www.bbc.co.uk Elisabeth had not been seen in public since August 1984 image:39491:4::0

Yesterday, Police arrested the 73 year old Josef Fritzl who has now confessed of abusing his daughter, fathering her seven children and burning one child shortly after it died on the balcony of his house, in Amstetten, in Lower Austria.

Today Elisabeth, his 42 year old mentally and physically abused daughter, is safe in the care of authorities and social services - the latter guilty of not noticing the signs of anything untoward at the house for over two decades. Yet now Elisabeth is with her six surviving children, all fathered, it is thought, my her own father.

For the first time on world television, across CNN, Fox, Sky and the BBC, we are witnessing the harrowing conditions in which the daughter and her children lived, the squalor, in the darkness and tight corridors which led from one dim room to another, corridors so narrow, you could only walk sideways. This was the world for a young daughter, who had not been seen in public for 24 years and her children, three of whom had not seen daylight all their lives until they were rescued this week.

Elisabeth had been a normal 18 year old girl in 1984. Pretty, young and carefree with a world to explore for the rest of her life, yet in one day, the life she knew was quickly taken away from her but the one man in the world she should have trusted to take care of her - her father. In that one day, she was lured down to the family cellar at the base of the house, drugged and handcuffed and was never seen by outsiders again.

Nobody had suspected a thing - she had been forced to write a letter to her own parents, her father to say she had run away for home and was never coming back. Those around her accepted that - she was a young woman free to do as she pleased, but downstairs, away from the world she was hidden away and stayed there, for 24 years and some how, remarkably survived.

Mr Fritzl has confessed to sexually abusing her, repeatedly, and as a result she bore seven children, all between the ages now of five and nineteen

He had been clever. Building a self contained "apartment" underground, there was everything a normal above ground house would have. The rooms were still small but there was eating, sleeping and washing facilities, all that separated the "dungeon" from the outside world was a thick, solid concrete wall. The door was locked by an electronic lock and code. Mr Fritzl visited the "family" underground, giving them food and water on the occasions he was there - upstairs he had his normal family including a wife, Rosemarie, with seven children of her own with the man - who never knew what and who lived beneath her.

Elisabeth lived underground with her three children, while the other three lived upstairs and lived a normal as could be life. They were not allowed to be with their mother in the basement as Elisabeth was again force to write a letter saying she did not want the babies.

The other three children were adopted or fostered by the suspect, after he forced Elisabeth to write a letter saying she could not look after the baby, according to police.

Yet all came to light when the eldest of Elisabeth's children became very ill and was urgently taken to hospital. Staff were concerned over the nature of the illness that they felt the strong need to investigate the family and the background of the 19 year old Kerstin. It was then that the truth was unveiled. Elisabeth saw the medical appeal by hospital staff to find the child's mother on the TV. She begged her father to let her go to hospital. It was then, she took the vital steps to be free.

As stated in the BBC website page, the key facts have been found by investigating police so far.

1. Elisabeth reappeared at home after disappearing 24 years ago
2. Six children she says are hers have been found and placed in care
3. One of the children, aged 19, is seriously ill in hospital
4. Elisabeth's father Josef Fritzl, 73, has been arrested on suspicion of incest and abduction
5. Police say Mr Fritzl confesses to imprisoning Elisabeth and fathering her seven children

Yet why didn't the girl and her children try to escape sooner? How could they have let an elderly man have such control over them. Surely they could have ganged up against him in some way to get out?

Investigating the crimes, is the head of the criminal affairs bureau in Lower Austria, Franz Polzer.. He said ,

"If you look at him today, you would hardly believe he was capable of doing these things. This man led a double life for 24 years. You have to put yourself into the situation of these people," he said. "They led a completely different life to ours, they do not know what we know. These children were born into the jail, they knew nothing else."

In the meantime, Kerstin lies dangerously ill in hospital - due to being the child of a daughter and father, she has also spent almost 20 years of her life without daylight what so ever which would have not allowed her body to develop as it should have done. The eldest boy, 18, is said to be very weak and no bigger than a young boy.

A spokesperson at the hospital said,

"The connection between the effects of 20 years without daylight, the incest and other illnesses, we will research in the coming hours and days."

Yet there is hope for these children and a life they can live as normally as possible. The 5 year old even said when being rescued, he was so excited to be riding in a real car.