Paris, August 03: An elderly Frenchman has been released after being locked up for a year in the laundry room of his house in southwest of Paris.
French police rescued the unnamed 80-year-old man after his 45-year-old wife and her alleged lover locked, malnourished and physically abused him in his own home in the village of Arrou, media reported on Saturday.
The man is currently in hospital, recovering from a state of shock.
“The victim suffered violence and ill-treatment,” local gendarme commander Bruno Arviset told journalists.
“The man ate twice a day, mostly pastries that were past their sell-by date,” he added.
When police arrived at the man’s home, the wife had initially said her husband was abroad, deputy prosecutor Fanny Floquet said.
Investigators suspect a financial motive behind the abuse as 500,000 euros (USD 650,000) had been withdrawn from the man’s bank accounts in recent months.
According to AFP reports, the man’s wife was jailed on Saturday, charged with physical abuse and illegal detention. She is currently awaiting trail.
–Agencies