Page 101 - VERITAS Vol.2 Issue 2

Fritzl’s family complained to Josef about the sounds they all oc-
casionally heard, but he excused them as damaged pipelines and

noisy heaters, those were the miserable yelps of Elisabeth.

In 2008, Kerstin, the eldest child who was 19 years old by then, fell

severely ill. Elisabeth begged her father to give medical attention to

her sickly daughter. He had a change of mind and took her to the

hospital where the horrifying truth of Elisabeth’s ordeal over the

past years finally came to light.
For a week, Kerstin was in the hospital and was being questioned

by police regarding her family, but no one came to endorse her. She

had bruises and a discoloured body, as Josef had physically abused

her too and she’d never seen sunlight in her lifetime.

Police got suspicious and questioned Josef regarding her sudden

appearance. They reopened the case and went through the notes al-

legedly sent by Elisabeth and noticed an irregularity in them. Being
pressured by police, Josef finally released Elisabeth from her cell

on 26 April 2008, 24 years after her imprisonment.

Elisabeth rushed to the hospital Kerstin was in. Her presence at the

hospital startled the police. They interrogated her regarding what

the truth was. Elisabeth made a deal with them first claiming to

never come face to face with her father Josef ever again. After this,

she revealed everything he had done to her in the last 24 years of
her captivity.

The police filed charges of rape, manslaughter, false imprisonment,

and incest based on the evidence provided by Elisabeth. Her fami-

ly was questioned subsequently but everyone claimed to not know

anything.

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Veritas Volume: 2, Issue: 2