Following a telephone tip, police in Sorocabo, near Sao Paolo, Brazil, arrested a man for alleging imprisoning his wife in their cellar for eight years. According to police reports, 64-year old Joao Batista Groppo had kept his wife of 40 years confined due to concerns relating to her mental illness. He stated that he initially locked her up in 2003 due to concerns relating to her mental illness and aggressive behaviour. Although he originally told the police that he had kept his wife confined for 16 years, he later revised this to eight years. Their son, who admited to being aware of his mother's confinenment, confirmed the story.
Groppo's girlfriend, Maria Furquim, has been arrested as an accomplice. The son, Joao Batista Groppo Junior, may also be facing charges for "failing to come to the aid of someone in need" as he admitted to police that he was aware of his mother's circumstances. While he had his mother stay at his house on several occasions, his father inevitably took her back to his own house.
In justifying his actions, Groppo, a retired industrial consultant insisted that confining his wife in the cellar was the only way to prevent her from "wandering off and getting lost". When police entered the house, they found Sebastiana Aparecida Groppo, naked on a concrete bed in the unlit, unventilated cellar where she had been confined. According to police reports, the cellar was only 130 feet square with "feces and dead cockroaches". It was kept unlit since her husband was worried about wasting electricity. The arresting officer, Jaqueline Coutinho, described it as the most "degrading" case she had worked on in her career. Coutinho added that "It was horrifying. There were dogs and animals free in the backyard while the old woman was locked in the cellar with bars and padlocks". There were no signs of aggression whcen she was removed from the cellar and taken to hospital for tests. She has since been released to her son's custody.
Groppo has denied that he negledcted his wife and insisted that they had been seen by her psychiatrist once a month. Neighbours have reported that Sebastiana was well-treated and that Maria Furquim helped take care of her. The phone tip that led police to the house had been made by a neighbour who reported hearing Sebastiana crying. Police have charged Groppo and Furquim with false imprisonment. If convicted, they face up to eight years imprisonment. The case has generated widespread outrage in Brazil.
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