A German grandmother was imprisoned for three years in a single room in pitch blackness by her granddaughter to steal her welfare money. Elsa Koenig, 96, who died shortly after she was freed by police when neighbours heard her cries, was suffering from dementia when her granddaughter locked her up in her flat in Leipzig. Qualified engineer Iris Edelmann, 49, sealed windows with masking tape, foil and heavy dark felt. There was a lavatory but no electricity in the room; no TV, radio or light.
"She did all this to get the 600 odd euros (£511) a month in benefits that her grandmother was entitled to," said prosecutor Gitty Pfeiffer at the start of her trial in Leipzig, Germany. The court heard how the granddaughter was appointed the legal custodian of Mrs Koenig when her health began to fail in 2001, which included taking charge of her finances.
But in 2006, fed up with looking after her, she rented the cheap flat for £130 a month and locked her away in it. "The unfortunate old lady vegetated away in fear and loneliness and bewilderment in this dwelling while she spent the money that should have gone on her proper care," said the prosecution. "The only thing she did for her was to bring her food." In August 2008, police were called by neighbours who heard the old lady crying in the darkness.
They broke into the flat to find her in an "appalling state – apathetic, disoriented, dirty and malnourished," according to a police report. Her granddaughter was arrested the same day. As prosecutors prepared to bring her to trial, Mrs Edelmann died in May 2009. The case is expected to last until the end of January. If found guilty of depriving her grandmother of her liberty, she faces up to five years in jail.
6 comments:
5 years!?! Just 5 years? It should be 5 years in an isolation cell without lights.
It does seem awfully lenient. They're charging her with something like forcible confinement, it sounds like, but there should be other charges -- neglect, criminal negligence causing death...
It says at the end of the story that Mrs. Edelmann (the granddaughter) died in 2009. Am I reading it wrong?
I think it's a mistake Veal, and should read Mrs Koenig.
I didn't catch that... it's also funny, given the wording of that sentence and the following one: "As prosecutors prepared to bring her to trial, Mrs. E. died.... If found guilty of depriving her grandmother of her liberty, she faces up to five years in jail." It really does sound like they're planning on putting a corpse in prison!
Only 5 years jail for mentally and physically torturing another human being for 3 years? Wow...
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