Polish farmer kept wife as carthorse

A woman has been freed from torment after being subjected to 15 years of beatings and being forced to pull a plough across farm fields. Since the age of 19, Irena Buzniak (now 34), was treated as a donkey by her husband and the rest of his immediate family in the small southern town of Limanowa.

It was only a few months ago that Irena decided enough was enough and she finally found the courage to flee her torture in order to find help from the authorities. Such was the extent of her ordeal, that she has been forced to seek help from doctors in a psychiatric hospital. Due to her brave decision to face her problems head-on, her previous family (including her husband) that kept her in a constant state of torment will now be brought to justice.

As well as being forced to carry the plough through the fields, she was kept locked up in a garage and was beaten and taunted with threats that she should be killed, in order to prevent her from begging for help. Her husband Antoni (42), his two brothers Kazimierz (45) and Jozef (39) and their mother, Emilia (81) now face up to 10 years behind bars for their part in the wicked ordeal.

“I honestly believe the punishment that all of them will hopefully be given will be fully deserved,” says Irena. “The past 15 years of my life have been completely horrific and they are 15 years that I would like to forget,” she said with tears in her eyes.