By Greg Milam, Sky News Europe correspondent

When a Japanese TV crew want to borrow your bag of rubbish for a "piece to camera", you know the media circus has fully arrived.

I still don't know what point she was trying to make with our rubbish. I don't speak Japanese.

But nothing is surprising as the world's media swarms around the Fritzl family home in Amstetten.

No-one needs to seek out sensational new leads here - the facts in this case are shocking and unbelievable enough.

But the suggestion that Josef Fritzl owned another property in the town, which also has a cellar, was enough to start a new frenzy.

What is interesting here too is how the local community is being forced to defend itself for not spotting something over all those years.

National newspapers have talked of people in Amstetten needing to look at their role in the whole affair.

They answer back: Why did those social workers who called at the Fritzl house time and time again not notice something?

Often at the scene of crimes like this, people are open and welcoming to the media, willing to talk.

But after a day or two they start to get suspicious and hostile and worry how they and their community are being portrayed.

Here, Gabriele Gattserbauer, childhood friend of Elisabeth Fritzl, would speak to Sky News but not to Austrian broadcasters. Such is the sensitivity of feelings.

What is most chilling for her is that she spent 25 years travelling the world, living in America, before coming home to settle.

"And all that time," she shudders, "Elisabeth was down there."

Comments

[Masud Malik, Pakistan May 6, 2008 1:56:53 AM]

I remember many times a day that unlucky Austrian girl of 18 years, who disappeared long time back and nobody found her. And every time I cry and sob for her. How much I wish poor Elizabeth was never born? As for punishment to his father, the society, more than the father, desrves a punishment. We in the third world, drowned in low level lifestyles, always think Scandinavia and Europe as the dreamland. But not for poor Elizabeth.

[mia, san francisco May 2, 2008 9:54:57 PM]

What happened in this case is unfathomable, unthinkable. How could the community have suspected anything that something so awful was happening?

[Reenie. Ireland May 2, 2008 2:47:19 AM]

There are no words to describe the disgust i feel for this man. He in my eyes is the most repulive man alive and i hope he rots in hell for all eternity. To Elizabeth and her children, i hope you are all given the lives you deserve & enough happiness to erase misery.

[Han May 1, 2008 1:54:32 PM]

I cried when i first heard about this story and what disgusting things that poor woman has gone through. Theres nothing on this earth that could do justice for what her so called father did to her. Find out what happened then get rid of him he's a waste of space and people like that dont deserve to live! I so hope Elisabeth and her children recover some time in the future!
you certainly have my sympathy!

[Richard Barnsley May 1, 2008 12:16:25 PM]

Words cannot describe the evil torchure that monster put his daughter through. If not only to have raped her several times but also to have deprived her and her remaining children of any freedom and life in the real world! May he rot in a window less cell forever and go to hell! Best Wishes To the family and may they thrive!

[Jaime Remedios, Portugal May 1, 2008 9:11:26 AM]

It is time the authorities everywhere, Austria and the rest of the world, search for these dungeons in their towns and cities. These places are built by people and somebody must know about their existence. THERE ARE NO EXCUSES FOR NOT ACTING NOW and clean up. For the victims, in this case Elizabeth and her kids, I send my love and support. After all this suffering they deserve PARADISE ON EARTH and the Austrian government should provide for it.

[Roisin Dublin May 1, 2008 3:36:03 AM]

I cried reading of how the children saw the moon for the first time..and the 3 children that were 'chosen' to live above ground to think of how that guilt and shame will effect them too. Why was i chosen to live freely and my sisters/brothers were kept like animals? It really is the stuff of nightmares.I hope that some day these poor souls learn to love and be loved,and to live without the fear.
What is a fitting punishment for this man's evil doing? 15 years in prison?! And justice for all...

[Jacquie Edinburgh Apr 30, 2008 2:19:05 AM]

there isnt one word able enough to describe how evil this man is - it makes u want to throw up when you read what he did to that poor girl- she was only a child when he started to abuse her to her it would be normal she wouldnt have known any other way of life- now she is going to learn that its not normal and on top of all the horrors she has already lived through in her prison she is going to have to learn to cope with feelings of guilt and shame and disgust and all the feelings associated to those who have been abused -That poor woman and her children have been living in hell , a hell that will continue in there thoughts and dreams for the rest of their lives -The only guilty person is their Father and he should Rot in diseased and rat infested cell with no windows and no light for the rest of his days-just make sure they do everything to keep him alive as long as possible to endure at least 24 yrs of pain and suffering like he inflicted on his daughter

[marian fitzgerald ireland Apr 30, 2008 1:40:46 AM]

I feel so much sympathy and disbelief that this could have happened to this poor woman and her children who have endured such horror at the hands of this man who doesnt deserve to be called her father...i dont think blaming the community serves any purpose as nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors we could all be living next door to a monster and not realise it.... god give them peace and hope for the future...

[B Lam, Hong Kong Apr 29, 2008 12:37:53 PM]

In this world of everyday
mishaps to children and
teenagers, instead of expressing shock and horror
as a after effect, is it not
time to design a curriculum to
smarten up self defence/rescue
training from young. If this Elizabeth girl was street smart enough, she might have escaped her terrible ordeal.

[anon. lancs Apr 29, 2008 8:07:43 AM]

i work with kids who have been neglected etc etc. but who have been rescued by age 3-5. they suffer for years to come and even with help they are scarred. i can not begin to understand what elisabeth and her kids have gone thru and how will they ever recover from this, her 19 and 18 yr old have an imense amount of catching up and socialising to do. it's frightening!!!!!

[r moss brighton england Apr 29, 2008 7:54:05 AM]

why would anyone suspect something,its so outlandish but i agree with mirriam and find it hard to believe the mother didnt know anything

[Kemi Kehinde, Abuja, Nigeria Apr 29, 2008 7:19:10 AM]

Its so sad that Elizabeth had to go through this meanest kind of inhuman treatment. I shudder to think of what she went through each day, hoping that someday someone would save her.
Now that she is out I hope she and the children would be able to leave a normal life. And for the mother was n't she ever suspicious? Heard no noise? No tell tale signs? I don't want to believe she was aware. Or could it be that the husband had a terrible hold over her. Its so SAD!

[Tony Malta Apr 29, 2008 6:22:09 AM]

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. The man or Woman next door to you may beat his partner on a daily basis, Children are abused sexually and phyically when know one knows. Old people suffer hardships in thier own homes and at the hands of others. It is not always right to sit back and say why did anyone not notice. Unfortunatly we live in a world where people go about their daily lives, working, living supporting their own families and right under our noses people like this sick pathetic man do the things they do and no one notices. Men like JF gain thier power over many years of abuse and mental torture, until the victims lose the will to fight back. He would only have to look in a certain way and command silence. Unless you have lived with someone like that it is hard to understand why the 'victims' do not speak up or try to escape or even stop the violence that is rained upon them. This poor girl had no chance, she was not strong enough. Maybe even the mother too was worn down by this man to such an extent that even to ask the question was enough to cause trouble for her. My heart goes out to the children, may they find peace and security away from this man and can recover from the horrors of a life kept in the dark. Until you have been in this situation no one can say what they would have done, but hopefully now Elizabeth will find some peace and her children will find a new life surrounded by love.

[miriam, dublin Apr 29, 2008 5:25:56 AM]

i have to say i find it extremely unbelievable that the mother and grandmother did not know what was going on, giving the impression she is just distancing herself from any blame. This whole situation is disgusting! I find it horrible when women are involved in these sort of crimes. I know both men and women should be treated the same and it's horrendous no matter who does it but a woman who has given birth to this child and then lets her husband do this despicable act to her child. I just find it sickening

[nusrat ariffa Apr 29, 2008 4:57:18 AM]

I think this incident is disgusting and i dont understand how any one can do this to thier own flsh and blood.

[Sandra Ryan. Spain. Apr 29, 2008 4:07:46 AM]

I can understand the reaction of the locals, they are probably wondering how on earth they never realised what was going on, and maybe blaming themselves, and ashamed.

I would like to hope that the daughter and the children who have lived with her in this cellar will be able to have some kind of normal life, but it sounds as though they are in a very poor state of health,hopefully the 5 year old will stand more of a chance. Its beyond belief really and I cant begin to imagine how they all must have suffered. Its hard to believe that the mother knew nothing, and if she did and kept quiet, what kind of man is he to be able to have that much control, and more to the point what kind of mother is she.It is as you say shocking and unbelievable.