Wife's role in the Austria incest dungeon case remains dubious

London: Of all the incomprehensible things about the incestuous life and times of the Austrian man they call the Tyrant of Amstetten, none is more alien to logical thinking than the assertion that Rosemarie Fritzl knew nothing of her husband's debauchery in the cellar of their own home.

How was he capable of abducting his own daughter, fathering seven children by her and keeping the whole unhealthy menage a secret from his wife for an incredible 24 years?

Chronic lack

What chronic lack of maternal curiosity stopped her from investigating her daughter Elisabeth's disappearance? Or wanting to find out whether the three babies allegedly left on her doorstep - three - were really her own grandchildren? Or noticing that "barrowloads" of food were disappearing into a nuclear-style bunker where her husband was supposed to be doing nothing more sinister than working on a blueprint for a new machine?

If we were not told that she was thoroughly duped by Josef Fritzl, 73, by all accounts a domestic despot and liar, then common sense would suggest that his wife must have been somehow complicit in his crimes, at least to the extent of refusing to admit the evidence of her own eyes and ears or acting on her suspicions. What sort of a woman is she?

Rosemarie Fritzl's heavy face suggests a lifetime of endurance. She looks sullen, lumpen and downtrodden.

Her husband, by contrast, is a picture of arrogance and self-satisfaction as he suns himself on his extended holidays in Thailand, away from the multiple horrors of a dual life above and below ground.

Not enough is known about the family dynamic to say whether Josef was aided in a practical way by his wife or just by her lack of curiosity - or why she did not suspect what was going on underneath her feet. The only certainties are the monstrousness of his crime and its decades of concealment.

It is reported that Rosemarie Fritzl, 68, and her daughter had an emotional reunion in the hospital where the pallid, prematurely aged Elisabeth, 42, is being treated.

"I am so sorry," Rosemarie is reported to have said. "I had no idea."

But still the questions stack up. Who then supplied the four prisoners with food in the cellar when Josef was away for weeks? Did anyone help at the births of Elisabeth's seven babies? In the event of Josef's death, would the cellar family have starved to death or had he covered this eventuality by drawing someone else into the web?

Whatever turns out to be the truth of Rosemarie's role in this horror story, it demonstrates the peculiar nature of marital dependency and the lengths to which some women may go to preserve a facade.

Previous Records

Authorities investigating the Austrian man accused of imprisoning and raping his daughter are awaiting old court records that media say document a 1967 rape allegation.

Lower Austria prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek says the file on 73-year-old Josef Fritzl should arrive tomorrow or Tuesday.

Police say Fritzl confessed to fathering seven children with his now 42-year-old daughter Elisabeth he locked up for 24 years. They say three of the children were locked away in a dungeon cellar and that Fritzl confessed to burning the body of one child after it died in infancy.

Sedlacek said yesterday that he did not yet know the contents of the file. He refused to confirm reports that Fritzl had a previous record for a sexual crime.

- AP