Authorities are investigating allegations that a mentally handicapped woman was kept in virtual slavery as a farm laborer for nearly four decades, AP quoted an Austrian newspaper as reporting today. The report on the web site of the Kleine Zeitung said that the unidentified woman worked for 38 years on the farm in southern Styria province. The Austria Press Agency said that, because of the case, Styria's agricultural workers association was planning to look closely at 30 farm workers who appear to be integrated into the families of the farm owners but are not directly related. Citing the Kleine Zeitung report from earlier this week, the APA reported that the 55-year-old victim has been living in a home for those needing special care for about four weeks and quoted her as saying she had been beaten and otherwise abused by the farmer's widow since the farmer died several years ago. The accused woman _ also unidentified _ reportedly denied wrongdoing, saying she had done the alleged victim a favor in taking care of her.
