A German man has been arrested after his wife was discovered naked in a “torture room” with a shaved head and broken legs and fingers.
The 55-year-old is accused of holding his 53-year-old wife captive in a flat since 2011, when she claims he kidnapped her.
The woman, also German, was found in the flat in the northern French town of Forbach, which sits on the country’s border with Germany.
The victim was immediately rushed to hospital while the man was arrested on Thursday morning (August 10) on suspicion of kidnap and torture.
It was reported that the woman was discovered by police after she was able to call German police from the flat on Wednesday (August 9), ending more than a decade of her brutal captivity.
When the police arrived at the flat, the man attempted to refuse the officers entry into the flat.
After the authorities forced their way in, they found the frightened victim locked inside a “screened room”, French media reported, citing a police source.
The woman’s hair had been shaved off, there were signs her legs and fingers had been broken, and it appeared that she had not eaten in a long time.
Police also said the bedroom was closed off with metal wire. Officials also found metal reinforcements installed on the windows.
Officers then alerted their French counterparts across the border in the Moselle region, who conducted a search of the Forbach flat on Thursday.
The woman was treated by medics and taken immediately to hospital, while the man – who was not previously known to the police – was taken into custody.
A case has been opened by investigators from the judicial police of Metz, who are reported to have found a “torture bench” inside the property.
They also discovered a notebook in which the man is said to have noted the time he fed the alleged victim.
The man is facing charges of kidnapping, aggravated rape and acts of torture and barbarity, reports said.
