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Europe


Man held daughter captive in cellar for 24 years

Monday, April 28, 2008

Austrian police are questioning a 73-year-old man suspected of repeatedly raping a daughter whom he kept captive in a cellar for 24 years.

The 42-year-old woman, who was reported missing in 1984, was rescued in the town of Amstetten on Saturday night following a tip-off to the authorities.

She has told police that her father began sexually abusing her when she was 11 and then locked her in the cellar in 1988.

She was repeatedly raped over the following years and gave birth to six children as a result of the abuse.

Three of the children lived in the cellar with her, while her father and mother looked after the others, telling the authorities their missing daughter had left the children on their doorstep.

The mother appears to have been oblivious to truth about her daughter's disappearance.

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