'Swedish Fritzl' accused of drugging and raping woman in dungeon

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This was published 8 years ago

'Swedish Fritzl' accused of drugging and raping woman in dungeon

Updated

A doctor in Sweden has been accused of drugging and raping a woman he'd been keeping in an underground bunker.

The doctor is alleged to have drugged the 38-year-old woman with Rohypnol-laced strawberries in Stockholm before driving her more than 550 kilometres to the bunker in Kristianstad, in the south of Sweden.

The man is reported to have used a pen to mark the strawberry stem leaves of the untainted fruit.

The woman was transferred to his car using a wheelchair, according to a Yahoo7 report.

A police forensic officer works at a property outside Knislinge in southern Sweden where the 38-year-old woman was allegedly taken.

A police forensic officer works at a property outside Knislinge in southern Sweden where the 38-year-old woman was allegedly taken. Credit: AP

The doctor, who is also aged 38 but who has not been named by Swedish prosecutors, had worn rubber masks of bearded and elderly men during the journey to avoid being recognised.

The woman is reported to have been handcuffed for most of the six days of her incarceration and raped repeatedly, according to a CNN report.

Mari Schaub, the doctor's lawyer, told CNN her client denied the rape allegation and denied "the degree of deprivation of liberty charge" he was being accused of.

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"He is a man who was mentally depressed and when at the police station, complied with all the requests of the police," she told CNN.

Some of the masks found in the home of Dr Martin Trenneborg.

Some of the masks found in the home of Dr Martin Trenneborg. Credit: Swedish Police Authority

"He is very much in regret of what he has done."

In echoes of Josef​ Fritzl, the Austrian who kept his own daughter locked up for 24 years, the doctor is alleged to have held the woman in the 60-square metre dungeon for a week.

Police forensic officers work at a property outside Knislinge in southern Sweden connected with the abduction case.

Police forensic officers work at a property outside Knislinge in southern Sweden connected with the abduction case.Credit: AP

Prosecutors allege the doctor had taken the woman "to be his girlfriend", Swedish newspaper Kvallsposten reported.

The newspaper reported that the doctor was a "very unhappy man. He has no girlfriend. He has built this building, then he has taken a person to be his girlfriend."

Swedish police photos taken inside the bunker built by Martin Trenneborg.

Swedish police photos taken inside the bunker built by Martin Trenneborg.Credit: Swedish Police Authority

However, police said he later panicked and drove her to a police station in Stockholm after he found out she had been reported missing.

They said the doctor had spent several years building the concrete dungeon, which he had equipped with a kitchen, toilet and bedroom. The dungeon was also sound-proof and light-proof, and double security doors with heavy latches and code locks were at the entrance.

Martin Trenneborg allegedly wore these masks as he drove the woman to a dungeon he had spent years building.

Martin Trenneborg allegedly wore these masks as he drove the woman to a dungeon he had spent years building.Credit: Swedish Police Authority

The walls of the bunker were more than 30 centimetres thick, according to one report.

When police searched the dungeon, they allegedly found a simple Ikea pine bed, a desk and a kitchen area with a sink and hot plate, Swedish news website Aftonbladet reported. A fridge stocked with fresh food was also in the dungeon.

A strawberry stem that Swedish police allege has traces of Rohypnol, the drug they say the man used to drug his victim.

A strawberry stem that Swedish police allege has traces of Rohypnol, the drug they say the man used to drug his victim.Credit: Swedish Police Authority

Police believe the man may have planned to kidnap other women as well, according to British newspaper reports, which quote Aftonbladet.

Fritzl was jailed for life in 2009 for the murder of a baby he fathered with his daughter during the 24 years he kept her locked in a cellar.

He was also convicted of slavery, and admitted charges of rape, false imprisonment, incest and coercion.

Escape from captivity

The doctor panicked when he realised that police were searching for the missing woman.

He drove her to a police station to explain to officers that they were a couple, Stockholm chief prosecutor Peter Claeson told CNN.

However, police officers questioned the woman separately and she told them she was being held against her will

But police asked to speak to the woman in private, and she told them of her ordeal.

The doctor had been employed by hospitals in the region, Claeson said.

His trial is due to begin in Stockholm on January 25, according to CNN.

Fairfax Media

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