(38) Anecdote

So today’s blog is supposed to be a personal anecdote that connects with the topic. I personally have not and do not personally know anyone who has been raped or sexually abused. I hear about chilling stories on rape, mostly from television or other forms of media, but never from someone close to me. The most nightmarish one that I’ve heard of was on Joseph Fritzl. He locked up his own daughter in their secret basement that he had built specifically for that purpose. He repeatedly raped her, and did not let her out for 24 years. He fathered seven of her children, and supposedly his “grandchildren”. He let three of them leave the basement, and kept the other four in captivity along with their mother. He and his wife adopted the three “grandchildren” that he let out of the cellar. If all of that wasn’t disturbing enough, the police later found out how Joseph Fritzl managed to carry out his plan. He lured his daughter into the secret basement one day, saying that he needed help carrying something heavy. He locked her in there, and when his wife filed a missing child report, he forced her to write letters saying that she had run away and did not want to be part of their family anymore. To make sure that they didn’t try to leave, he told them that the door was rigged to an electric circuit and could shock them if they meddled with it. He also told them that they would be gassed if they tried anything funny, which was an empty threat because there was no gas supply in the basement. I think that this story is the worst rape story I have ever heard, and it is a real shame to know that there are psychos out there who do this sort of thing.