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The shed was previously used as a pigsty, among other things
Photo: Hungarian Prosecutions' Office / AFP
A Hungarian couple is threatened with jail for allegedly holding a French elderly woman in a shed for around a year and a half.
The two had been charged with "violation of personal freedom," said the prosecutor of Siofok district in the west of the country.
The alleged victim and the 42 and 41 year old defendants therefore knew each other.
The couple won the French woman's trust and finally moved into their house.
First, the two tried to persuade the elderly woman to leave the property to the couple's child.
After all, they claimed the house needed renovation and asked the woman to move out.
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Inside the shed: no heating, no sanitary facilities
Photo: Hungarian Prosecutions' Office / AFP
At the beginning of 2018, the couple then brought the 71-year-old to a fenced garden outside Siofok.
There she was locked in a shed that was previously used as a pigsty and to store tools.
The garden shed was reportedly equipped with a bed, a table and a radio, but had neither heating nor sanitary facilities.
The defendants reportedly brought the woman food once a day.
The senior citizen was only allowed to go for a walk occasionally under supervision.
In September 2019, the police discovered the woman after a tip in the shed.
The trial of the two defendants is expected to begin within six months.
If found guilty, they could be sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Icon: The mirror
bbr / AFP
