Springs 'monster' couple back in court

25 July 2014 - 10:03 By Sapa
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BLEAK HOUSE: The house on Plantation Road in Springs, on the East Rand, where a used-car salesman allegedly held his wife and five children captive for years and starved, beat and electrocuted them. Police seized dozens of pornographic DVDs from the property
BLEAK HOUSE: The house on Plantation Road in Springs, on the East Rand, where a used-car salesman allegedly held his wife and five children captive for years and starved, beat and electrocuted them. Police seized dozens of pornographic DVDs from the property
Image: ALON SKUY

A man and his wife who allegedly assaulted and kept their five children captive in their home for several years are expected to appear in the Springs Magistrate's Court.

The man, 36, and who cannot be named to protect the identity of his family members, was arrested in May after his 11-year-old son fled the family's house in Springs and ran to a neighbour's house to beg for help.

The neighbours then called police.

His wife previously appeared in court on July 4, where the court ruled she and her husband could not have contact with their children.

The 36-year-old mother was released on R2000 bail.

The woman, a dyslexic who cannot read or write, was not viewed as a flight risk by the court.

In her judgment, regional magistrate Bennita Oswell described the woman as "a timid person" who scared easily, and said that her husband, who made all the decisions on her behalf, was the centre of her universe.

The woman was unemployed and did not have any family outside Springs.

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