Man 'locked wife in cellar for 16 years'

[Feuer Frei!]

Originally Posted by Webster

none of you know the whole story behind this so lets not be too quick to make assumptions based on "your" idea of the situation as you imagined it to be.

We certainly don't know the 'finer' details of the story, however it is clear enough what the charges are against the defendents:

Police acting on a tip-off found the 64-year-old woman padlocked in a moldy, filth-ridden cellar.
She was discovered lying naked on a concrete bed in the 12 square meter (130 square foot) room, with only a blanket to cover her

most mentally ill people can be more then a handfull to control and can be a real danger to you and your family as well as strangers who happen by.

True enough, and?

im not saying this situation is excusable

No problem

but most countries dont have any systems in place to care for "out of control" people with mental illnesses so it is possible that keeping her locked up was the best way to care for her while preventing her from being a danger to herself and others.

Really? The best way to care for this woman or others possibly in countries that don't have a proper system in place is to lock them up? Or padlock them in a cellar for 16 years? Hmm...I know that they aren't your viewpoints of how to care for someone.

the fact that the whole family was aware of the situation makes me believe they thought it was the best way to care for her and keep her and those around her safe.

Well, they certainly kept her safe, didn't they? She wasn't going to harm anyone or herself, for 16 years. The family, as a whole should then be charged. Accessories, me thinks.

i have witnessed mentally ill people show unprovoked agression and soil themselves and their bedding so often it could explain why they didnt bother to put clothes on her or give her bedding.

Yes, it's not a pleasant experience to say the least, i have had experience with mentally and/or physically-disabled people and the traumas that go along with their plights, and that i think is a 'minor' point in this abhorrant act of 'keeping someone safe' so they don't harm themselves, or others.

we shouldnt rush to condemn based only on opinion

who's opinion? The media's? See quote above of the fact, of how the police found the woman.

it didnt say she had been abused in any other way then being locked up so maybe they really did care about her.

Yep, certainly a strange way of showing a family member of how they care about them. Even more of a reason to throw the full book at them.

Edit: BBC reports the confinement was revised to: 'up to 8 years', possibly more.
But wether 8 years or 16, the way this woman was 'cared for' is inexcusable, "unfit for animals" as the BBC article quotes! The penalty should be severe, nonetheless.