09/26/2006

Woman Held in Flat for 13 Years by Father

"Hungarian Natascha" Found in Budapest

A woman in Budapest was held captive for 13 years in her home by her father and regularly raped and beaten, Hungarian media are reporting. News of her ordeal comes weeks after the escape of Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch from her kidnapper and she is already being dubbed the "Hungarian Natascha".

A 27-year-old Hungarian woman was held captive for 13 years by her father and sexually abused in their home in Budapest, Hungarian media have reported.

Her father, a prison guard, had forbidden her to leave the apartment they shared since she was 14, Blikk newspaper reported, citing social workers. The woman has been dubbed the "Hungarian Natascha" by the media in reference to 16-year-old Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch, who was kidnapped and held for eight years before managing to escape last month.

Newspapers said the Hungarian woman, who has not been named, was repeatedly raped and beaten by her father in front of her seriously ill mother. The case came to light after the father died and the mother, who was also abused by the man, contacted authorities.

Social workers who came to the flat noticed that the daughter had snow-white skin. "The colleagues saw that that the young woman can't have been outside for a long time," social worker Petra Lombos told Hungarian television. She appears "like a 12-year-old child with gray hair."

The woman is severely traumatized and afraid of everyone and speaks only falteringly. She receives daily visits from social workers. No further details were released.

The neighbors apparently didn't notice what was going on. The mother has since died.

cro/Süddeutsche Zeitung/Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

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