Struggling with freedom

The week's news at a glance.

Vienna

An 18-year-old Austrian who escaped from the man who had kept her locked up since she was 10 may be suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Natascha Kampusch was a pudgy schoolgirl in 1998, when she was abducted by loner Wolfgang Priklopil, then 36. For the first year, he made her call him “Master.” Later on he began to let her out of the basement to do chores. And eventually she came to call him “Wolfi.” Natascha escaped two weeks ago after finding a door unlocked. Priklopil killed himself by diving in front of a train just hours later. Since then, Natascha has seen her parents only once and declined to return to them. She’s told reporters that her relationship with Priklopil was too complex to be explained, and said living in his captivity was not that awful. Psychologists describe her as “deeply traumatized.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us