Austria's Fritzl divorces

**Lamplighter** Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:19 pm

Austria's Fritzl divorces
By AFP | AFP – 2 hours 24 minutes ago

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian who fathered seven children with his own daughter in a homemade dungeon, has divorced his wife of 55 years because she has never visited him in prison, a press report said on Thursday.
The divorce, which was legally approved a few weeks ago, means that Rosemarie Fritzl can no longer draw on her 77-year-old ex-husband's pension, the Austrian weekly News reported.
Contacted by AFP, the divorce lawyer reportedly hired by Fritzl to file for the separation, Nikolaus Rast, declined to comment. News also said that Rosemarie has not replied to Fritzl's many letters to her.
Fritzl kept his and Rosemarie's daughter Elisabeth prisoner in the basement of the family house in Amstetten, central Austria, for 24 years, raping her thousands of times and fathering seven children.
One of the children died as a baby. Three of the surviving children were brought to live with Fritzl and Rosemarie while the other three spent their entire lives in the dungeon, never seeing daylight.
The ordeal ended only in April 2008 when the eldest child, a girl by then 19, fell severely ill and Elisabeth begged Fritzl to bring her to hospital. Doctors became suspicious and alerted the police.
The case drew worldwide attention and Fritzl was found guilty in March 2009 of murdering the baby through negligence, as well as of rape, incest and sequestration, and sent to a secure mental institution for life.
Rosemarie was never charged with any crime.
News also reported that Fritzl is popular with fellow prisoners.

**bb1** Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:25 pm

Can't really think of anything to say about that. vomit

sums it up.

**Sabot** Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:34 pm

So, The State will have to keep her, willingly, I would have thought. Presuming that her ex husband actually can deprive her of part of his Pension, which I doubt. Isn't that a matter for the divorce court to decide?
And she certainly won't have to make up any excuses.

**Lamplighter** Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:02 pm

Sabot wrote:
So, The State will have to keep her, willingly, I would have thought. Presuming that her ex husband actually can deprive her of part of his Pension, which I doubt. Isn't that a matter for the divorce court to decide?
And she certainly won't have to make up any excuses.

Now, I'm not up on Austrian divorce law especially when pertaining to a convicted criminal, but I think that, while they were still married she had the right to draw on all or some of his pension. But when he divorced her, that right was removed. However, it may be that the law decides that he still has to maintain her and therefore the pension will become the 'property' of the courts and she will be paid from that. As i said, not at all sure of the ramifications of this, especially as he divorced her. LL

**Sabot** Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:14 pm

At the point of divorce in England, ex wives are often awarded a proportion of their ex husband's pension, which then becomes theirs by right. I don't see why the same shouldn't apply here. Not that I care all that much, but I teensy bit resent the implications of that article that she is in someway at fault for refusing to communicate with him, and therefor deserved to be divorced and left penniless.
I don't know if she knew what was going on, but he was obviously a very sick control freak, so she might not have done. But apparently her daughter no longer communicates with her, for some reason that I have never come across.

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Austria's Fritzl divorces

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