Austrian girl finally gets young company

An Austrian girl forced to grow up alone in the hands of a kidnapper finally enjoyed the company of people her own age yesterday as police gathered evidence from a tiny cell under the house where she was held.

Natascha Kampusch's escape last week, eight years after her abduction at age 10, has brought a national outpouring of sympathy, admiration, prayers and soul-searching about how her ordeal could have gone on so long without notice by neighbours.

Her kidnapper, 44, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train soon after she fled on Wednesday when he was distracted by a phone call while she was cleaning his car in the front yard of his home in a small town outside Vienna.

Ms Kampusch, now 18 and described as alert and eloquent despite the years in solitude, has been gradually connecting with the world around her at an undisclosed location with the help of psychologists and counsellors since then.

"Natascha had (the company) of people her own age this weekend and she had lively conversations with them," youth lawyer Monika Pinterits, one of Ms Kampusch's counsellors, told the Austria Press Agency (APA).

"Natascha enjoyed having contact with young people again. She's doing well," Ms Pinterits said.

Ms Kampusch had a brief reunion with her divorced parents on Wednesday, but has declined to see them since in what experts said may reflect resentment at perceived abandonment, normal in kidnap victims, or a young adult's assertion of independence.

Both parents complained in press interviews that they had not been told where Ms Kampusch was staying and said they were anguished at not being able to spend more time with her.

Police investigators were having difficulty gathering evidence in the sealed, six-square-meter underground cell where Ms Kampusch was marooned in a clutter of books with a bed, toilet and clothing provided by her abductor.

"It's a huge problem that we can squeeze only a maximum of two personnel into this space, and the tube-like entry makes it hard to get in equipment we need to take evidence," federal police Major General Gerhard Lang was quoted by APA as saying.

He said police had seized videos, children's books and textbooks in the house that captor Wolfgang Priklopil appeared to have provided her for education. A diary was not found, he said, contrary to reports that Ms Kampusch had maintained one.

He said Ms Kampusch was not being kept anywhere against her will and could leave and do as she pleased whenever she wanted.

"Medical tests have determined that she is entirely capable of leading her own life. She can take any decision on her own," he said. "Counsellors are advising her but prescribing no strategy (for what she do now)."

He added that police questioning of Ms Kampusch to resolve outstanding questions about the crime, broken off on Friday, would resume this week at a time of her choosing.

APA quoted an unidentified investigator as saying Ms Kampusch had told police Priklopil had no accomplices.