A man has appeared in court accused of kidnapping a woman and keeping her in a barn for four years.
The suspect, only named as Mateusz J in court documents, is accused of repeatedly raping and beating his victim, who eventually got pregnant with his baby.
The victim, referred to as Malgorzata, was in her 20s when she met Mateusz on a dating site in 2019. She travelled to the village of Gaiki, near Glogow in the west of the country, to meet him for the first time.
But Mateusz is accused of then holding her captive in a disused barn previously used to house animals just four metres (12ft) away from neighbours. The barn had no electricity, running water or heating and she had no access to a toilet or even sunlight, as the window had been bricked up.
He took the victim to a nearby hospital to give birth where she was forced to give her child up for adoption.
Malgorzata told local news site MyGlogow of her ideal, explaining: ‘I couldn’t tell the doctors the truth, I was afraid, and he threatened me that if I complained, it would get even worse.
‘He put a balaclava on me so I wouldn’t see where we lived when he took me to the hospital. The same when he took me out at night to wash up. Sometimes he would just spray me with a hose, but if I was obedient, I would get warm water.’
Mateusz is accused of humiliating and controlling his victim, keeping her in complete isolation and covering her eyes when bringing her outside.
She was reportedly hospitalised multiple times during her four-year captivity. Mateusz is accused of breaking her arm and leg, and last year she allegedly needed surgery for damage to her anus.
Malgorzata was brought to hospital last month for a dislocated shoulder and told staff about her captivity, who then called the police.
The case has been compared to infamous criminal Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter imprisoned in the basement of his home for 24 years, fathering seven incestuous children with her through rape.
Mateusz, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested and charged with mental, physical, and sexual abuse on August 30.
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