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Autistic woman seriously abused and forced to eat mother’s ashes by family

The woman first began suffering the abuses after her mother died

Clark Mindock
New York
Monday 30 July 2018 18:08 BST
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The woman was forced to be in a cage when not working
The woman was forced to be in a cage when not working

Five people have been accused of locking up an autistic woman in a cage before threatening and abusing her, and forcing her to eat her mother’s ashes.

An indictment by a federal grand jury in New Orleans has accused five family members of abusing their 22-year-old relative in 2016, according to the court documents that were released by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and reviewed by local media.

In the indictment, the individuals were accused of threatening the woman with force, hurting her, and making her work against her will — specifically, the documents say that she was forced to do house and yard work.

“The plan of the conspiracy was for the co-conspirators to subject (the victim) to physical violence, threats of physical violence, psychological and verbal abuse, abuse of legal process and psychological manipulation to obtain uncompensated labor and services from (the victim),” the indictment says.

The victim was reportedly allowed at one point to sleep on a mattress on the floor of the family’s mobile home, but was then made to sleep in a tent in the family backyard. That tent was locked with a zipper, and one of the suspects allegedly ordered the family to keep the 22-year-old in the tent at night so she could not escape, according to officials.

After an attempt to escape, the woman was told that if she attempted to do so again she would be killed. She was later moved to a shed to sleep. She was reportedly kept in a cage when not doing work.

The indictment says that the work the woman was forced to do included scrubbing the mobile home with a toothbrush, cutting the grass outside the home with scissors, and cleaning the septic system without gloves or protective equipment.

Her alleged abuses include: the smashing of the woman’s hand with a hammer, the burning of her hand with a lighter, her getting shot with a pellet gun, and an incident in which the family members allegedly forced her to open an urn and then eat spoonfuls of her deceased mother’s ashes.

The court documents also indicate the woman was forced to take off her clothes and make sexual advances towards men visiting the mobile home, including a repairman and a family friend.

The woman reportedly came into her family’s care after her mother died, in August 2015. The abuse continued until June 2016.

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