Polish man accused of crimes similar to Fritzl

Police investigating claims that a Polish man imprisoned and raped his daughter were seeking DNA samples today from the two children she says he fathered.

The 21-year-old woman told police she was held captive for six years and forced to give the two boys up for adoption. Police were trying to find them to determine if the accused man is their father.

The case bears a striking similarity to that of Austrian Josef Fritzl, accused of holding his daughter in a cellar for 24 years, repeatedly sexually abusing her and fathering her seven children.

The case in Poland involves a 45-year-old man identified only as Krzysztof B, in keeping with Polish privacy laws. Police detained him on Friday in the eastern city of Siedlce after his wife and daughter came forward with the allegations.

“We have the hospital records of the children, and we will try to find them and carry out DNA tests” to determine their paternity, national police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said.

The woman told police that her father raped her repeatedly while keeping her captive in a room with no door handles. Krzysztof B’s wife, identified only as Teresa B, corroborated the account, police said.

The victim’s mother was quoted as saying she was aware of what was happening with her daughter, but did not go to police for fear her husband would make good on threats to kill her.

The case has been handed over to prosecutors who are now conducting the investigation, regional police spokesman Jacek Dobrzynski said.

The man was being investigated on several counts of sexual assault of a minor, incest and armed assault, said prosecutor Miroslaw Zoch in Siemiatycze.

He cautioned, however, that it is “too early” to say whether the man fathered the two boys.

“We must first verify the evidence gathered by the police,” he said.

Mr Sokolowski said the woman did have contact – albeit limited – with the outside world, including visits to hospitals to give birth to her sons.

He said the first boy was born in February 2005 in the south-western city of Wroclaw, where the family lived until about three years ago, and the second in January 2007 in the north-eastern area of Siemiatycze, where the family now lives.

Police say the daughter told them she was accompanied by her father, who then forced her to give the children up for adoption.

“The main problem was the extreme psychological pressure she was under, the intimidation,” Mr Sokolowski said. “We are also looking for people who might have known about the situation.”

Krzysztof B is being held pending the outcome of the investigation.

Neighbours say they often saw the woman outside the family’s home and that she was seen walking to a nearby shop to buy food and hair dye. She also attended church with her parents and younger brother.

Jan Chwaszezewski, a 46 year-old plumber who lives across the street, said he had seen the girl outside of the house and visited the family in their home three times since they moved in two years ago but never suspected that something was amiss.

“Nothing pointed to this at all. There was no hint, no sign. The wife was always smiling,” Mr Chwaszezewski said.

The man was being investigated on several counts of sexual assault of a minor, incest and armed assault, said prosecutor Miroslaw Zoch in Siemiatycze. He cautioned, however, that it is “too early” to say whether the man fathered the two boys.

Adam Kozub, a spokesman for the investigating prosecutors, said they have questioned the man and his brother, who is also a suspect in the case.

“It is a very disturbing story, but also a very delicate one because the victim is further suffering from the huge interest in her story,” Mr Kozub said.