News:Aussie couple hold man for six months

Published: 10:02PM Friday August 27, 2010

Source: AAP
A 26-year-old Australian man allegedly was held against his will for six months by a couple who beat him and forced him to do household chores.

Police allege the couple locked the man in a child's cubby house, starved him and beat him up.

They say the man lost almost half his body weight - falling from 70kg to 40kg - during his ordeal after he moved into the couple's home near Bathurst as a lodger in February this year.

Doctors who examined him on August 10 found he had suffered spinal, jaw and rib fractures as well as a punctured lung, police said.

He allegedly had been made to perform all the cleaning duties around the home after having his mobile phone confiscated.

Police arrested a 41-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman in Fish Parade, Gormans Hill.
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