From accomplice to victim?: Woman escapes torture chamber under Czech "horror" house

A young woman escapes at night from a torture chamber in a remote Czech village. She is said to have been tortured and mistreated there for months. Her tormentor is apparently a repeat offender - and the victim, according to witnesses, is his former accomplice.

It is February 16th when a frightened woman wanders through the deserted Czech village of Sirem in the middle of the night. With a shaved head and an iron chain around her neck, she knocks on doors seeking help, and it is only at the tenth house that she has any luck. "We freed her from the chain and called the police," the local resident who finally opened the door for her told the Czech news site Idnes.cz.

The young woman is said to have been locked up and raped in the basement of an abandoned house in the town, just 70 kilometers west of Prague, since November last year. She was ultimately able to tear the chain that tied her to the wall from its anchor, break a basement window and escape. This is according to a report by CNN Prima News. According to dpa information, the victim is now receiving psychological care. Czech media are calling it a "shocking case" and a "horror" act.

Act reminiscent of case from 2021

The perpetrator is said to be 40-year-old Karel N., who was already convicted in a similar case in 2022. According to CNN Prima News, in March 2021 the truck driver had lured a then 22-year-old woman to his house in the town of Kryry and locked her up and abused her there.

In an interview with Seznamzpravy.cz, the first victim revealed that she already knew her rapist at that point. Before her abduction, they had met for the first time and had consensual sex. After she lost her job a short time later, Karel N. offered her a job as a hostess. "I was supposed to sell perfume in shopping centers and come to him for a photo shoot beforehand." Beforehand, however, she had made sure that the meeting was purely professional and made it clear that she did not want to enter into any further intimate relationship with him. At first, everything went smoothly, but she did not return home that evening.

"After the shoot, he gave me a drink that made me feel dizzy," she continued. She tried to leave, but N. stopped her. He then tied her up with chains, put a dog mask on her head, and beat and raped her. "When I screamed, he stuffed a washcloth in my mouth. I also had an electric collar on, which he used to shock me," the woman reported.

The next day, the young woman managed to free herself and - similar to the case in Sirem - asked her neighbors for help, who then called the police. Karel N. was caught and sentenced to three years in prison by a court. But just a year later, his first victim saw him on the street, as she said in an interview.

N. had appealed the verdict and was released from prison in 2022 with a five-year suspended sentence after the District Court in Usti nad Labem declared the previous verdict to be disproportionately harsh.

According to the young woman, there was another person in the torture house besides N. - allegedly his girlfriend. She is said to have helped with the terrible act. What became of her was initially unclear. But according to witness statements, she could be connected to the new case.

Did an ex-accomplice become a victim?

According to CNN Prima News, three witnesses independently contacted the news channel and reported that Karel N.'s latest victim was the person who allegedly helped him kidnap, torture and rape the young woman in Kyry in 2021. However, there is still no information from investigators to support the witness statements.

According to a spokesman for the police headquarters in Usti nad Labem, Karel N. is now accused of deprivation of liberty, rape and coercion. If convicted, he faces up to twelve years in prison. Since he regularly travels abroad due to his work as a truck driver, there is an acute risk of him fleeing, Katerina Dousova, deputy public prosecutor of Usti nad Labem, told CNN Prima News. The 40-year-old will therefore be kept in custody for the time being.