Austrian Teen Says Kidnapper Was Kind To Her
Mary K. Brunskill - All Headline News Staff Writer Vienna, Austria (AHN) - An Austrian teenager who was abducted eight years ago at the age of ten and kept in an underground cell called her kidnapper "part of my life" and said he was always kind to her. Natascha Kampusch was kept in a windowless basement cell in the home Wolfgang Priklopil, a telecommunications technician. She escaped on Wednesday and was found wandering around Strasshof, a town about 15 miles northeast of Vienna. Kampusch referred to the 54-ft. cell, as "my room" in her statement, read by criminal psychologist Max Friedrich. "It's my room, and not for the public to see," Kampusch said. In the statement, Kampusch begged reporters, "Please leave me alone for a while" and said "everyone wants to ask intimate questions, (but) they don't concern anyone." Police said Kampusch, 18, was being questioned about her experience and whether she had been sexually abused. Kampusch said she did not know Priklopil's name for the first few years after she was kidnapped. She said he wanted to her to call him master, but she did not. Her statement read, "He was not my master. I was equally strong. I didn't cry after the escape. He was a part of my life. ... In principle, I don't have the feeling that I missed something." Policewoman Sabine Freudenberger told the Agence France Presse, "he was a sort of father figure for her. He taught her everything fro |
