Austria: Girl escapes after being held in cellar for 8 years

The Times (U.K.) ^ | August 24, 2006 | Michael Leidig

[Stoat]

Girl escapes after being held in cellar for 8 years

By Michael Leidig in Vienna
 

AN AUSTRIAN girl held prisoner in a cellar for eight years was reunited with her parents last night after making a dramatic dash for freedom.

Police searching for a man suspected of kidnapping Natascha Kampusch and holding her prisoner said that the alleged kidnapper had committed suicide late last night by jumping in front of a train.

Natascha vanished on March 2, 1998, while walking to school in Vienna. She was 10 years old at the time. She reappeared yesterday after leaping out of a black BMW when it was stopped in a routine police roadcheck.

The BMW was caught in traffic in the Deutsch Wagram suburb of the Austrian capital. The delay had been caused by a police routine roadside check a short distance ahead.

Austrian television said that other motorists had raised the alarm when a girl ran from the car and was then seen apparently in some distress in the garden of a house where officers who came to investigate had found her.

Last night Erich Zwettler, a spokesman for Vienna police, confirmed that the teenage girl was “with 98 per cent certainty” Natascha Kampusch, although a DNA test was being carried out. He said that the tests had included an “age progression test” that had been used on pictures of the girl to show how she would look today, and she also been asked questions that only the real Natascha would be able to answer.

Her father, Ludwig Koch, said that he was “overcome” after being told that his daughter had been found. “I can’t believe that after eight desperate years my daughter is finally coming home. If it is true it will be the greatest thing that could possibly be,” he said.

Herr Koch and Natascha’s mother were at the secure location where the teenager was being kept.

Herr Zwettler said that police had chased the BMW across the city but had lost it. It was later found abandoned in a Vienna wood, and the numberplate had been traced to a house in the Donaustadt area of Vienna, which was found abandoned after a police raid.

Last night the house was surrounded by police, and neighbouring homes were evacuated after the teenage girl said that the man had told her that it would explode if he was ever caught. She said that he had not wanted any evidence left to incriminate him.

Bomb disposal squad experts were reported to be at the scene as well as dogs trained to detect explosives. Border control points had also been placed on alert for the 44-year-old man — known only as Wolfgang P. — who is from Lower Austria. It was also revealed that the suspect was someone “who was known to police”.

Police sources said that the alleged kidnapper committed suicide late last night by jumping in front of a train in Vienna, Austrian television said.

The teenager said that she had occasionally been allowed out of the cellar and had been receiving schooling from her captor, and was able to read and write.

Asked why Natascha had not tried to escape in the past, Herr Zwettler said she appeared to have had “Stockholm Syndrome” — a psychological condition in which long-held captives begin to identify with their captors.

Another police source said: “She is white, pale-looking, as if she had been out of the light of day for a long time, but she articulated well.”

Adolf Brenner, the chief of police in Deutsch Wagram, where the teenager was taken after being found, said that she seemed to be in good spirits despite her ordeal but repeatedly said how happy she was to have been freed.

“He seems to have made great efforts to keep her away from the outside world,” he said. “She was allowed limited access to the television and radio, and sometimes she was given videos.”

Austrian media reported that the girl had told police that she had been sexually abused and police were investigating her claims, but the motive for the kidnapping remained unclear.

MISSING NO LONGER

 

• In 1996 Sabine Dardenne, 12, was abducted by the Belgian paedophile Marc Dutroux. Confined to a cellar, she suffered continual abuse until her rescue 80 days later. Her testimony was key in his conviction

   

• Natasha Ryan, 14, ran away from home in Australia in 1998. After a huge police search a man was charged with her murder. Five years later, she was discovered living with her boyfriend

   

• In 2003 Matthew Scott, a British student, was among eight tourists taken hostage by kidnappers in Colombia. He escaped by jumping into a river and trekking through the jungle for two days

[Shuttle Shucker]

Some thoughts:

***I wonder how many "copy-cat" crimes this will inspire? He would have completely gotten away with it if he hadn't (perhaps intentionally?) slacked off (maybe trying to see if his "love" would remain by his side, and if she wouldn't then life wasn't worth living any longer).

***Those tracking chips can also be detected and (painfully) removed, by the way. Unless I'm mistaken. Folks have considered them for use in Latin American countries where kidnappings of adults for hefty ransomes are so high.

***I probably should have said she'd likely not opt for a life of solitude (as opposed to "anonymity"). And it wouldn't be long before some "friend" sold her out to a journalist who would take photos / videos, if for nothing else than to get notoriety online.

***Emotional strength doesn't necessarily translate into the kind of business acumen that's needed to earn a living nowadays. But like you, I hope she'll make it somehow. I think television movie right sales would be a good thing for them to consider focusing on right now though...as the thought of how this sort of crime is potentially going undetected caused me to lose a considerable amount of sleep last night. This is all so disturbing. Hopefully increased awareness of this sort of problem can help us somehow figure out how to reduce it? Breaking up child pornography rings seems far more worthy of our scarce law enforcement resources after learning of this woman's horrifying case.

***I hope they're POSITIVE that the culprit is the one who committed suicide on the train tracks. Or could it be that the law enforcement officials substituted in a cadaver to keep the heat off of them for letting him get away? If the body's completely mauled, how can one make a positive i.d. without a DNA sample of the true culprit (which I doubt they have)?

***I had mistakenly thought that Silence of the Lambs krap didn't really happen in real life because those who are "clever" enough to be able to "achieve" this sort of thing successfully for so long (8 years) wouldn't really opt to do it. We could have similar victims within miles of us without ever knowing it...

[Shuttle Shucker]

Here's some more recent (and clarifying) follow-up on this horrible tragedy: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2328997,00.html

[Shuttle Shucker]

I'm not sure that BMW's cost that much over where they're made (Germany but possibley in neighboring Austria too). No tariffs, no transportation fees, a bigger economy of scale, little need to adverti$e, etcetera....

[Shuttle Shucker]

She's 5 feet 3 yet hunched over from living in a room this size? Wouldn't malnutrition be a more likely culprit?

[VOA]

This thread is as good a place as any to mention The Discovery Channel's
"Most Evil" series.

It is NOT for the squeamish. It is NOT for children.
There are some disturbing (suggestive, not graphic) images, and
subject matter is frankly discussed.

But it's an unflinching look at killers, including commentary and
interviews with the monsters by forensic psychiatrist Michael Stone.
Current physiological studies (e.g., PET Scans) that
give indications of neurological bases for murderous tendencies
are also discussed.
(I'm afraid liberals will interpret the studies as an excuse for killers...
NOT ME!)

I think the series (about 6 episodes?) is beginning a re-airing Thursday
at 10PM Eastern on The Discovery Channel.

[Stoat]

Update to All

Kidnapped girl kept diary during her 8-year ordeal - World - Times Online

 

Kidnapped girl kept diary during her eight-year ordeal

By Michael Leidig in Vienna
 

Natascha aged 10. Police will question her on Monday. PHOTO: CAMERA PRESS

NATASCHA KAMPUSCH, who was kidnapped at the age of 10 and held for eight years until she escaped her captor in Vienna this week, kept a diary throughout her ordeal, it was revealed yesterday.

Rupert Leutgeb, a family spokesman, confirmed that Fräulein Kampusch had kept a record hundreds of pages long. He said that no details would be disclosed until Fräulein Kampusch decided what she wanted to do with the diary.

The revelation came after police announced that DNA analysis had established beyond doubt that the young woman who was found distraught in a garden on Wednesday is Fräulein Kampusch.

Nikolaus Koch, head of the police taskforce “Natascha”, said that she would not be questioned until Monday. Until then the police will focus on evidence in the cellar in Stasshof, 15 miles from Vienna, where she had been kept, as well as the house and garden.

They are requestioning the female witness of the kidnapping in 1998 — now aged 20 — to discover if Fräulein Kampusch’s captor, Wolfgang Priklopil, had an accomplice.

Herr Koch explained that on the day that Fräulein Kampusch escaped, Priklopil was making her vacuum his car, which was parked in the garden. He received a phone call but the vacuum cleaner was too loud for a conversation, so he moved away from the car.

Fräulein Kampusch saw her opportunity and fled. Priklopil committed suicide soon after.

Yesterday police allowed photographers into the room where Fräulein Kampusch was kept. It was so low that, according to police reports, she could no longer stand upright. She weighed just 42kg (93lb), less than before her disappearance, despite having grown 15cm to 160cm (5ft 3in).

The witness to be re-examined said, when 12, that she had seen Fräulein Kampusch being driven away by two men in a white minivan with a Gänserndorf district numberplate. That statement has been backed up by Fräulein Kampusch’s description.

The witness said that she had seen the girl walking to school at 7.15am on March 2, 1998, on Rennbahnweg in Vienna, where Natascha lived. The witness told police that there was a white minivan parked on the right of the street.

As the girl walked past, a man aged between 20 and 40 jumped out and bundled her in the back, while a second man, whom the witness did not get a good look at, drove the van off.

More than 700 minivan owners were questioned, including Priklopil, but police dismissed him as a suspect after he claimed to need his minivan to transport construction debris.

Fräulein Kampusch’s complex family situation has been clarified. Her family name — Kampusch — is the maiden name of her mother, Brigitta Sirny. Sirny comes from her mother’s first marriage, which ended “many years ago”.

When the Sirnys split, Brigitta met Ludwig Koch, a baker, and in 1988 gave birth to Natascha. Because the pair were not married the girl was given her mother’s maiden name, following Austrian law.

When the pair split after a few years, the girl lived with her mother and her new boyfriend but spent weekends at her father’s holiday house in Hungary. Her father later married a Hungarian woman.

The neighbour who found Fräulein Kampusch in her garden said: “She was just suddenly standing in front of my kitchen window, panicking, white in the face and shaking.”

After being reunited, her father said that his daughter had asked him: “Daddy, do you still have my toy car?” Herr Koch told her that he had kept it, along with all her dolls.

Sabine Freudenberger, the first police officer to speak to Fräulein Kampusch, said that she was astonished by her “intelligence, her vocabulary”.

[Stoat]

Thank you very much for the information about the Most Evil series...it sounds very interesting!
Even though I don't get cable TV at the stoat cave (Tv's leftist spin makes me ill) I iwill look into seeing it.

Thank you!

[Shuttle Shucker]

There's a news video available on the left column of this page:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/27/austria.kidnap.ap/

[Stoat]

FYI I was able to score a copy of an episode of the Most Evil series today and I've just finished watching it. If all episodes are as excellent as the one I saw I would want to recommend it to any mature adult.
The episode that I saw was on Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) and it was utterly spellbinding, in that it brought me a tremendously greater understanding of Vlad than I had had before. I hadn't been aware that Vlad had learned about impalement from the Ottoman Turks (ISLAM) and the circumstances of the times 'almost' justified what he did during his reign. His kingdom was under seige from two sides, and he needed an effective method of maintaining order and of gaining loyalty from his subjects, and also of defending his (Christian) kingdom against vastly superior (MUSLIM) armies.

Highly recommended, and thanks again for the GREAT recommendation!

[Stoat]

Good video, thank you :-)

[proud American in Canada]

I was on vacation and saw this, in a French newspaper.

Thank God she's back home. I think at this point all we can do is second your thoughts (she does have a lifetime of healing ahead).

I can't imagine.

Thank you for posting this--my first thought, when I saw this on the news in Quebec, was, "some Freeper will post this and I wonder what they'll say."

[proud American in Canada]

NATASCHA KAMPUSCH, who was kidnapped at the age of 10 and held for eight years until she escaped her captor in Vienna this week, kept a diary throughout her ordeal

Well, this should be interesting. Extremely so. Thank God she had the presence of mind to get out of there.

BTW, I love your tagline. We think along the same lines, LOL!

Condi, being the Commish is nowhere near as interesting as being the Prez. :) LOL! We just gotta talk her into it. ;)

[Shuttle Shucker]

Are her parents being insensitive? Feel free to read this new article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/27/austria.kidnap.ap/

[Stoat]

Thank God she's back home.

Such an amazing, life-affirming sense of relief she must be feeling....perhaps only the sort of feeling shared by prisoners of war....a very long war.  I think that some Vietnam-era vets were held for around that length of time....wasn't John McCain held in a camp for seven years?

Even so, it would be far different for a little girl, being snatched away from her home and family like that.  I hope that she can be protected from the inevitable media frenzy.....even without all of the other trauma, that alone would be enough to send me over the edge!

Thank you for posting this

You're quite welcome!  Please feel free to add any updates or comments that you might care to....my hope is to make this a 'one-stop-update' location that people can go to if they want to learn about this story from the start and onward.

BTW, I love your tagline. We think along the same lines, LOL!

Thank you very much for your kind words   :-)

Since it becomes more probable every day that the Left will try to run Hillary in 08, I think that Dr. Rice could not only beat her handily, but she would wipe the floor with Hillary.  It would be a landslide.  Having Miss Coulter riding shotgun would help to keep the press in a tizzy (always a fun thing) and she would be an insurance policy for Conservatives, in the event Condi ever got wobbly on any core principles or issues,  Ann could have a nice sit-down with Dr. Rice and remind her of the important things, if they ever got murky. 

I admit that it's a 'dream ticket', but we all have our dreams, don't we?   :-)

 

Condi, being the Commish is nowhere near as interesting as being the Prez. :) LOL! We just gotta talk her into it. ;)

hehehe! I'm hoping that we can....I would be SO PROUD, having her as my President...I would feel ten feet tall.

[Shuttle Shucker]

Natasha has written her father a note asking to be left alone, and he is responding by complaining to the media about this personal decision of hers.

By the way, she will be nearly a millionaire now, at least before taxes:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2332062,00.html

At the risk of my seeming unintentionally insensitive, I cynically ask if it's surprising that her parents are suddenly taking more of an interest in her than she recalls that they did back in the days of constant domestic squabbling prior to their divorce? Natasha has said she wants to tour the United Kingdom with her step sister, but is nevertheless refusing to be reunited with her parents anytime soon. Hmmmm...

Notice how the father, a baker, wanted pictures with her "for the family's sake"? The police turned down his request, knowing about media sales rights and his possible thirst for the limelight at his daughter's expense. And the mother wants her to live with her, just as others in the world want wealthy tenants. Hopefully there's some genuine parental love involved on their part, but I have unfortunately seen examples not altogether unlike this one where love was the farthest from being the motivation for such sudden parental "interest".

I hope the parents stop pressuring her, unless they want to risk looking like relatives of Elian Gonzalez who didn't care about Elian until doing so could make them famous (especially among anti-Castro circles). Again, if I'm being overly insensitive then I scold myself but I cannot help but feel irritated at how insensitively the parents are behaving. Yes they need her but they also owe her...and at the very least should want what's best for her (and at 18.5 years old, she likely knows best what she wants). I doubt she wants someone like Shaquille ONeal's long lost father who suddenly showed up with avid interest after he had money. Shaq wanted no part of him but at least he knew better than to whine to the media. Yes the situations are distinguishable in that the parents reportedly didn't abandon their daughter but I have a difficult time believing that amidst their domestic squabbling they showed as much love for her that they would now claim to have showed. Who remembers best? Natasha. And she wrote at least one parent (who sought photographs) a nice note asking to be left ALONE.

[VOA]

Thanks for the info on that particular episode of "Most Evil".
That's the episode I missed and will be sure to catch a re-broadcast
(if they actually show it again).

I'm just glad the show didn't hit too hard for you. The series is
surely too unsettling for even some adults.

[KansasConservative1]

Wolfgang P

Wolfgang Puck... That sucks...

[Stoat]

Update to All

Kidnapped girl gives details about her ordeal - World - Times Online

Kidnapped girl gives details about her ordeal

By Michael Leidig in Vienna
 

 

Kidnapped Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch has told for the first what it was like to be kept prisoner for eight years, saying that she was sorry her captor was dead and does not feel she missed out on life.

In a letter read out today by her psychiatrist, Professor Max Friedrich, she said that there were positive sides to her captivity: "I know my youth was different but don’t feel I missed anything. I didn’t start smoking and I didn’t meet the wrong friends."

She described how she had eaten breakfast every day with her kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil, who she described as someone who would alternately beat her and then be nice.

She said: "He would, so to speak, sometimes be my support and sometimes be the person who kicked me."

She said she had done the house work and cooked, and was able to pass the time and ward off the loneliness with reading and watching the television.

Speaking about Priklopil, 44, who killed himself under a train, she said she was sorry he was dead and added: "In my eyes, his death was not necessary. He has been a big part of my life, and as a result I do feel I am in a sort of mourning for him."

She went on: "I realised quite clearly what a strong impression the news of my captivity has made on people, but I ask for understanding in satisfying the tremendous interest of the public.

"I realise how shocking and worrying the thoughts about my time in my prison must be. I also realise there is a certain amount of curiosity at the same time. But at the same time I don't want to answer any details about intimate personal matters, and am prepared to take legal action to protect my privacy.

"Everybody wants to ask intimate questions, but these have nothing to do with anybody else. It may be that one day I speak to my therapist about it and maybe not."

Ms Kampusch's  comments come as it was revealed she would be entitled to 664,900 (£450,552) euros in compensation from the Austrian criminal injuries compensation board for her eight and a half years in captivity.

In addition all the costs for her medical care including the team of psychiatrists who are working round-the-clock to help her get back to normal life are all being paid by the city of Vienna.

A special house where she can begin to live a normal life is also being planned by the medical team responsible for her care, who are expecting to remain on duty full-time for at least the next 12 months.

Detectives investigating the case yesterday handed over all the evidence gathered from Natascha's dungeon, including books and videos. They said the delay in forensic teams getting the material was caused by the fact that only two detectives could work in the tiny space at any one time.

The videos are known to include cassettes featuring the British comedy Mr Bean and Natascha has already made it clear she wants to go on a holiday to the UK with her half sister at some stage.

At the weekend Natascha took a break from police questioning and was for the first time introduced to teenagers of her own age.

The Austrian press agency APA reported she had spent the weekend "surounded by other young people" at a secret location, quoting Vienna city childrens' and youth advocate Monika Pinterits. She gave no details on whether the teenagers were old friends or youngsters specially chosen, but did confirm that Natascha had held "animated discussions".

She said: "She obviously enjoyed being with people her own age. She's doing well."

It was also confirmed that Natascha was at the moment not seeing her parents, apparently at her own wish. Because she is now aged 18 she is able to decide who she meets and can even refused to meet police officers investigating her case.

The refusal to grant her parent's access however was a cause of unhappiness with both her parents, who had separated and who have spent the last eight years engaged in a bitter row over who was to blame for their daughter's disappearance.

Natasha's mother Brigitta Sirny complained: " I don't see why I can't see my child. As far as I'm concerned Natascha's locked away again. That's terrible for me. Psychologists and doctors are all very well, but a daughter needs her mother as well."

The father, Ludwig Koch, said he did not even know where she was. His daughter had asked him in a written message for understanding that she wanted to "rest" over the weekend, he said.

Both parents, as well as the mother of Priklopil, are also reportedly being offered psychological counselling.

 Gerhard Lang, a police officer, confirmed that Natascha did not want to see her parents after having had a first reunion with them. "The police are not banning contact with Natascha," he said. "Natascha is an adult, 18½ years old. She is fully capable of making decisions for herself."

Natascha was kidnapped in March 1998 by Wolfgang Priklopil, a telecoms technician who committed suicide last week after she fled. Natascha was found in the town of Strasshof, 25km northeast of Vienna, on Wednesday after escaping. She is reported to weigh slightly more than 40kg (6st) and is 1.6m (5ft 3in) tall.

Translation of Natascha Kampusch's letter - World - Times Online

Translation of Natascha Kampusch's letter

 

This is the text of the open letter written by Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian schoolgirl who was held captive for eight years in a cellar by IT technician Wolfgang Priklopil after being abducted at the age of 10. He has killed himself

 

"Dear journalists, reporters, and people of the world, 

"I realised quite early what a strong impression the news of my captivity has made on people, but I ask for understanding in satisfying the tremendous interest of the public. I realise how shocking and worrying the thoughts about my time in my prison must be, and that something like this could even be possible. I also realise there is a certain amount of curiosity and a desire to know more about the circumstances in which I lived.

"But at the same time I want to make it clear that I don't want to answer any details about intimate personal matters, and am prepared to take steps to ensure this interest does not get out of control.

"My personal space: my room was equipped with everything I would need and I made it my home, and it was not meant to be shown to the public.

"My daily life: this was carefully regulated, mostly it started with a joint breakfast - he was anyway not working most of the time. There was housework, reading, television, talking, cooking. That's all there was, year in and year out, and always tied in with the fear of being lonely.

"On my relationship: he was not my master. I was just as strong as him, but he would, symbolically speaking, sometimes be my support and sometimes be the person who kicked me. But with me he had picked the wrong person, and we both knew that.

"He did the kidnapping alone and prepared everything in advance. After that we furnished the room together, and it was not 1.6 m high. I also did not cry after I made my escape. It was no reason to cry.

"In my eyes, his death was not necessary. It would not be the end of the world if he had simply been given a prison sentence. He has been a big part of my life, and as a result I do feel I am in a sort of mourning for him. It is true that my youth was different to the youth of others, but in principle I don't feel I missed anything. On the contrary, there are certain things I avoided, having nothing to do with smoking or drinking to start off with, and I didn't meet the wrong friends.

"Message to the media: the one thing I would appeal for from the press is a stop to the insulting reports, the misinterpretations of reality, the commentaries that claim to know better and the lack of respect for me.

"At the moment I feel very well in the place where I'm staying, although perhaps I feel a little bit too much controlled. I am the one who has decided only to have telephone contact with my family. I'm also one who will decide when I want to have contact with journalists.

"On my escape: it happened as I was cleaning the car in the garden and saw that he had walked away during the vacuum cleaning. That was my chance, I dropped the vacuum cleaner and left it running.

"I also want to stress I never called him master although he demanded it. I think that's what he wanted, to be named like that, but he never meant it really.

"I have a lawyer that discusses the law with me. The youth lawyer Monica Pintertis has my trust together with Dr Friedrich and Dr Berger (both top Austrian youth psychiatrists) with whom I feel I can speak. The investigations team led by Mr Fruhstuck were very good to me, and I greet them warmly, although they were a bit too curious, but that is after all their job.

"Intimate questions: everybody wants to ask intimate questions, but these have nothing to do with anybody else. It may be that one day I speak to my therapist about it and maybe not. At the end of the day the private life is mine alone.

"Mr H [a friend of her kidnapper] should not feel guilty, it was Wolfgang's own decision to throw himself in front of a train. I also feel sympathy for the mother of Wolfgang. I can put myself in her position and I feel with her and have understanding. I and we both are thinking of him. I want to thank all the people who've taken part in my fate. But please let me have some peace in the immediate future. I hope that Dr Friedrich will be able to use this letter to make that clear. There are many people caring for me now. Please let me have time until I feel I can talk for myself.

"Natascha Kampusch"

 

[Shuttle Shucker]

Great letter. But that mostly unemployed IT professional clearly had WAY too much time on his hands...

[Stoat]

Update to all:

Sex slave 'pregnant by kidnapper' the Daily Mail

 

Sex slave 'pregnant by kidnapper'

Last updated at 11:34am on 29th August 2006

 

The girl held for eight years as a sex slave in a tiny cellar in Vienna, is pregnant by her captor, it was claimed today.

Natascha Kampusch, now 18, escaped the clutches of pervert Wolfgang Priklopil last Wednesday, but now according to German newspaper reports, it is feared she is carrying his child.

More here...

• How Stockholm Syndrome kept sex slave spellbound by her attacker
• Read Natascha Kampusch's letter to the media in full
• Austrian police hunt for kidnapper's accomplice
•
• Sex slave teen had 'severe Stockholm Syndrome'

 

The Berliner Zeitung paper said it had been told by a reliable source that that she was expecting a baby by Priklopil.

But a police spokesman from the Austrian National Criminal Agency refused to confirm or deny the story.

The reports of her pregnancy follows a statement, released by Natascha in which she said she mourned the death of Priklopil, who threw himself under a train after she escaped.

She said: "He has been a big part of my life, and as a result I do feel I am in a sort of mourning for him."

The statement, read out by one of the team of psychologists and psychiatrists who are treating Natascha, seemed to confirm that she is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome - the condition in which kidnap or hostage victims empathise with their captors and often end up working alongside them.

Locked underground or doing housework year after year for Priklopil, Natascha, who is said to be pale and to weigh less than she did as a 10-year-old, says she does not feel she missed out on life.

In some ways she even benefitted from her captivity, she suggests, because she was not tempted to smoke or drink, or mix with the wrong friends.

Natascha, who police sources have said was treated as a sex slave, also makes it clear that she will not discuss any intimate details of her long relationship with the 44-year-old telephone technician - not even with her doctors.

She said: "Everyone wants to ask me intimate questions, but that's nobody's business.

"Maybe I'll tell a therapist one day or someone else when I feel the need to. Or maybe never. The intimacy only belongs to me."

Police also revealed that one thing that kept Natascha's spirits up during her long captivity were comedy videos of Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean.

They found stacks of them in her tiny prison, and Natascha says one of the first things she wants is to go on holiday in Britain with her half-sister.

Police are still combing Priklopil's house in a Vienna suburb, looking for any other hidden chambers. They said Natascha's cramped dungeon was taking a long time to search because it was so small.

Natascha finally solved one of Austria's greatest crime mysteries when she escaped from the house last Wednesday. Priklopil was guarding her as she vacuumed his car, but she saw the opportunity to run when he turned his back and walked away from her to talk on his cellphone.

She said: 'That was my chance, I dropped the vacuum cleaner and left it running.'

Police were called when she was found cowering in a neighbour's garden.

In the statement, read by forensic psychiatrist Max Friedrich, Natascha denied ever calling Priklopil her master, even though she said the unmarried loner wanted her to. She said she thought he was not really serious about it.

The statement said: 'He was not my master. I was just as strong as him.'

She also revealed that while he sometimes treated her very well, there were other times when he did not.

Confusingly she said: 'He would, symbolically speaking, sometimes be my support and sometimes be the person who kicked me. But with me he had picked the wrong person, and we both knew that.'

It was unclear if she meant he had literally kicked her.

Natascha says she and Priklopil furnished the windowless cell she refers to as 'my room' together.

The tiny, cramped room contained a toilet, washbasin, radio and TV. It was cluttered with books and clothes and there was barely room for her to stand beneath the bed built up on a platform.

Natascha is highly protective of her room. Apparently referring to photos of it released by police, she says: 'My room was equipped with everything I would need and I made it my home, and it was not meant to be shown to the public.'

During her captivity, Natascha was helped with reading, writing and arithmetic. But she is physically weak because she survived mostly on tinned and frozen foods and very little fruit or vegetables.

Pictures of her being helped under a blanket from a police station to the hospital where she is now being cared for show skinny white legs covered with red and purple blotches.

Detectives have been trying to determine whether the kidnapper had an accomplice. When Natascha was snatched, a 12-year-old girl said she saw two men drag her into a white van.

But Natascha said: 'He carried out the kidnapping by himself. Everything was already prepared.'

Life as a kidnap victim was humdrum. She says: 'My daily life: This was carefully regulated, mostly it started with a joint breakfast - he was anyway not working most of the time. There was housework, reading, television, talking, cooking. That's all there was, year in and year out, and always tied in with the fear of being lonely.'

Dr Friedrich said Natascha has been seriously traumatised and will take a long time to recover. Her medical team will be treating her for at least a year.

As an 18-year-old she is free to make her own decisions, but she is being helped by social workers at a secure location. But Natascha said she feels 'a little bit too much controlled.'

Natascha also says she sympathises with Priklopil's mother.

She said: "I feel sympathy for Wolfgang's mother. I can put myself in her position and I feel with her and understand. We are both thinking of him.'

But she made clear that it has been her decision not to see either of her own parents, and to only speak to them on the phone.

Police believe she may have been running away from home at the time of the kidnapping because her mother and father were having a row. Their marriage ended in bitter divorce, each blaming the other for her disappearance.

The name Stockholm Syndrome comes from a four-day bank siege in 1973 when Swedish bank staff ended up defending their captors.

Austrian police spokesman Erich Zwettler said: 'Natascha's medical team have confirmed she is suffering from a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome.'

Child psychiatrist Dr Ernst Berger, a member of the team treating Natascha, said: 'After so long with her kidnapper she is showing strong indications of Stockholm Syndrome. Physically she is also very weak because of her poor a diet.'

Dr Reinhard Haller, another psychiatrist on the team, said: 'Natascha seems to have a strong personality and that will help her, but it will be a long time before she ever fully trusts anyone again. Scars will remain, but hopefully no open wounds. Whatever happens it will be a long process.'

One of his colleagues said: 'Natascha left the world we know as a child and has returned to it as a traumatised young woman. It will take a long time to get over that.