Kidnapped teenager defends her abductor

AN Austrian teenager who spent eight years in a dingy underground cell until her dramatic escape last week has defended her captor as “part of my life”, insisting that she didn’t miss anything during her long ordeal.

In remarks read to reporters by a psychologist, 18-year-old Natascha Kampusch said she understood the “extreme curiosity” about what she endured and how she is faring since she bolted to freedom last Wednesday, but she pleaded with journalists: “Please leave me alone for a while. Everyone wants to ask intimate questions, (but) they don’t concern anyone. I feel good where I’m at now.”

Police said yesterday they had only begun to question Ms Kampusch about her