WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Prosecutors in southwestern Poland say a man has been arrested on charges of holding a woman captive and physically and mentally abusing her for more than five years with “particular cruelty.”
According to prosecutors in the city of Legnica, the abuse began in January 2019 and continued until last week in the village of Gaiki, near Glogow.
They identify the suspect only as 35-year-old Mateusz J., in accordance with Polish privacy laws.
They say the woman, now 30, was held in an unheated building with no running water or toilet facilities, where he repeatedly sexually and physically abused her and gave her limited access to food and water.
They say he humiliated and controlled the woman, kept her in isolation and only took her outside with a hood over her eyes.
Local news outlets in Glogow said he had held the woman in a barn on his family farm. His elderly parents reportedly told local news outlets they were unaware of the situation.
The man was arrested after he took the woman to a hospital on Tuesday for treatment of a dislocated shoulder. At the hospital, the woman alerted staff to her situation.
The man has been questioned and denies any wrongdoing, prosecutors say. If found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison.
