Girl held ‘like slave’ for eight years in Bosnia

Bosnian media have reported that a couple was arrested after neighbours tipped off police that a girl was being abused.

The Police found that the German girl, today aged 19, had been kept as a slave in a remote village.

The couple was taken into custody on May 17, but officials waited to announce the arrest until ensuring the victim's safety and questioning witnesses. The girl was rescued after villagers told authorities she was being abused, state prosecutor's office spokesman Admir Arnautovic told the Associated Press on Sunday.

The teen was "disoriented" when police found her and had visible injuries, Arnautovic said. "She now feels much better," he added, saying that the investigation is ongoing.

News media report that neighbours often heard the girl screaming and crying. They also alleged that she was sexually abused by a number of men, though the state prosecutor's office said there was no proof of this claim.

They did, however, confirm media reports that the girl was treated "like a slave." She was reportedly abused with knives and forced to do heavy field labor, never receiving medical care for her injuries.

Neighbors also said that the girl was forced to live in a barn and eat pig feed to keep from starving. Her stepfather also allegedly set dogs on her repeatedly. Neighbors also reported seeing the girl sadistically forced to pull a horse cart distances between 400 and 500 meters (1,300 to 1,600 feet) while being whipped for the apparent amusement of her tormentors.

Bosnian authorities said they have requested legal cooperation from Germany and Austria, where the suspects and their relatives had worked in the past.

The neighbor who reported the case to police tried to alert them years ago, but the couple hid the girl from authorities. When he recently managed to take a photograph of her, police took action again, finding her in a wooded area where she had been hidden by her stepfather.