Mother locked up for 18 years for illegitimate pregnancy
What a tragic story. Clearly this poor mother’s captors are deranged. This is about more than an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. From the Associated Press, June 14:
An Italian woman whose family kept her locked in a room for almost two decades after she was accused of becoming pregnant out of wedlock has been freed by police, authorities and media reports said.
Police said they found the 47-year-old woman Friday in a filthy room in the family’s home near Naples.
The woman was being hospitalized Saturday in the psychiatric ward of a Naples hospital….
Authorities arrested the woman’s brother, a farmhand, and sister, who worked in a nursery school, and put her 80-year-old mother under house arrest. The three were being investigated on suspicion of mistreatment and kidnapping….
[P]olice said in a statement that the woman had been locked up in the room since 1990 because of an unwanted pregnancy and that she was kept in “indescribable” conditions.
Italian TV showed the room with a bed with soiled sheets and a dirty toilet and sink, as well as plastic bottles of water and tin bowls.
Police said the woman’s son, now 17, was living with relatives in town and didn’t know about his mother.
An anonymous tip led police to the house along a country road on the outskirts of [a] rural town…. [T]he tip came from a neighbor who complained of the stench rising from the room where the woman was held.
Police were trying to find the man with whom she had conceived the child in the hope that he could help clarify whether her psychiatric problems predated her forced segregation in the home or were caused by it….
[HT: proofreader Laura Loo; photos courtesy of inplacenews]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
This is what happens when you make single parenthood seem shameful.
Oh, Jess, get real. How many times have you heard of families of single pregnant mothers locking them up for 18 years? These people were crazy.
So then what do you suggest we do?
“The Carabinieri paramilitary police said in a statement that the woman had been locked up in the room since 1990 because of an unwanted pregnancy and that she was kept in “indescribable” conditions.”
Unwanted pregnancy? Unwanted by whom? Maybe they did this to her because she wanted an abortion?
Um, Jess, you lock up the people that did this to her. THAT’S what you do. Duh. Seriously, think about things before you post them.
Unwanted pregnancy? Unwanted by whom? Maybe they did this to her because she wanted an abortion?
Posted by: Jess at June 16, 2008 2:05 PM
Or maybe the whole family is looney….
What do you mean Elizabeth? You know I don’t agree with any woman being locked up or punished for their reproductive choices, whatever they may be.
What makes you think the woman who was locked up was crazy Patricia? Because she had sex out of wedlock?
Jess, STOP putting words in people’s mouths. You asked what we should do with them. Ummm, they committed crimes, you put them in prison. What is confusing about that? I think this woman should also have the opportunity to meet and form a relationship with her son.
Oh, Jess, get real. How many times have you heard of families of single pregnant mothers locking them up for 18 years? These people were crazy.
Posted by: Jill Stanek at June 16, 2008 1:57 PM
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Did your parents throw you a party? Call all their friends and family with the wonderful news? Or was your unwed pregnancy whispered about behind your back? Were you a cause of family shame? Were you punished or praised?
Seriously Jill. You know very well there is a double standard. Women are supposed to be thrilled with every pregnancy no matter how they are treated.
This story is an extreme example of how unwed pregnant women have been and still are treated by many. You have many PL right here on your blog that demonize unwed pregnancy. What do you say to them?
I never asked what we should do with them. They obviously kept this woman against her while, and should therefore be punished accordingly. I just don’t see the reason to post this on a pro-life site. What’s the point?
No Sally she was married when she had her baby. Then she got a divorce.
Just my opinion, but if you have a child and decide to raise it you should always put the child first, and if you’re married that means putting your children first in your marriage. Not very romantic but that’s what dating is for : /
Sally, it was more than an “extreme example.” The family was crazy. At least pro-lifers are intelligent and logical enough not to classify all pro-aborts in the same category as the parents who tried to force their daughter to abort by kidnapping her.
Most of the women in my family got married around Jills age or younger. They had children, but never got divorced. They might not be as happy or successful as Jill but, um, uh, maybe I’ll call myself a member of your family Jill and show up randomly at your kids birthdays and other events?
Jill I was always under the impression that all pro-aborts are the same to you. My mistake. Although I don’t consider myself pro-abortion in the fact that I’d never pressure anyone into getting an abortion. It’s between a woman and her kid, more then anything.
Patricia: maybe the whole family is looney….
I vote for that.
“Although I don’t consider myself pro-abortion in the fact that I’d never pressure anyone into getting an abortion. It’s between a woman and her kid, more then anything.”
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HUH?! “Abortion is between a woman and her kid”…oh, that needs to be the quote of the day. ROFL!
Well Kel a woman could smoke crack when she’s pregnant. So it effects her and her child. Having an abortion effects her and her child. Having the baby and raising it effects her and her child.
Classic, Jess, classic.
Did you get that, Jasper?
Is this a European trend now, locking up women for decades?
Posted by: Jess at June 16, 2008 2:24 PM
Anyone with a happy, successful marriage will tell you it’s because they didn’t put the kids first. The kids need to learn that life is about more than “you” it’s about supporting and loving others.
It’s seeing their parents do things for each other that will, in turn, show them how to have happy, successful marriages.
Jess:2:24: Just my opinion, but if you have a child and decide to raise it you should always put the child first, and if you’re married that means putting your children first in your marriage. Not very romantic but that’s what dating is for
That’s a bummer…. I think you need to put your spouse first and your children a very close second. If you remarry for whatever reason, think about the children and how it will affect them before rushing into any long term commitment. Don’t forget the romance.
carder:2:48: Is this a European trend now, locking up women for decades?
Good question. Thank God a neighbor finally noticed something was wrong. It’s a shame that neighbors don’t really interact with their neighbors anymore. We communicate better with people half-way around the world.
Let’s get off the computers and go visit a neighbor right now!
(Just kidding!)
Jess:2:21: I never asked what we should do with them. They obviously kept this woman against her while, and should therefore be punished accordingly. I just don’t see the reason to post this on a pro-life site. What’s the point?
Obviously there are three paths that this family could have taken when the daughter became pregnant 17 years ago, all of which are of concern to pro-lifers.
1) She could have had the baby and kept her.
2) She could have had the baby and put her up for adoption.
3) She could have had an abortion.
Sick. Sick. Sick. This family gave the baby to relatives to raise and still locked her up?
“Let’s get off the computers and go visit a neighbor right now!
(Just kidding!)”
*Looks around* I don’t have neighbors, I live in the woods. A veterinarian is building a house next to us though, which is great so Sandy will have a doctor close whenever he gets sick.
Is this a European trend now, locking up women for decades?
Posted by: carder at June 16, 2008 2:48 PM
It’s a strange twist on the Rapunzel story. Very sad!
At leaste this woman did not have to weare a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom for the reste of her life, yea verily.
Sally, it was more than an “extreme example.” The family was crazy. At least pro-lifers are intelligent and logical enough not to classify all pro-aborts in the same category as the parents who tried to force their daughter to abort by kidnapping her.
Posted by: Jill Stanek at June 16, 2008 2:25 PM
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So your punishment wasn’t quite as extreme? Your family not quite as crazy?
Honey, absolutely nothing in your story even remotely suggests that this family ever considered coercing an abortion for their daughter/sister. If they had the power to torture her for years, they certainly had the power to force her to have an abortion if that was their goal.
Uh, Sally, I think she was referring to another story.
Uh, Sally, I think she was referring to another story.
Posted by: Bethany at June 17, 2008 1:25 PM
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Why would she be doing so? Can’t answer honest questions over the ‘story’ she really did post? Can’t answer to her own experience of life without sounding mentally deranged?
And why do you feel obliged to sweep up her crap?
“Well Kel a woman could smoke crack when she’s pregnant. So it effects her and her child. Having an abortion effects her and her child. Having the baby and raising it effects her and her child.”
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Yes, Jess, I’m aware of that. :D I just found it particularly funny, as I’m used to hearing the phrase “abortion is between a woman and her doctor.” Not “between a woman and her CHILD.”