whatever reason, something of that order.

Now it seems the story was a massive, sophisticated deception, which went undiscovered for over two decades. Neither the man's wife, the rest of his family, nor his next-door neighbors -- much less the relevant local officials -- knew a thing. Supposedly.

What a load of ****

[quote]There is something rotten at the heart of Austria ... a poisonous past

A monster like Fritzl could only exist in a country like that