A Brief History
On May 23, 1901, the Attorney General of Paris, France, received an anonymous note that a woman was being kept prisoner by her own mother. Police were dispatched to investigate and found a skeletal Blanche Monnier locked up in a small, windowless room in appalling mental and physical condition.
Digging Deeper
Blanche had been locked up in the tiny room since 1876, when her mother disapproved of Blanche’s choice for a husband (a lawyer, so perhaps the mom had reasonable cause…) and prevented the marriage by keeping Blanche prisoner.
Of course, the mother was arrested, but died of illness only 15 days later, before a trial could be held. Blanche’s brother, Marcel, who apparently also lived in that house was arrested for complicity in not either freeing the trapped woman or at least notifying police. At first Marcel was convicted, but was acquitted on appeal because the law did not specifically require a person to free someone a third party had incarcerated, that it, no “duty to rescue” existed.
The starving and filthy Blanche was 52 years old when “rescued” but it was too late for her. The poor woman was quite mad by this time, had not seen sunlight in at least 20 years, and was taken to a psychiatric hospital where she finally found peace in death in 1913, at age 64.
Blanche’s case if not herself became somewhat famous in France, and she was dubbed la Sequestree de Poitiers, meaning the sequestered lady of Poitiers (the town she lived in).
Unfortunately, this incident is not the only case where a family member or members have kept someone locked away for many years. Sickening and horrifying cases make the news every so often.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What famous cases can you think of?
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Mattei, Christine. Crimes Et Criminels. . .Des Histoires A Perdre La Tête (French Edition). lulu.com, 2015.
You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube:
