A WOMAN was allegedly kept prisoner in a garage for five years by a French couple who she said drained her bank account and fed her porridge mixed with soap.
The 45-year-old had reportedly lost a staggering 50kg when cops found her by the home in Loire-Atlantique, Western France.
The alleged victim escaped the nightmare on October 14 when she was allowed momentary time outside and rang a neighbour’s doorbell for help at around 9:30pm.
The pair, an 82-year-old man and 60-year-old woman, have since been charged with “abduction with torture or acts of barbarism” after allegedly locking up the victim and stealing her money and social security benefits.
They have also been accused of psychological abuse and unlawful detention for supposedly forcing her to live outside in “extremely precarious conditions”.
The woman had reportedly been living in a shared flat with another woman.
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The roommate was a nursing assistant at the Guerande hospital and, according to FranceBleu, met an elderly man at work and brought him home.
Nantes prosecutor Antoine Leroy, said today the couple then locked the woman up and rinsed her bank account.
He said the pair forced her to “go live in the garden” – either in the garage or a tent – where she slept on a deckchair.
The alleged victim was made to stay outside “sometimes for whole days, in the rain or cold” and was not allowed to leave the premises.
This also meant she defecated in a potty or plastic bags.
She was even made to eat porridge laced with dish soap, Leroy added.
He said: “She is a particularly psychologically fragile woman and therefore in a vulnerable state, otherwise she would probably have defended herself differently.
“She managed to leave the house a few times but she kept coming back.
BREAKING FREE
It wasn’t until five years later that the alleged victim finally broke free from their shackles.
According to the prosecutor, she escaped from the garage when her captor was busy watching television.
She ran to her neighbours’ house, who promptly called the police.
When cops found the woman she had lost a staggering 50kg and was drugged up, a source close to the investigation said.
They added: “She was washed with bleach, there was dish soap in her food, she was drugged with medication.”
An investigation remains underway but an initial search of the couple’s house revealed evidence supporting the woman’s claims.
When interviewed by police, the couple also admitted to “the material conditions in which the victim lived in their home, while minimising their share of responsibility”.
The pair, who were detained at the end of last week, have been charged with “kidnapping with torture or acts of barbarism” – punishable by a whole-life sentence.
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They were also reportedly charged with the “fraudulent abuse’ of a person’s state of psychological or physical subjection” and the “weakness of a vulnerable person.”
The man is under judicial supervision, while the woman was remanded in custody.