SHOCKING NEWS..happened in Austria

I can't believe this thing still happen in this era...
I think the man is trying to do some sort of research or he is just having some psychological issues...

The news that a man may have imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered her seven children has been described as one of the worst cases in Austria's criminal history.

Josef Fritzl, aged 73, is in police custody and is still being questioned. Police say he has confessed to the alleged crimes and they do not believe anyone else was involved in his daughter's incarceration.

The picture that is beginning to emerge is of a man who led a double life. In public he appeared to be a respectable member of the community, living in Amstetten with his wife Rosemarie, with whom he had seven grown-up children.

But allegedly he had a second, secret family with his daughter Elisabeth, whom police say he lured into a cellar, aged 18, in 1984 and repeatedly abused. She is believed to have born him seven children, three of whom he and Rosemarie adopted or fostered.

Local social services told the Austrian Press Agency that there appeared to be nothing suspicious about the family and that Mr Fritzl managed to explain "very plausibly" how three of his infant grandchildren had turned up on his doorstep.
Not one member of the family was aware that down in the soundproof cellar their sister had to live with her children

Local police chief Franz Polzer Amstetten's local governor, Hans-Heinz Lenze, told Austria's public broadcaster ORF that the children had had regular visits from social workers, who never heard any complaints or noticed anything to arouse their suspicions.

He said they were well-behaved at school and fitted in well with their classmates.
Mr Lenze said that initially the disappearance of Elisabeth had given the social services cause for concern, but that their investigations had not revealed any major discrepancies with Mr Fritzl's story that she had run away to join a sect.

A qualified electrician, Austrian police described Mr Fritzl as "a very intelligent man" who had put electric locks on the cellar rooms which could only be opened with a special code.
They say he locked the sliding reinforced concrete door from within with a secret remote control, and hid it behind shelves.

Mr Fritzl was allegedly able to supply his secret family with clothes and food without arousing suspicion by shopping outside of Amstetten.

Police say he had an excuse to travel away from home as he owned some land and could shop in other towns and deliver goods to the cellar dungeon in the evening, unnoticed.

Neighbours and acquaintances expressed shock at the allegations and said that Mr Fritzl treated his grandchildren affectionately and appeared to be a good grandfather.

Mr Lenze told ORF that Mr Fritzl had telephoned him last week and thanked him and the social services for looking after his family during his granddaughter Kerstin's illness.

It was the doctor treating Kerstin who first raised the alarm.
Albert Reiter said that he found it strange that she had been found unconscious outside the building where her grandparents lived, and he alerted the police.

Rosemarie Fritzl "had no idea" what was going on, according to the police, and was devastated to hear of her husband's alleged crimes.

Police say that "many questions still need to be answered" - such as how Mr Fritzl's secret remained undiscovered for so long - but added that he was careful to make sure no one went near the cellar.

Police said that they were told by Elisabeth's siblings that he had always been an "authoritarian and domineering father" and was controlling towards his wife.

"This is a situation the other family members told us about again and again. You can therefore conclude that we asked all of them and that not one member of the family was aware that down in the soundproof cellar their sister had to live with her children," local police chief Franz Polzer told a news conference in Amstetten.

As yet Mr Fritzl has not given any indication of why he committed the alleged crimes and has refused to explain why only three of the children were allowed to live upstairs with him.
Police believe he planned the cellar space meticulously, that it was well soundproofed and may have existed and have been equipped some time before Elisabeth was incarcerated there.

Key Facts in Case:
Elisabeth reappeared at home after disappearing 24 years ago
Six children she says are hers have been found and placed in care
One of the children, aged 19, is seriously ill in hospital
Elisabeth's father Josef, 73, has been arrested on suspicion of incest and abduction

Source from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7371959.stm - Click here for Josef Fritzl's photo...