E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
EPA
An undated picture shows the house where a girl is alleged to have spent years in slavery in the Bosnian village of Karavlasi.
KARAVLASI, Bosnia - A 19-year-old German woman was recovering in a safe house in Bosnia Tuesday after allegedly being enslaved and abused by her stepfather and his partner for nearly eight years.
The teenager was allegedly treated like a slave, often beaten, forced to sleep and eat with pigs, and even had to pull her captors around in a horse cart, according to reports by neighbors in Karavlasi, a small Bosnian farming village.
Milenko Marinkovic, 52, who was once married to the teen's mother, and his wife Slavojka, 45, have been detained on suspicion of treating the young woman in an inhumane way, "forbidding her any contacts with people, forbidding her to attend school," a spokesman for the prosecution in Tuzla Damir Arnautovic told Reuters.
The teen's stepfather also allegedly set dogs on her repeatedly. Neighbors reported seeing the girl sadistically forced to pull a horse cart for distances between 1,300 to 1,600 feet while being whipped for the apparent amusement of her tormentors.
The young woman was disoriented and bore visible injuries after authorities found her on May 17, after a tip-off from a neighbor, officials said. The neighbor told police that the teen was covered in bruises and scars.
Bosnian prosecutors said the young woman was believed to have been brought to northern Bosnia by her German mother. The mother still lives in the hamlet and told reporters who approached her to go away, NBC News reported.
Reuters contributed to this report.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- US expels Syria diplomat after UN finds Houla victims were 'executed'
- Britain's PM eats humble pie over snack tax
- At least ten killed in 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Italy
- Brother of doctor who worked with CIA in bin Laden hunt seeks US protection
- Can voters force candidates to compromise in Egypt run-off?
- Metal chunks hit cars in Toronto after Air Canada jet engine failure
- 'War criminal': UK ex-PM Blair heckled while testifying
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
Humanity never fails to disappoint. Sigh.
No it doesn't, does it. How and why on earth does this happen? People are SO horrible. God Bless the little girl and let's hope and pray she can forget what has happened to her.
"Neighbors reported seeing the girl sadistically forced to pull a horse cart for distances between 1,300 to 1,600 feet while being whipped for the apparent amusement of her tormentors. "
Neighbors? What pathetic excuses for human beings sit by for years and watch this kind of abuse?
At a minimum, everyone of these "neighbors" should be rounded up and prosecuted for failure to report a crime.
hs321: I agree neighbors should be prosecuted right next to the people who committed these crimes.
@hs321, the neighbors reported the issues nummerous times to police and there went to the house to investigate, but could not find the girl, because she was hiding in different parts of the farm. The neighbors made pictures and give them to police and there finally found her in the woods! The neighbors saved the girls life and the mother should be punished for it, but the german system is not the way like in the US --- the sad part on this story!
And put the "mother" in jail as well.
An absolute TRAVESTY! Whom ever is found guilty of perpetrating and carrying out this heinous crime, I hope they NEVER see the light of day again. They are MONSTERS. This poor girl may never be able to recover from such monsterous, vile treatment. On second thought, there are some people who simply do not deserve to take up space, and breath air.
There is so much missing from this story. Neighbors reporting seeing her being abused and never said anything about it? Why was she not in the custody of her mother, and why did her mother have no contact with her for all those years?
The ethnic cleansing that went on during the Bosnian war must give you people at least a clue to the POS's that live in the Balkans. In my opinion the Serb's are the worst, but there is a great plenty of cruel, and sick people in that Country. Look how long it has taken to arrest the war criminals that walk about without fearing they would be turned in by their follow Serb's or Croats.
Humans do NOT co-exist well with anything on this planet, not even their own kind!!!!
The entire community is most likely a six pack shy of a load..
How can you make such a statement. Does this pertain to you also. Very sad that you cannot co-exist with anything on this planet. I know I can and there are many more like me out there. Very sick thinking on your part.
MSNBC left so much out of this story. On another site they explained that the neighbor spotted the mistreatment and went to the authorities several times. When the police went to the home, they hid the girl. The neighbor never quit trying. He had not seen her for quite a long time but when he finally did, he snapped a picture of her so that the police believed the girl actually existed. Then with this evidence, the police went to the home and forced the captors to release the girl to them. The neighbor is considered a national hero now.
@Bunkie11
First of all learn to read, I never stated that humans cannot co-exist with ANYTHING!!!! Second of all from the sounds of your name you are either imprisoned currently or were at some point so there again you have the inability to co-exist within what society lays down to be the law, in other words you do not co-exist well with others!!
Take a look around at the current state of the planet and everywhere you look someone is heaving bombs or bullets at someone else, in my book that is not everyone co-existing well!! Maybe in your cell block everyone gets along dandy but in the prison that I work at everyday we have about 95% of the inmates who despise all the other inmates along with just about every other living human on Earth!!
Now take a look at just how well humans co-exist with non human life forms here on Earth!!! How many species have we co-existed splendidly with right into extinction??? Burning rain Forrest's, oil wells gushing millions and millions of gallons of oils right into the open sea! Toxic chemicals openly dumped into the ocean to avoid the costs of disposal (those are all not co-existing in a positive fashion by the way) Gee, everything is coming up roses in the bright kitten filled world that you live in!!! What kind of chemicals are you self medicating with and does anyone know? If not they should!!!! The one who has issues with sick thinking is the one you look at in the mirror!!! I would recommend against parole or PRC for you in a heartbeat!! Good day to you!
Rushing to judgement again I see. These things always seem worse than they really are at first blush. Have we forgotten the dude who took his kids camping at 2AM on Christmas Eve? We all thought he killed his wife, right? Turns out it never happened. According to the kids she went camping with them but just decided to stay in the trunk. And how about O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony? Once again, we were all "convinced" they were guilty but then - voila! The truth came out in a court of law and justice was done. The same thing will happen here for sure. Eye witness testimony is rarely 100%. Bosnians tell the craziest stories. Let's do this by the book. (A) Read the couple their rights (B) Get them a good lawyer from the firm of Hansel, Gretel & Rumplestiltskin (C) Assemble a jury of the best 12 Bosnians (no Serbs) available (D) Send Grumpy & Sneezy into the forest to round up Mom from her thatched roof cottage and let it all play out. Justice for all!!! Even characters from The Brothers Grimmer.
Sumatymrolls said:
Then Sumatymrolls said:
Just a wild guess here, but I conclude Sumatymrolls is a female.
Sumatymrolls - First, actually, that was exactly what you said.
Only difference is you said "do not" the first time, but it was stated so absolutely that is might as well have been "cannot."
Second, while it certainly is possible, I highly doubt that the person's name has anything to do with being in prison. And, if you're so quick to judge about mere names, I'm left wondering just how confused you are in this world, in which names frequently are meaningless or provided only to distract.
Third, being human does not innately mean a person will not coexist with anything. Yes, humans do all of those things - but not all humans. On point of extinction, for example: not only are there many efforts being made to save dying species, but there's actually work being done to revive some of those that have been lost.
Hah! I thought I was the only one who noticed.
@ Stoopid,
Thanks for the laugh! I promise you we're not all that dingy... :)
Geez, most of us got what Sumatymrolls meant. No need to nit-pick. And she is right, humans can be horrible to everyone and everything.
Stoopid, maybe you are the "girl" here!!
Sumatymrolls said:
Then Sumatymrolls said:
Just a wild guess here, but I conclude Sumatymrolls is a female.
The first statement has 'well' as the keyword!
There were a lot of people doing suicide missions, play-acting like the other side, all in the name of what? Just to make somebody else look bad? This kind of crime is never excusable, in any country, any place, any circumstance. Who cares what other people think; getting others to wipe out a country by making them look bad is just going to bring on this kind of garbage in the future.
Oh I'd let them see the light of day, no problem. They'd get plenty of sunshine teamed up together to replace horses as they haul freight from Bosnia to Germany. Being whipped the whole time. Till they can't walk any longer, at which point they get walked to the side of the road and shot in the head...
Sara said:
Sigh. Double sigh.
time to beat the piss out of them, so tired of hearing about children being abused and mistreated for the amusment of adults! come on!!!!
Bosnia...
The armpit of Europe.
I think you mean an area that is a bit lower on the body...
yes I b elieve they meant lower..
There are slaves here in the US. Teenage sex slaves addicted to drugs, some the kids you had in the neighborhood. Sick world......
If you know where these slaves are, call the police. In this country we will put your ass in prison for abusing children.
MOSinEUR, I wish that was really true. There are plenty of children being abused every day in the US. Human trafficking and slavery is on the rise everywhere, and that includes places right here in the good old US of A. We have our fair share of monsters.
Monsenior, open your eyes. They are all around you unless you live in a monastery..........
MOSinUER In this country we will put your ass in prison for abusing children. We don't do it enough in protecting our children here in the US. Matter of fact, we are a nation of excuses when come to the Justice System. Too many people turn their head & say it is done of our concern or what a shame. The most popular, we don't want to be involved. The only time the sytem seem to quickly speak up if the word Sex is involved.
@TNRebel-4016842 You are a rare and vanishing breed of individual willing to sacrifice yourself for the protection of someone you don't even know. I think that's pretty much a definition of a
hero--and we need more like you.
If you see prostitution, you are probably seeing underage abuse. Teens who have been kidnapped, forced to take drugs, then forced to sell themselves. We just put the slaves in jail. America is no better.
@TNRebel & Momcat ...
I TOTALLY agree w/you & kudos!! There definitely needs to be more of you! TNRebel ... I SO would have cheered for you!!
How can people be so mean to children? I don't have any problem with killing adults that treat kids this way.
and it took the concerned neighbors how long to report it??? they are just as bad..
as is the mother who lives nin the same village.. hitch them to carts load up the cart and get out the whip.. a mile or more would be a good distance RIGHT
mike ~ Don't be so quick to judge. As far as I understand the article, as soon as the concerned neighbor witnessed this, they called to report it. THANKFULLY they called, because there are always those who simply do not want to get involved, as well as those who are oblivious to what's going on in their neighborhood.
ALL SICKNESSES COME TO AN END THANK GOD
only one way to control this crap
death sentence would work fine im sure
I wonder why she has never escaped. Was she perhaps not in full mental capacity? Very sad story in any case.
do u understand with the pigs. and surrounded by dogs, probably chained up and of course the big word FEAR
The article said the step-father set the dogs on her repeatedly. Sounds like she DID try to escape numerous times.
Better her rescue late than never. But it really should have been done MUCH SOONER. As for her tormenters, don't you wish the same thing be done to them for eight years? Including the child's mother for letting this happen. They stole her childhood away in a brutal way. No child deserves this.
I blame George Bush.......
I don't disagree with you but why george LOL
....because everyone here blames George Bush for everything.
Obama is clearly not to blame as he wasn't in office at the time of enslavement and he gave Bosnia 10 Billion dollars of borrowed Chinese money to put an end to this practice.
I have a 15 acre field that needs plowing. Can I get these tormentors over here to "help" me out with it? I could hook a rope up to them and whip them too just to get it done. What a couple of dumb a$$e$.
I'm glad this girl is out of there. Hopefully she is put with a family that will love her for who she is and will get her the help that she needs.
Do the same thing to them. Thats all I can say.......
I would bring her to the US in a minute and give her the love and supports she needs. We have two children and I can tell you she would be in a loving stable home. So sad to hear that people treat children this way...it makes me physically ill. I hope they put these monsters to death. Do not send her back to her mother either! Apparently she is the one that brought her into that situation!
Simply horrifying...the fact that they enjoyed this sadistic treatment of a helpless girl makes it even worse to imagine...
This is a case where the death penalty fits those that have no regard for human life
.....This was an everyday life for SOME, not so long ago!
There's STILL treated as inferior!
The bright side is that this girl is now fully qualified for a career in hotel hospitality.
The mother needs to be executed
The neighbors need to be imprisoned
The captors need to be made to perform slave labor till death.
hew, maybe you should reconsider your statement if you can't read everything first? AS STATED by others who have read the story from more than one news source: Neighbors DID call REPEATEDLY to the police but when the police came, the captors hid the child. Only after the neighbor photographed the girl as proof she was still there, did the police demand seeing the girl knowing she was in fact there. This neighbor who never gave up should be commended NOT imprisoned.
I couldn't even come up with these stories if I tried to make them up... unbelievable what some of us "humans" have become. Shame on us for allowing such things to happen to our children.
Shame on who? Speak for yourself, I've never allowed such things to happen to children. Melodramatic much?
pam-1339711, I am sure Juan was gereralizing to include the human race not just one person.
An eleven year old girl walks into a police station with a wounded & bloody face & her left arm unmobile. When asked what had happen she replied I didn't cook enough pork chops for my dad, please help me. The Police called the girl's father then informs the girl her father was on the way and that she needed to learn her place & mind her parents as good little daughter. Wish I could say this happened in another country, however this eleven year old was my sister.
An eight year child walks to school with blood running down her back & legs. When the school staff noticed & asked what happen, they laughed with the child answered, I forgot & used my left hand. The child was told, "try sitting on your left hand this should remind you to use your right hand. Now go to class, you're late".
Present day is even worst, there are people out there taking lives of their children without hesitation, mental illness, I don't know. Didn't anyone have clue or history on these parents, no signs?
Children are good reasons to be Melodramatic, wish more people would.
DKJ,
That is such a sad story. I'm so sad that happened to your sister and the other child you mentioned. When I was 17, I went to the police station seeking protection from my abusive father for myself and my unborn child. But they just drove me back home, basically saying that because I was under 18, my father had the right to order the death of my unborn child and to slap me around for refusing. And this happened in 1982.
Put the man and his partner in prison for the remainder of their lives. That's where they belong. Prosecute the mother, who it seems was aware of the abuse and basically abandoned her daughter and the neighbors who witnessed the abuse also.
If this happened in Bosnia, don't they give idiots like this medals????
What some people don't think about, is the fact that in many places this was normal. I believe Bosnia was pat of Yugoslavia at one time, and the Serbs did lots of things worse than this, if you can imagine this. Still, they deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison. But, they need to place them among those who will abuse them, like thisgirl was abused. Those condemning the neighbors need to understand that many people in our own society tend to take a quick look, and decide it's a pesonal vendetta against their neighbors that make them report such things. It happens in all fields. Over ten years ago I reported a medical problem, and was told the to come back when I had a flare-up. I did that. Was referred to a surgeon, but by then the plare-up was gone, and was told to come back to the surgeon when it flared up next. If they can't see it personally, it's not there. It could be that the police were paid off to keep it quiet.
Take away all their possessions and money, give it the girl, and prosecute everyone including the mother. Ten years at hard labor sounds about right.
She should look on the bright side at least she didn't give birth to a litter of fvcked up kids from Daddy....
Poor girl. I hope justice is properly doled out in this case.
Bosnia must be a great country, the neighbors see all this going on and no one does anything about it until now. Something should have been done years ago. What a shame, what a disgrace!
They should all be jailed - the step-father, his partner, and the mom. Obviously the mom knew what was going on and did nothing about it. The neighbors too! They "saw her pulling the cart and being whipped"...and did nothing about it?
Disgusting! Give the girl everything they can get - money and possessions - from all parties responsible - get her psychological help. Just unbelievable that these kinds of people exist. Makes me sick!
There is no excuse for this type of behaviour, a human being can't get any lower. The same goes for human trafficking for sex. The death penalty is appropriate in these cases and make it quick, not 20 yrs after conviction.