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Italian woman locked up for 18 years by family

Police say a family in southern Italy kept a woman locked in a room in their house for 18 years because they were angry she was pregnant out of wedlock.
Image: Golino Annarosa, Monaco Michelina and Monaco Prisco
Authorities in southern Italy say family members, Golino Annarosa, Monaco Michelina and Monaco Prisco, the parents of Maria Monaco, held the woman in her bedroom for 18 years to punish her for bearing a child out of wedlock.- / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: The Associated Press

Police said a family in southern Italy kept a woman locked in a room in their house for 18 years because they were angry she was pregnant out of wedlock.

Police said they freed the woman, now 47, on Friday in Santa Maria Capua Vetere. The ANSA news agency said she was taken to hospital for psychiatric care.

Police said they arrested her brother and sister, and put her 80-year-old mother under house arrest. ANSA said police received an anonymous tip.

Italian TV showed the room with a bed, chair, filthy toilet and sink.

Police said the woman's child, now 17, was living with relatives and didn't know about his mother.