The alleged victim banged on a neighbour’s window while ‘mostly naked’ and claimed to have been held captive by her roommate and her partner – the couple has been charged
An 82-year-old man and 60-year-old woman are alleged to have kidnapped and tortured a woman for five years.
The victim, aged 45, was reportedly held captive in Saint-Molf, in France’s Brittany peninsula, by her roommate and her partner. French outlets reported the victim was “psychologically fragile” and was taken to hospital with hypothermia.
The Nantes prosecutor Antoine Leroy said she had been forced to live in the garden or a garage attached to the house where the two people lived.
The woman reportedly took a moment to run when the man was watching TV and escaped from the enclosure she was locked up in. She then ranged on the window of a neighbour’s window while “mostly undressed” and claimed she was held captive for five years.
The complainant “explained that she was living in a shared apartment in this house with another woman” until a man arrived. She was then “asked to leave the house and live in the garden, either outside, in a tent, or in a garage attached to the house.” A search of the property confirmed her story.
The alleged victim was often locked in the garage. “She slept in extremely precarious conditions, on a deckchair,” the prosecutor said.
“She relieved herself in a potty or in plastic bags. She ate porridge mixed with dish soap. She was prevented from going out.”
According to the prosecutor, the victim “disappeared from the radar” since April 2022, the date corresponding to her divorce. “Her bank accounts were no longer active except when paying large sums of money,” to the pair, reports LeParisien.
The man and woman were taken into custody at the end of last week and are alleged to have admitted to the basic facts but downplayed them.
The pair has been charged with kidnapping with torture or acts of barbarism, which can result in life imprisonment. They were also charged with fraudulent abuse of a persons state of psychological or physical subjection and the weakness of a vulnerable person.
The man was placed under judicial supervision, while the woman has been remanded in custody.