'Italian Fritzl Raped Daughter For 25yrs'

Mongelli A MAN dubbed Italy's Josef Fritzl kept his daughter prisoner and brutally raped her for 25 years, cops said yesterday.

Accused Michele Mongelli, 64, allegedly believed it was “his right” to sexually abuse her.

Police claim he groomed his son Giuseppe to abuse the girl too — along with his OWN four children. Father and son were last night under arrest in Turin.

The claims have stunned Italy and sparked comparisons with Austria's Fritzl case.

Detectives think the daughter — who is now 34 and named “Laura” by the Italian media — was first abused at nine.

She was held in a room with no electricity, was only allowed outside with her father and received little education.

She is said to have escaped 15 years ago and raised the alarm but Mongelli — a scrap metal dealer — convinced police she was “disturbed”.

Detectives said Giuseppe also abused sister Laura AND preyed on his own kids aged six to 20.

The case came to light after police got a tip-off and bugged the family's home and car.

In one recording, Giuseppe's eight-year-old daughter says: “Dad, get your hands off me. You are a bastard, stop it.”

Pietro Forno, the chief prosecutor, said it was the worst incest case he had ever seen. And he admitted that the details had sickened his toughest investigators.

Mr Forno said: “The victims were subjected to sexual and psychological abuse. I don't want to blame the psychologists who worked with this family in 1994.

“But it's clear the signs were there — and not acted upon when they should have been. The father believed it was his right to abuse his daughter and he passed this on to his son who abused his sister and his own children.”

The case bears striking similarities to Elisabeth Fritzl's ordeal at the hands of her evil father.

He locked her up in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, killing one days after the birth.

Mongelli's wife Caterina defended him yesterday, saying: “This is all lies. He kept her inside because he was worried about her.” The victims were in social care last night.