A 73-YEAR-OLD woman is being investigated for “kidnapping and maltreating a family member” after allegedly keeping her mentally disturbed daughter locked in a darkened bathroom for 30 years.
Police said that Annina Gentilezza had kept her daughter, Giuseppina, now 52, a prisoner in the top-floor council flat at Pescara, on the Adriatic coast. They raided the flat after being tipped off by Signora Gentilezza’s daughter-in-law.
They found Giuseppina curled in a ball in a tiled room measuring 7ft x 9ft containing a lavatory, bidet, sink and washing machine. Wires hung from the ceiling where the light had been disconnected. The room contained a camp bed and plastic dog bowls in which Giuseppina was allegedly fed leftovers.
Police said that instead of being washed Giuseppina was “hosed down” on the balcony. Nicola Zupo, the officer who led the raid, said that Giuseppina was sometimes left out on the balcony as a punishment, especially in the winter, and beaten. She was allowed out once a month with her mother and stepfather, but only to collect her invalidity pension.
Psychiatrists at a local hospital where Giuseppina has been taken said that she was beginning to talk. “She doesn’t want to go back home,” a hospital spokesman said.
Giuseppe De Felice, Signora Gentilezza’s second husband and the father of her two sons, who is also under investigation, denied the allegations: “Those bowls really are for the dog. We never hurt her, she sleeps in her own room, she eats with us and watches television with her mother in the evening.”
Jan 20, 2006
Whale spotted in central London
seven-tonne whale has made its way up the Thames to central London, where it is being watched by riverside crowds.
The 16-18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale, which is usually found in deep sea waters, has been seen as far upstream as Chelsea.
A rescue boat has been sent to protect the whale and rescuers have been trying to keep it away from the river banks.
Specialist equipment, including inflatable tubes to re-direct the animal downstream, are being sent.
The whale has come within yards of the banks and has crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding.
The last thing we want to do is stress the animal out
Liz Sandeman
Marine Connection
Vets are remaining on standby and experts have said it does not appear to be ill, but are concerned it will get weaker and may become beached.
Tony Woodley, of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which will be handling the rescue, said the animal's welfare was the main priority.
He said if attempts to re-direct the whale downstream failed, it might be necessary to put it down to prevent from suffering further.
'Breathing normally'
The RNLI say it is the first whale rescue on the Thames. A spokesman said three whales were spotted east of the Thames Barrier on Thursday but only one managed to get upstream.
But at 0830 GMT on Friday, a man on a train called in to say he might have been hallucinating, but he had just seen a whale in the Thames.
Alison Shaw of the Marine and Freshwater Conservation Programme at London Zoo, said the northern bottle-nosed whale was usually found in groups of three to 10.
She told the BBC News website: "This is extremely rare in British waters as they are normally found in deep waters in the North Atlantic.
"It is about 16-18ft long, so is relatively mature. It is a very long way from home and we don't know why it has ended up here."
The whales usually weigh about seven tonnes, which will complicate any rescue attempt, experts said.
London Aquarium Curator Paul Hale told the BBC: "Getting that to do anything it doesn't want to do is going to be extremely difficult.
"This is a very active swimming animal and it's not going to go anywhere it doesn't want to go so we have to persuade it to swim back out."
Liz Sandeman, a medic of the Marine Connection, a whale and dolphin protection charity, accompanied the RNLI to examine the animal.
She feared it might be in danger from other boats, or be frightened by the noise.
"The last thing we want to do is stress the animal out," she said.
Over the years dolphins and seals have been spotted in the Thames.
Sperm whales have been seen in the Thames Estuary and porpoises have feasted on fish near Vauxhall Bridge, in central London.
The 16-18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale, which is usually found in deep sea waters, has been seen as far upstream as Chelsea.
A rescue boat has been sent to protect the whale and rescuers have been trying to keep it away from the river banks.
Specialist equipment, including inflatable tubes to re-direct the animal downstream, are being sent.
The whale has come within yards of the banks and has crashed into an empty boat causing slight bleeding.
The last thing we want to do is stress the animal out
Liz Sandeman
Marine Connection
Vets are remaining on standby and experts have said it does not appear to be ill, but are concerned it will get weaker and may become beached.
Tony Woodley, of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which will be handling the rescue, said the animal's welfare was the main priority.
He said if attempts to re-direct the whale downstream failed, it might be necessary to put it down to prevent from suffering further.
'Breathing normally'
The RNLI say it is the first whale rescue on the Thames. A spokesman said three whales were spotted east of the Thames Barrier on Thursday but only one managed to get upstream.
But at 0830 GMT on Friday, a man on a train called in to say he might have been hallucinating, but he had just seen a whale in the Thames.
Alison Shaw of the Marine and Freshwater Conservation Programme at London Zoo, said the northern bottle-nosed whale was usually found in groups of three to 10.
She told the BBC News website: "This is extremely rare in British waters as they are normally found in deep waters in the North Atlantic.
"It is about 16-18ft long, so is relatively mature. It is a very long way from home and we don't know why it has ended up here."
The whales usually weigh about seven tonnes, which will complicate any rescue attempt, experts said.
London Aquarium Curator Paul Hale told the BBC: "Getting that to do anything it doesn't want to do is going to be extremely difficult.
"This is a very active swimming animal and it's not going to go anywhere it doesn't want to go so we have to persuade it to swim back out."
Liz Sandeman, a medic of the Marine Connection, a whale and dolphin protection charity, accompanied the RNLI to examine the animal.
She feared it might be in danger from other boats, or be frightened by the noise.
"The last thing we want to do is stress the animal out," she said.
Over the years dolphins and seals have been spotted in the Thames.
Sperm whales have been seen in the Thames Estuary and porpoises have feasted on fish near Vauxhall Bridge, in central London.
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