Friday, August 25, 2006

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world

I'd say you couldn't make this stuff up, but clearly that would be untrue. Authors such as James Ellroy have carved lengthy and profitable careers doing just that.

Even so, the reality is some some crazy-ass stuff.

It's been all over the news in the UK the past couple of days, but maybe it's not been covered much in North America.

nataschaIn Austria, an 18-year-old girl has escaped from the house in which she has been held as a sex slave since being kidnapped. She was ten years old when she was abducted. She has been living in a room with an area of just 54 sq ft (5 sq m) in the cellar of her captor's house. The house is less than 10 miles from the girl's parents' house in Vienna.

After Natascha Kampusch escaped, her kidnapper killed himself by diving in front of a train. Natascha told police that Wolfgang Priklopil was "always kind to me", but that she "had to call him 'master' for the first year".

Priklopil taught Natascha basic literacy skills and sometimes allowed her to help him with chores. It seems that she escaped while helping him wash his car.

She is reported to weigh less now, aged 18, than she did at age ten.

Natascha has been reunited with her parents, who I'm sure must have thought they'd never see her again.

8 comments:

FOUR DINNERS said...

And it's not getting any saner either

Candy Minx said...

What a story, it's been on our news all the time, ousting even the Jon Benet Ramsey story.

I keep wondering if she could remember her parents, her life before, if she will ever get over it. Maybe now she can have a whole new life, imagine eating your favourite food again, sleeping in your parents house. Finding out about the world. I hope she will find some joy, find a school she can go to or a special tutorial something. the poor kid, unreal.

me said...

but he did let her watch tv every now and then, so he can't have been all that bad. (irony people)
poor kid. and please spare a thought for her parents.

me said...

while i'm here, and whilst it is being mentioned, however sorry i feel for jon benets' family, can someone please tell me if it is socially acceptable for americans to dress there six year old daughters like cheap hookers and parade them around in "beauty pagents"?
there is something slightly creepy, and bordering on the peadophilic about it to me. can i have an answer from an ordinary, sane, clear thinking american please.
just my view.

Timmer said...

I think that 8 years must have been some terrible dream reality for that poor girl. Thankfully she has escaped!
CK-Dress up is acceptable, touching is not!

* (asterisk) said...

4D: Nope, it sure ain't.

Pie: A long road ahead, I reckon...

Candy: Apparently the first thing she asked her parents was whether they still had her toy car, which was her favoutrite toy as a kid. Of course, they did. So clearly she has some good memories. Terrifying situation. The guy had specifically chosen her. He told her so. If he hadn't got her that day, he would have got her the next, he said. He'd been watching her...

Cappy: The JonBenet beauty pageant thing is certainly lost on us Brits. It's totally creepy, making 6-year-olds up to look like 40-year-olds. Sick, even. (I know I'm not American...)

Tim: Horrible. Doesn't bear thinking about.

me said...

thanks. was starting to think i might be a little weird, just by thinking it was sick. now i know i am normal. or as normal as i can be.

Timmer said...

I didn't say that I supported dress up, I feel that it is slightly weird for parents to do that, but it is acceptable, and the kids/parents win prizes and money. Go figure.