Austrian incest mom speaks out

Brett Singer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Remember Josef Fritzl, the human monster who locked his daughter in the cellar and got her pregnant multiple times? She's speaking to the press now, and while you know her story is a horrible one, the details are still chilling.

Elisabeth Fritzl, who was locked in an Austrian basement for almost 25 years and bore seven children by her father, says he raped her three times a week.

Josef Fritzl also regularly threatened to abandon her and three of her children in the cellar, leaving them to starve if they didn't follow his commands, Elisabeth said in her first public comments, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

This went on for 24 years. Other than mass genocide, I have to say that this might be the most horrendous story of all time. It's certainly in the top 10. Back when we first posted this story, commenter SussLW said, "Rather reminds me of some early V.C. Andrews novels, actually, which were also disturbing, but at least they were works of fiction." Indeed.

Source: UPI, via Madeline's excellent Morning News, which you should be reading if you aren't already

image: BBC

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Monster dad's daughter is awakened from coma

Brett Singer — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

It's Friday the 13th, which seems like a good day for a story like this one.

Kerstin Fritzl, the incestuous daughter of Austrian lunatic Josef Fritzl, was awakened from an artificial coma this week. According to Reuters, "Doctors put her into an artificial coma after she suffered from cramping fits due to oxygen deficiency and kidney problems and was brought from the prison cellar to hospital by Fritzl."

The case is still being investigated by Austrian authorities, who are looking into charged Fritzl with "coercion, rape, incest and the death" of one of the children he fathered with his daughter Elisabeth. He has "admitted incarceration and incest"; I'm not sure how the Austrian legal system works, therefore I don't know if that admission is equal to an admission of guilt.

Now this is a tricky sentence: "Austrian media reported that Kerstin might have been reunited with her mother, her grandmother and her siblings who are all cared for at the hospital." What I think it means is that Kerstin was reunited with her mother, Elisabeth, who is also her sister. Her grandmother is also her great-grandmother… is that right? It's a little confusing.

If you've forgotten the details of this story consider yourself lucky, but if you want to refresh your memory, click here.

images: BBC

Strollerderby : friday the 13th