Natascha Kampusch, 28, was only 10 when she was kidnapped by paedophile Wolfgang Přiklopil while she was on her way to school.
For eight years the Austrian was held in a soundproofed cellar with barely room to move. She was raped and beaten, forced to perform domestic duties for her abductor, and was forbidden contact with anyone but him.
But now it has been revealed that Natascha has moved back to the property where her physical and emotional abuse took place, a decade on from her escape.
Kampusch managed to escape in August 2006 when she was allowed outside the house to clean the car.
While Wolfgang was temporarily preoccupied by a phone call, the 18-year-old managed to get to a neighbour’s house and plead for help.
The house where she was held
Natascha apparently spends her weekends at the house where she spent her childhood with Wolfgang, who killed himself on the day of her escape.
Since being released, Natascha has tried High School, but said she finds it hard to be around other people.
“Although people may still be discreet and sympathetic, for me it is very un-relaxing to be in a room with many of them.”
The 28-year-old claims the reason she managed to survive all those years of torture was down to the fact she forgave her captor instantly for the humiliations he made her suffer.
“If I hadn’t forgiven him, I would have been so full of hatred and negative feelings that it would have been unbearable and it probably would have destroyed me,” she said in interview.
