Father arrested after keeping six children captive for 21 years

Residents say they suspected there was evil going on in the rooms of the dark, quiet house. And when they finally broke down the gate they found six bewildered children who had hardly ever seen the sun.

The six children, aged between 2 and 21 told residents they lived a life of beating and starvation. They never went to school.

"My father beat me and tied me up when he went out. Sometimes I didn't have anything to eat for days," said the 21-year-old boy.

His 15-year-old sister said her father didn't want her brother to go out. "So my father tied him up with a rope," she said.

She cried uncontrollably when she told how her father raped her. "Every night he would come into the dark room and force me to have sex. He threatened he would kill me if I ever spoke about it," she said.

A neighbor said he never knew there were children in the house."The house was always quiet. Nobody knew what was going on inside," he said.

The father of the children attacked a teenager on Sunday after the teenager had knocked on his gate. He tore the boy's clothes and threatened him with a knife.

Yalezwa Sizeke, who was coming from church, tried to intervene

"I saw him chasing the boy with a knife. I blocked him but he stabbed me on my hand," she said and she had to be treated in hospital.

Michael Mkomo said one of the children is his nephew. "Every child has a different mother. I think all the mothers of the children have died and the children were looked after by the father. No one knows how the mums died," said Michael. Cop spokesman Captain Mega Ndobe confirmed that an assault case was opened at Eden Park police station.

Ndobe said police took the children to hospital for a medical check-up. "The children were later taken to a place of safety. “Police will include other charges after investigating and questioning all concerned parties. The suspect will be in court again soon," said Ndobe.

Source - Dailysun