A man in a remote fishing village in Brazil kept his daughter imprisoned for 12 years, raped her repeatedly and had seven children with her, police said on Wednesday.
The man is also accused of abusing a young girl he had with his daughter.
Police allege that Jose Agostinho Pereira, 54, kept his daughter, now 28, under virtual house arrest in a two-room, thatched-roof hut near a tiny fishing village in northeastern Brazil.
PHOTO: EPA
An officer who aided in the arrest said the home was located in such a remote jungle area that the only way to reach it was by using canoes. Authorities said the children appeared to suffer from malnutrition and could barely communicate with others. Most were unclothed.
The alleged abuse began when Pereira’s wife left him in 1998, police inspector Jair Lima de Paiva said.
Pereira has been in jail since Tuesday in the city of Pinheiro in Maranhao state, about 2,250km north of Rio de Janeiro. Charges have not been filed against him. Under Brazilian law, prosecutors only file charges after police have ended their investigation.
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