AMSTETTEN: An Austrian man has been arrested after a woman said she was abused and kept prisoner by her father for 24 years, bearing him seven children, Austrian police said on Sunday.

Police, who were still trying to piece together details of the case, identified the woman as 42-year-old Elisabeth F.

They said she told authorities her father Josef, who had abused her since she was 11, had lured her into the basement of the block where the family lived in Amstetten in 1984, and drugged and handcuffed her before locking her up in a windowless dungeon.It was assumed she had disappeared voluntarily when her parents received a letter from her saying they should not search for her.

Police said Josef was in custody but refused to speak about the allegations. His wife Rosemarie had been unaware of what had happened.

Elisabeth gave birth to seven children, one of whom died shortly after being born, according to police.

They said three of her younger children were each left in the house, the first accompanied by a letter saying Elisabeth was unable to care for the baby herself. All were taken in by Josef and his wife as foster or adopted children.

“She had been abused continuously during the 24-year-long imprisonment,” the statement said. “This led to six children.”

The two oldest children, aged 18 and 19, as well as the youngest aged 5 had been locked up with their mother since birth and had never seen sunlight or received any education, police said at a news conference on Sunday. The case only came to light when the oldest child became seriously ill and was taken to hospital in Amstetten.

“A 19-year-old girl was dropped off at the Amstetten hospital last weekend,” a police spokesman said. “The girl is seriously ill and is fighting for her life.” Doctors appealed the girl’s mother, who at that time was believed to have disappeared, to come forward to provide more details about the daughter’s medical history.

Josef then brought Elisabeth and her remaining two children out of the dungeon, telling his wife that their “missing” daughter had chosen to return home, police said.—Reuters