AUSTRIA: Austrian abused daughters for four decades - police say

Record ID: 334623

  • Title: AUSTRIA: Austrian abused daughters for four decades - police say
  • Date: 26th August 2011
  • Summary: ST PETER AM HART, AUSTRIA (AUGUST 25, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF HOUSE WHERE MAN IS REPORTED TO HAVE ABUSED HIS CHILDREN VARIOUS OF SMALL ENCLOSURE IN GARDEN GARDEN MACHINERY BACK OF HOUSE WINDOW EXTERIOR OF HOUSE DOOR WITH NUMBER 12 ON WALL BENCH IN GARDEN VIEW THROUGH WINDOW BACKYARD VIEW THROUGH WINDOW VIEW OF TOOLS THROUGH WINDOW EXTERIOR OF HOUSE WINDOW EXTERIOR OF HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 10th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Austria, Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Reuters ID: LVA2BWIFMFMR1DBYIRXR26IXXQKI
  • Story Text: Austrian police are investigating a man they suspect imprisoned, beat and sexually abused his two daughters over a 40-year period, they said on Thursday (August 25).
    The 85-year-old Austrian, from a village near the northern town of Braunau, kept the women locked in a small kitchen with only a wooden bench as a bed, police said.
    The man banned his daughters from having "any social contact", the statement added. It was not immediately clear if they were confined all the time.
    The description has echoes of the Josef Fritzl incest case which rocked Austria three years ago. Fritzl fathered seven children with his incarcerated daughter before being imprisoned for life in 2009 aged 74.
    Police said the women, now aged 53 and 45, were suffering from "mental deficiencies" and were being sheltered and treated after their ordeal.
    They escaped in May when the father tried to rape the elder daughter and she fought back, injuring him as he fell to the ground. A social worker found the father two days later and reported the alleged abuse to the authorities.
    The father is now bed-ridden in hospital but is "mentally active" for his age, police said.
    Police did not say whether the daughters gave birth to children by their father. The police statement, which did not name the man, said he abused them from 1970 to May 2011 in the village near the German border.
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